Ohio mammals

American Mink in Ohio

Neogale vison

Native to Ohio SNR Unranked in Ohio

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

IUCN Red List status

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Photo: Wojciech Uszak · CC BY-SA 4.0Norka amerykańska (neovison vison)Photo: Cephas · CC BY-SA 3.0Neovison vison PPPhoto: Patrick Reijnders · CC BY-SA 3.0American MinkPhoto: Needsmoreritalin · CC BY-SA 3.0MinkforWikiPhoto: nuthatchnicole · CC BY 4.0American Mink (Neogale vison)

Photo: Wojciech Uszak · CC BY-SA 4.0Norka amerykańska (neovison vison)Photo: Cephas · CC BY-SA 3.0Neovison vison PPPhoto: Patrick Reijnders · CC BY-SA 3.0American MinkPhoto: Needsmoreritalin · CC BY-SA 3.0MinkforWikiPhoto: nuthatchnicole · CC BY 4.0American Mink (Neogale vison)

American Mink in Ohio, by the numbers

Common in Ohio 17th most recorded of 75 mammals logged in Ohio

825 occurrence records

783 with iNaturalist photos

Jul 10, 2026 Last seen in Ohio

Records from 2000–2026.

825 total records count every Ohio occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 821 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the American Mink in Ohio

Most sightings fall in February to July.

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

Monthly Ohio records (table)

Month	Records
January	56
February	70
March	92
April	112
May	96
June	100
July	89
August	63
September	37
October	36
November	37
December	33

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Ohio, with recorded sightings peaking in February–July.

Occurrence map

Where American Mink has been recorded in Ohio

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Ohio records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monument	iNaturalist records
Cuyahoga Valley National Park	40
Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area	9
Wayne National Forest	5
Sheldon Marsh Dedicated Nature Preserve	4
Funk Bottoms Wildlife Area	3
Irwin Prairie Dedicated Nature Preserve	3
Strouds Run State Park	2
Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area	2

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 Ohio

County	Records
Summit County	125
Cuyahoga County	78
Franklin County	50
Coshocton County	44
Medina County	41
Lucas County	40
Hamilton County	32
Lorain County	25
Ottawa County	25
Butler County	24
Erie County	21
Delaware County	20
57 other counties	300

The complete county distribution, spread across 69 Ohio counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

American mink have just 24 Ohio records in the 2000–2026 window, including one tied directly to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The other suggested settings, Lake Erie marshes and nearby state wildlife areas, broaden the geographic context, but the file does not identify another site-level concentration.

The monthly record pattern is too sparse to support a firm activity season. November has four reports, while January, May, and December have three each; no month dominates enough to turn those small differences into a claim about mink numbers. NatureServe leaves the species unranked in Ohio (SNR), so the record total should stand as documentation of reports, not a measure of statewide abundance or conservation security.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

Full species profile American Mink Neogale vison Size 33–45.7 cm13–18 in Weight 0.5–1.4 kg1–3 lb Lifespan Up to 11.4 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Ohio 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"