Simon-

I have experience with telemetry on black-footed ferrets (morphologically similar to mink) and encountered the same problems. We use natural material neck collars but retention can be difficult and the fit is essential. See pages 175-190 in this publication on radio telemetry in black-footed ferrets:

https://www.fort.usgs.gov/products/21571

I will be interested to see what other kinds of ideas/instruments that others may have.

Cheers,

Travis

Hi Simon, what is it about the mink morphology that makes them hard to collar? DOes it slip off the head? I was involved in a study where we used a DIY harness system (that cannot slip off the neck) instead of a collaring system to GPS track Northern Quolls (carnivorous marsupials in Australia) with data loggers attached. The work is not yet published however the design was mine so if you need some Ideas on how to attach them, I'd be happy to help. What sort of VHF units are you using?

Hi everybody,

the main difficulty is that the thickness of the neck and the head are very similar, for that is easy for mink slip off the radio-collars. Also,minks are so flexibles, and the material of a harness needs to be very strong for avoiding that the mink chews. I'll be grateful if you can send me the publication when it will be available.

Best,

Simon

I am looking for studies of mink movement and came across this, may be of interest to you?

http://goo.gl/9Kevyy

Thanks Chris!

The "problem" with intraperitoneal transmitters is related to the manipulation and periods of animals recover after the surgery and also that this methodology increases considerably the cost of the study. Nevertheless, I think that for instance is the best methodology available for mink telemetry, and why not, for animals with the same difficulties for radio-collar setting.