~ A Field Trip Report by Megan
On Wednesday, May 9th, we visited a mink farm in Lewiston
We first went to the area where they skin the minks. It isn’t skinning season now, so all the equipment was in storage, but they explained the process to us. They kill the mink in a box that they put carbon monoxide into. The box fits about 100 males and 140 females inside it. The minks are then skinned with machines that peel the skin off inside out. The skins are taken to the defleshing machine, 
and the fat is taken off. They use sawdust to help absorb oil off the skins. The family who owns the mink farm skin and sell a lot of mink. On a good year, they did 26,000. After explaining about everything they did to skin the minks, they showed us a mink pelt. We got to touch it. It was very soft.
Next, we went out to the place where they keep the minks. One of the owners showed us a newborn litter of babies. They were very small. We got to hold some of the bigger ones. Unlike the baby mice we have, who squirm all the time, the baby minks barely moved at all. The minks, though they were cute, would bite anyone who put their finger near them. They had glowing eyes and made hissing sounds as we passed. Most of the minks were black with a little bit of white on them, but then the owners took us to a place with grey minks. They were very pretty. We got to hold some very light-colored babies.
We also got to see the food. It was pretty gross. We were told that it was made with cereal, chicken, fish, and a few other things. It smelled bad and looked terrible. Jim Crook tried feeding the minks. To feed them, they used a machine that had the food in the back and a tube that it came out of. The food was put on top of the cages.
I liked going to the mink farm. It was an interesting experience. I learned quite a bit from it. They invited us back in December during skinning season, but I don’t think I want to see that.
THE END
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