California’s mink records lean hard toward the far north coast. Humboldt County holds 228 of the state’s 756 records, more than a quarter, from the rivers, sloughs, and bay marshes around Humboldt Bay and the redwood country inland. Humboldt Redwoods State Park, with 23, and Redwood National Park, with 13, rank among the top named sites.
The Central Valley and the Delta form the second cluster. Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area, a floodplain of seasonal wetlands and rice fields west of Sacramento, is the busiest named place in the state with 47 records, and the Putah Creek reserve near Davis adds 16. Dutch Slough in the Delta and Gray Lodge Wildlife Area extend the pattern, and Yolo, Contra Costa, Solano, and Sacramento counties all rank high.
An April high by the water
April is the clear peak at 139 records, with a smaller rise in August at 92, while May and June are the quietest months. iNaturalist photos make up 752 of the total, so the calendar follows people walking sloughs and riverbanks as much as the mink themselves. The mink is native to California but carries no NatureServe state rank here.
Full species profile
