Experimental study of intersexual interactions in the american mink (neovison vison) and intraguild predation

In experimental conditions intersex interactions at the American mink involving captive-bred and feral minks were studied. During the breeding season, reaction of female American mink to familiar and unfamiliar males was studied and revealed a female preference for a familiar male and formation of a close relationship between a female and a male. American mink males show aggression to unfamiliar animals of own species, regardless of gender and age, as well as to other species of mustelids. The degree of aggression in males of the American mink is much depending on their origin and individual recognition. Aggression of wild males of the American mink is the reason for infanticide and intraguild predation.