Utah mammals

American Mink in Utah

Neogale vison

Native to Utah S3 Vulnerable in Utah

Not listed as nonindigenous in Utah by USGS NAS; native to its Utah 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 Utah, by the numbers

Occasional in Utah 60th most recorded of 141 mammals logged in Utah

154 occurrence records
149 with iNaturalist photos
Jul 9, 2026 Last seen in Utah

Records from 2000–2026.

154 total records count every Utah occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 151; the monthly chart covers the 151 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the American Mink in Utah

Most sightings fall in July to September.

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

Monthly Utah records (table)
MonthRecords
January2
February4
March18
April9
May10
June9
July31
August29
September22
October10
November4
December3

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Utah, with recorded sightings peaking in July–September.

Occurrence map

Where American Mink has been recorded in Utah

151 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

151 Utah records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Wasatch National Forest 7
Fort Buenaventura State Park 3
Deer Creek State Park 2
Rockport State Park 1
Ogden Bay State Wildlife Area 1
Timpanogos Cave National Monument 1
East Canyon State Park 1
Uinta National Forest 1

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 Utah

CountyRecords
Utah County 45
Salt Lake County 36
Weber County 20
Cache County 15
Summit County 11
Wasatch County 6
Morgan County 4
Davis County 2
Uintah County 2
Emery County 2
Duchesne County 2
Juab County 1
5 other counties 8

The complete county distribution, spread across 17 Utah counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Utah mink reports follow water along the Wasatch Front and into the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache country, where streams, reservoirs like Deer Creek and Rockport, and the Ogden Bay marshes on the Great Salt Lake supply both cover and prey. Mink are capable swimmers that take fish, crayfish, frogs, and small mammals, yet they usually travel narrow shorelines rather than ranging through dry uplands.

July leads the calendar, when waterways are accessible and evening recreation increases opportunities for encounters. Those reports map observation effort as well as mink activity, not the number present. Tracks often appear in mud or snow before the animal does, and occupied banks may contain borrowed muskrat burrows or cavities used as dens.

Utah lists mink at NatureServe’s S3 (vulnerable), more cautious than the species’ secure G5 global standing, likely a reflection of how narrowly its Utah range hugs perennial streams and marsh edges rather than spreading across the state at large.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

American Mink in other states

American Mink range map (all states)

More mammals in Utah 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"