Nico came to us on Nov. 16th, 2018. He crossed the rainbow bridge on December 17th, 2022. Godspeed, Nico... As you swim through the stars, know that we all miss you and love you.

Found roaming in Utah as a stray, and was brought to Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation by a good Samaritan.

Second Chance is a state and federally licensed facility that has been saving, treating, and releasing wildlife in Utah for the last thirty years. The goal of wildlife rehab is always to return patients to the wild once they are well enough. Because Utah is a major fur farming state, Second Chance is also very experienced in working with displaced fur farm mink. You can follow their organization on Facebook here: SCWR Facebook

And check out their website here: Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation

Fur farm mink are a domesticated version of the native wild American mink- both domestic and wild American mink share the same scientific name, Neogale vison. However, domestic fur farm mink are very different from their wild counterparts after 100-150 years of selective captive breeding.

It is both illegal and unethical to release fur farm mink into the wild, so there are only two options for displaced fur farm mink: permanent captive placement, or humane euthanasia. Because Nico was not stressed by humans or captivity, and because he tested free from contagious disease, he was a great candidate for permanent captive placement!

Second Chance transferred Nico to us after we had obtained the appropriate WY state permit, and we have done a everything possible to ensure that Nico has the opportunity to live his best life!

Nico lives in a large outdoor walk-in enclosure and has 24/7/365 access to swimming/playtime water. He is fed a balanced raw diet and is given tons of enrichment such as diving & stashing toys, tunnels, shimmy mats, climbing features, and more. We have also introduced him to walking on the harness & leash, which has allowed him to explore many wild places in the Bighorn Mountains of WY.

On fur farms, mink live out their lives in cages no larger than a guinea pig cage. We do everything we can to give Nico the opportunity to see more of the world than four walls of a cage.

We always ensure that Nico has 24/7 access to swimming water for enrichment. He enjoys diving for toys, swimming through under water tunnels, doing back rolls, and bopping water toys around his tubs. After a good swim, Nico has quite an entertaining dry-off ritual that we like to call the "mink shimmy"!