in your
Regional Parks
s
Alamo • Danville • Blackhawk • Diablo • San Ramon
VALLEY
Inside this month...
THE
SENTINEL always for the community VOl 22 nO 2
February 2017 2017 Summer Programs for Youth
Atlatl Throwers, and Willow Baskets, all at Coyote Hills Plus many other activities for kids and families in your East Bay Regional Parks!
39th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Celebration a Success
ECRWSS
Postal Customer
PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID DANVILLE, CA PERMIT NO. 70
See MLK AWARDS page 11
Sentinel Newspapers, Inc. 390 Diablo Road, Ste. 145 Danville, CA 94526 925-820-6047
www.valleysentinel.com
Johnny Appleseed Day, Sheep Shearing Day, Tartan Day all at Ardenwood Spring Native Plant Sale at the Botanic Garden Skills of the Past: including Fire Making, Cordage Making,
SPOTLIGHT
On Tuesday January 17, Contra Costa County held its 39th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Awards ceremony. During this event, two area residents received much deserved recognition for their contributions and hard work to make Contra Costa County a better place to live.
Look inside
for this Activity Guide
East Bay Regional Park District Regional in Nature Activity Guide
One of my favorite times of year is when the East Bay Regional Parks announces its annual Trails Challenge. Each year there is a different list of parks and trails to discover. Go to www.ebparks.org to download the PDF of this year’s trail guidebook; or stop by a participating EBRPD Visitor Center to pick up a hard copy. You can get a free T-shirt and at the end, a commemorative pin. Lots of fun, and new places to explore every year!
Eh—What’s up, Doc? The Black-tailed Jackrabbit can still be seen in Contra Costa County decreasing the blood flow By James Hale The Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) was once a common sight throughout Contra Costa County. Unfortunately, suburbanization has fractured their habitat to where they are only found in remnant, isolated, disjunct populations. The East Bay Regional Parks, where quality habitat is available, still support healthy populations. Golf courses and airports also provide open space for their survival. The Black-tailed Jackrabbit is common in the western United States and northern Mexico in grasslands, savannahs, deserts, irrigated pastures, row crops, and a variety of habitats. They can be found from below sea level to over 10,000 feet in elevation. The Black-tailed Jackrabbit is actually a hare. Hares differ from rabbits because their precocial young, called leverets,
are born with fur, and with their eyes wide open. Adult males, called bucks, usually weigh from 9 -11 pounds, while females, called does, weigh from 11-13 pounds. They may be anywhere from 16-28 inches long, with a 2-5 inch tail. They are gray to grayish- brown above, whitish to buff below, with a black mid-dorsal stripe on the tail running up onto the back. Their eyes are located on the side of their heads, enabling them to see in front, to the side, and behind them. They have excellent vision, sense of smell, and hearing. Black-tailed Jackrabbits have huge donkey-like ears, up to 8 inches long, and were called “jackass rabbits” because of this similarity. They can regulate their body heat by increasing or
through the ears, allowing them to either absorb heat or cool off, a process known as thermoregulation. Hares and rabbits are perhaps nature’s ideal prey. They have long legs which aid to propel them up to 40 mph, helping them to outrun many of their enemies or escape them by out-maneuvering with their classic zig-zag pattern. They can change direction abruptly, leap over 6 feet high, and over 20 feet long. Jackrabbits are good swimmers by dogpaddling with all four legs. While I was surveying wildlife in the desert once, a Blacktailed Jackrabbit literally ran over the tips of my boots with a coyote doing the same in hot pursuit. They both stopped a ways off, and to my amazement, both stood upright on their hind legs
while pivoting like a turret, and upon realizing what they had done after seeing me, made quick retreat in opposite directions. I had a good chuckle. The soles of the jackrabbit’s feet are covered with fur which cushions their feet on hard ground, and insulates them from the scorching heat of the desert sand.
This month’s Special Section:
Senior Living
pages 7 - 9
See RABBIT page 11