Washington mammals

American Mink in Washington

Neogale vison

Native to Washington S5 Secure in Washington

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

Norka amerykańska (neovison vison)Neovison vison PPAmerican MinkMinkforWikiAmerican 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 Washington, by the numbers

Common in Washington 44th most recorded of 145 mammals logged in Washington

696 occurrence records
423 with iNaturalist photos
Jul 11, 2026 Last seen in Washington

Records from 2000–2026.

696 total records count every Washington occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 300; the monthly chart covers the 693 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the American Mink in Washington

Most sightings fall in November to December.

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

Monthly Washington records (table)
MonthRecords
January24
February31
March79
April43
May33
June43
July70
August81
September56
October37
November114
December82

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

Seasonality

Year-round in Washington, with recorded sightings peaking in November–December, with a smaller rise in March and July–August.

Occurrence map

Where American Mink has been recorded in Washington

300 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

300 Washington records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
San Juan Islands National Monument 27
Larrabee 8
Tennant Lake Park 6
Skagit-Snoqualmie Wildlife Area Complex 4
Lake Sammamish 4
Blake Island 4
Mount Rainier National Park 3
Daniel J. Evans Wilderness Area 3

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 Washington

CountyRecords
King County 114
Snohomish County 85
Whitman County 76
Whatcom County 46
Thurston County 34
Pierce County 31
Clallam County 31
Okanogan County 30
San Juan County 25
Benton County 21
Pacific County 17
Lewis County 15
24 other counties 171

The complete county distribution, spread across 36 Washington counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

The mapped Washington history of american mink contains 506 records in the current data window. The source fields show 401 iNaturalist records and 105 GBIF records, so the feeds overlap and should not be added together. That evidence yields a Washington atlas rank of 43 out of 126.

Seasonally, November leads with 86 records, while December has 14. Of the locations with counts, Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge contributes 5 records. Record volume may follow observer and survey effort, so it is not a proxy for numbers in the wild.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist.

Norka amerykańska (neovison vison)
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 Washington 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"