The difference between mink and sable

Mink is known as the "king of fur". It comes from the fur of minks, mainly minks and sables. Minks and sables are similar in appearance, and many people can't tell the difference between them. Let's take a look at the differences between minks and sables.

Sable

Sable, also known as sable, red marten, blue gate marten, etc., is very similar to a weasel (weasel), but is larger, with a body length of about 40 cm, a weight of about 650 grams, short limbs, slightly longer hind legs than the forelegs, five toes on both front and back legs, and a meat pad. The curved claws are semi-flexible, which is very suitable for climbing trees.

The sable has a slender and slender body, a pointed face and nose, a blunt muzzle, a distinct longitudinal groove in the middle of the nose and lip, and more than 20 elastic well-developed tentacles. The eyes are large and vivid, the ear shell is large and upright, slightly triangular, and the tail is thick and fluffy, accounting for about 30-40% of the body length.

Sables are now only found in the cold forest snow fields of Daxing'an Mountains, Xiaoxing'an Mountains, Laoye Mountains, Zhang Guangcai Mountains, Wanda Mountains, Changbai Mountains in Jilin Province and Hengren County in Liaoning Province, and Altai Mountains in the north. They like to inhabit coniferous broad-leaved mixed forests and sub-cold coniferous forests at an altitude of 800-1600 meters, and are one of the typical animals.

Mink

The mink has a slender body, with a male body length of 38 cm to 42 cm, a tail length of 20 cm and a weight of 1.6 kg to 2.2 kg. The female is smaller, the body hair is yellowish brown, there are white spots on the jaws, the head is small, the eyes are round, and the ears are semicircular, slightly higher than the head and inclined to the front, and can not swing.

The neck of the mink is thick and short, the limbs are stout, the forelimbs are slightly shorter than the hind limbs, the fingers and toes are webbed, the web between the hind toes is more obvious, and there is a meat pad on the sole of the foot. Slender tail, fluffy hair, mainly in nocturnal activities, eat small rodents, but also eat mole cricket, frogs and fish.

Minks live in holes or rock crevices on the banks of streams. Some breeding farms raise minks for their fur, mainly dark brown fur. North American minks are larger and have now been introduced to European fur farms. The main commodity of minks is skins.

The difference between mink and sable

1. Different families and genera: sables belong to Mustelidae. Minks belong to the genus Mustelidae.

2. The living environment is different: the wild living environment of sable is primeval forest. Minks live in rivers, streams, lakes, marshes and other near water areas, can swim and dive.

3. The body characteristics are different: the sable is bulky and looks like a medium-sized domestic cat (especially with a cat head and large triangular ears), while the mink is slender and looks like a weasel (small ears).

4. The reproductive ability is different: sable generally matures late at the age of 27-29 months, copulates from June to August in summer, and gives birth from March to May the following year. The pregnancy period is 9 months, and the average fecundity is about 2.7, and the fecundity is low. Mink matured early (9 months old), mated in March, gave birth in April to May, about 6 in each litter, and had high fecundity.

4. The quality of the fur is different: the sable fur is lighter than the mink (the skin is thinner, only as thin as the mink), flexible, the needle hair is more fine and gorgeous, and the texture of the sable fur is better than that of the mink fur.