A Mink amongst us

By nature I've kept myself busy while my wife enjoys an expense paid trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. She will surely have many photos of one of the most unique areas in the world in regards to wildlife. One of my former professors at S.F.State University Robert Bowman did his Phd thesis on the Anatomical adaptations of the Finches of the Galapagos Islands. I missed a lifetime opportunity to go with him and another student Steve Billib to the Galapagos because my wife was about to have our child and I had two jobs. I've been doing the "Honey do" list including painting the bathroom watering the plants, etc. On Sunday I took a break and while watching Sergio hand the British Open to Padrig Harrington I caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye on our deck. My cats were nestled in my lap and as I rose to see what it was they flew towards the sliding glass door. Wow I thought that is a Mink on our deck and I was a mere 6 feet away from it. It's chocolate brown fir glistened in the late morning light as it hopped in a undulating manor across the deck and back as if it was lost. It continued toward the grassy area between our kitchen and a small pond and then disappeared under the deck. I have been privileged to observe a mink previously out by the river but it was a very pleasant surprise to see a Mink on our deck.
We have had other wild animals on our deck including a Long-tailed weasel, Racoons, Opossum,
Douglas Squirrels, Gray Squirrels, Cottontail rabbits, and several species of birds. I have been reading a very interesting blog at http://cameratrapcodger.blogspot.com/ by an old classmate in Biology named Dr. Chris Wemmer who is a retired Smithsonian Scientist. . Now I have a infra red remote camera on my wish list.
Back to my chores and looking forward to seeing my sweet lady soon and hearing
all her exciting observations of animals and children in remote villages of Ecuador.