I shot this last summer and originally rejected it for inclusion on Toronto Wildlife. After looking at it again I decided that, blurry or no, it captures a moment. So here it is.
This was taken on the Leslie Street Spit where I was shooting something non-wildlife related along the shoreline. A mink came by and I barely paid attention because I didn't have the right equipment for wildlife, and mink are commonplace. I paid a little more attention when, moments later, another mink showed up. Almost instantly, there was a fight.
And I mean a fight.
By this point I was really paying attention. Think: fur ball, noise and lightning movement. Whether the fight was territorial or mating-related I don't know. But very quickly it went from being ten metres away from me to being right at my feet. I don't mean this as a euphemism for close, I mean they were right at my feet. With visions of rabies shots dancing in my head I began to retreat while simultaneously grabbing my tripod, removing a complex filter apparatus from my camera and resetting my focus from manual to auto. Because it all did happen so fast and because I really didn't have wildlife-appropriate gear, the above is the best shot I got.
Click to enlarge because I left this image extra big.
