It is hard to guess what a American mink weights. But we have the answer:
An adult American mink (Mustela vison) on average weights 904 grams (1.99 lbs).
The American mink is from the family Mustelidae (genus: Mustela). It is usually born with about 8 grams (0.02 lbs). They can live for up to 10 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 36.6 cm (1′ 3″). Usually, American minks have 4 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The American mink (Neovison vison) is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink is classed as a least-concern species by the IUCN. Since the extinction of the sea mink, the American mink is the only extant member of the genus Neovison. The American mink is a carnivore that feeds on rodents, fish, crustaceans, frogs, and birds. In its introduced range in Europe it has been classified as an invasive species linked to declines in European mink, Pyrenean desman, and water vole populations. It is the animal most frequently farmed for its fur, exceeding the silver fox, sable, marten, and skunk in economic importance.
Animals of the same family as a American mink
We found other animals of the Mustelidae family:
- Eastern spotted skunk with a weight of 568 grams
- Bornean ferret-badger with 2 babies per litter
- Colombian weasel with a weight of 211 grams
- Malayan weasel with a weight of 569 grams
- Southern river otter bringing 7.5 kilos (16.53 lbs) to the scale
- Spotted-necked otter bringing 4.18 kilos (9.22 lbs) to the scale
- Honey badger bringing 9 kilos (19.84 lbs) to the scale
- Molina’s hog-nosed skunk with a weight of 960 grams
- American hog-nosed skunk bringing 3.37 kilos (7.43 lbs) to the scale
- Smooth-coated otter bringing 8.96 kilos (19.75 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a American mink
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Mustela vison:
- David’s echymipera bringing 817 grams to the scale
- Eastern woolly lemur with a weight of 1.06 kilos (2.34 lbs)
- Azara’s night monkey bringing 929 grams to the scale
- Mimic tree rat bringing 975 grams to the scale
- Muskrat bringing 992 grams to the scale
- Black squirrel monkey bringing 784 grams to the scale
- Ollala brothers’s titi bringing 992 grams to the scale
- Travancore flying squirrel bringing 794 grams to the scale
- Giant naked-tailed rat bringing 745 grams to the scale
- Bahia porcupine bringing 999 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a American mink
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as American mink:
- Greater bamboo lemur with a size of 37 cm (1′ 3″)
- Banded mongoose with a size of 36.3 cm (1′ 3″)
- White-faced spiny tree-rat with a size of 29.7 cm (1′ 0″)
- Mexican cottontail with a size of 43.5 cm (1′ 6″)
- European mink with a size of 36.1 cm (1′ 3″)
- Mountain cuscus with a size of 40.7 cm (1′ 5″)
- Bronze quoll with a size of 35.6 cm (1′ 3″)
- Burmese ferret-badger with a size of 39.9 cm (1′ 4″)
- Steppe polecat with a size of 43.5 cm (1′ 6″)
- Black-tailed prairie dog with a size of 29.4 cm (1′ 0″)
Animals with the same litter size as a American mink
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (4) as a American mink:
- Small five-toed jerboa
- North African gerbil
- Least chipmunk
- Pygmy gerbil
- Gerbil mouse
- Gunnison’s prairie dog
- European water vole
- Bunchgrass leaf-eared mouse
- Desert pocket gopher
- Pygmy spotted skunk
Animals with the same life expectancy as a American mink
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a American mink:
- Maned sloth with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Pale fox with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Chacoan peccary with an average maximal age of 9 years
- Red-flanked duiker with an average maximal age of 9.5 years
- American red squirrel with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Leadbeater’s possum with an average maximal age of 11 years
- Rock cavy with an average maximal age of 11 years
- Four-horned antelope with an average maximal age of 10.75 years
- Long-tailed chinchilla with an average maximal age of 11.25 years
- Java mouse-deer with an average maximal age of 12 years