An Ontario Mink Has Gone Viral For His Adorable Fish-Stealing Antics (VIDEOS)
A Northern Ontario mink named Sneaky Pete is now an internet sensation after befriending a family in their ice fishing hut.
Sneaky Pete has been joining couple Greg and Penny Mercer on their ice fishing dates in Red Lake for the past few weeks.
Videos of the mink posted to Penny's Tik Tok account have gone viral, with one of them reaching 5 million views.
The Mercers told Narcity the story behind the internet-famous mink and how he came into their lives.
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How did you first meet Sneaky Pete?
Just after Christmas, Greg was ice fishing in his shack with a friend when he saw something unusual.
"All [of a] sudden something stuck his head up through the floor of our ice shack," Greg recalled.
"He kept popping his head up and down looking in, and sure enough... we found out it was a mink."
Ever since then, the mink has been returning to the Mercer's shack to join their ice fishing dates.
"...Every day we were there, he was there. One day we took the ice covers off the holes in the shack and he was already underneath... looking up at us."
Another time, the Mercers had been fishing for a while when they saw Sneaky Pete scurrying across the frozen lake towards them, eager to join in.
What does Sneaky Pete do?
It turns out Sneaky Pete isn't the greatest fishing companion, as he often steals the Mercer's catches and enjoys them for himself.
It was this behaviour which got Sneaky Pete his name.
"We have to reel it up really quick or he'll take the fish with the hook in it," Penny explained.
Sometimes, the little animal behaves almost like a dog.
"He'd sit underneath the woodstove... and actually fall asleep sometimes," Greg said.
Once and a while Sneaky Pete will get lucky, and the Mercers will share one of their fish with him.
How did Sneaky Pete become internet famous?
After Penny posted some videos of Sneaky Pete and his fishing shenanigans to Tik Tok, they instantly took off.
The videos gained thousands of views, with one video currently sitting at 5 million.
"It was crazy," she remarked. "News channels and stations started getting ahold of us and wanting interviews."
"I even had some guys at work that were talking about Sneaky Pete today," Greg said, explaining that they had no idea it was him who had taken the photos and videos.
Sneaky Pete has been bringing some much-needed cheer to the world during tough times.
"It's nice to see something like that instead of something about COVID or whatever is going on," Penny said.