Consumer survey: Caged mink value water
By Susan Milius
Researchers have used principles of human economics to figure out how mink regard fur-farm conditions.
Even after 70 generations in captivity, caged American mink still seem to miss the swimming they would do in the wild, say Georgia J. Mason and her colleagues at Oxford University in England.
They set up each of eight male and eight female mink in its own warren of compartments. All had a typical mink cage, with seven added chambers featuring various attractions. For example, one chamber held a pool of water, and another offered a different novelty, such as a traffic cone, each day.