California mammals

American Mink in California

Neogale vison

Native to California SNR Unranked in California

Not listed as nonindigenous in California by USGS NAS; native to its California range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

American Mink in California, by the numbers

Common in California 70th most recorded of 241 mammals logged in California

891 occurrence records
717 with iNaturalist photos

Records from 2000–2026.

891 total records count every California occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 880 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the American Mink in California

Most sightings fall in April.

880 California occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly California records (table)
MonthRecords
January99
February65
March69
April141
May42
June32
July74
August88
September62
October46
November85
December77

Monthly american mink occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in California, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in California, with recorded sightings peaking in April, with a smaller rise in August and November.

Occurrence map

Where American Mink has been recorded in California

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 California records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area 46
Humboldt Redwoods State Park 22
Putah Creek Riparian Reserve 16
Redwood National Park 13
Dutch Slough 8
Los Banos Wildlife Area 5
Trinity National Forest 4
Gray Lodge Wildlife Area 4

Protected places with the most american mink sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in California

CountyRecords
Humboldt County 244
Yolo County 85
San Joaquin County 69
Solano County 68
Contra Costa County 63
Sonoma County 61
Placer County 49
Sacramento County 44
Lake County 21
Merced County 17
Inyo County 16
Siskiyou County 14
27 other counties 140

The complete county distribution, spread across 39 California counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

American Mink records in California fit wetland edges and fish-bearing waterways.

Reports center on the north-coast river systems, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and Sierra Nevada streams. They show where people have documented the species, and they don’t rank California’s best habitat.

Reports rise most clearly in Mar, Jul. That pattern can reflect animal movements, weather, and observer effort, so it isn’t a population count.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in California in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"