A rarely seen Everglades mink was caught on camera carrying a "giant" snake in its mouth by a Florida resident.

Hannah Cardenas sent her footage to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) as she was amazed by the sight of the rarely seen animal, which was elusive in nature. The FWC shared the clip on Facebook on Monday.

“Imagine the surprise seeing this Everglades mink scampering across the road carrying DINNER! A mother and daughter were on their way home from a nature hike in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park when they spotted this mink run across the road in front of them – seconds later, it ran BACK across the road with a GIANT SNAKE in its mouth!" the Facebook post read.

The FWC also said, "Mink can eat small mammals, fish, birds and SNAKES more than twice their body length. They are a state threatened species and sightings are rare due to their elusive nature. Minks are much smaller than their river otter relatives (about half their size)."

According to the FWC website, mink are difficult to study in terms of abundance and distribution “because this species is small sized, fast moving, and excellent at remaining out of sight. They are often confused with the much larger and more common river otter.”


FWC urged anyone who spots a mink or weasel to report the sighting. 

The type of snake the mink was carrying was not known. However, the video shows the reptile was a huge one when compared to the size of the mink. But, the exact size of the snake was not revealed by FWC.

There are three distinct populations of mink in Florida. Two of the populations inhabit the salt marshes of the northern Gulf and Atlantic coasts. The population inhabiting south Florida, the Everglades Mink (Mustela vison evergladensis, also classified as Neovison vison mink), is listed as a threatened species by FWC. The range of the Everglades mink is currently limited to the shallow freshwater marshes and swamps of Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve and Fakahatchee Strand.

American mink American mink Photo: jandenouden/Pixabay