In the wild, American mink are solitary, active, intelligent predators. They keep to themselves outside of the breeding season, and male mink are particularly intolerant of each other. Mink are semi-aquatic, spending much of their lives in or around water.

• A mink's home range averages around 2-5 miles
• Mink can run up to 8 miles per hour in short bursts
• Mink can dive underwater to depths of about 16 feet
• Mink can swim underwater continuously for 50-100 feet

The conditions on a fur farm are counter to many of the American mink's most deeply ingrained instincts:

• Fur farms force mink into close proximity with each other, a potentially stressful environment for a naturally solitary animal. A small mink farm may house ten thousand mink; an incredibly large farm may house 100,000 or more.
• Mink on fur farms are kept in wire pens that are smaller than the bare minimum cage size recommendation for a single pet guinea pig. Unacceptable confinement for an animal that naturally ranges over miles, climbing, running, swimming, and hunting.
• Mink on fur farms are not given access to swimming water, and are often not even given access to open surface drinking water. For a semi-aquatic species, this deprivation of one of their most basic and deeply ingrained instincts is incredibly inhumane.