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always for the community VOL 23, NO 7
July 2018
www.valleysentinel.com
SPOTLIGHT
“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving” –Mother Teresa Varun Thakur, a junior at California High School in San Ramon, has learned this early. In June of 2016 Varun started an organization called Discharge with Dignity with an idea of donating clothes and shoes to give to hospital emergency trauma centers. Many patients brought to trauma centers have their clothing torn in the process of their treatment. While in hospital they are in gowns but at the time of discharge they need
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On July 4th, the Kiwanis Club of the San Ramon Valley delighted thousands with their Danville Independence Day Parade. Every year this not-to-miss event offers up the best of the community, including elected officials, military flyovers, live bands, vintage cars, clubs and organizations, live animals and more.This fundraiser for the Kiwanis Club allows the club to donate tens of thousands of dollars in grants to area nonprofits. The parade brings the whole community together in such an exceptional way. Photo by Veronica Yoo.
American Mink by James Hale
The American Mink (Neovison vison) is locally common in the marshes, wetlands, and riparian habitats of Contra Costa County. I have encountered them frequently in my field work from the Truckee River to the San Francisco-San Joaquin delta. This fur-bearing, carnivorous, semiaquatic mammal is a member of the weasel family, Mustelidae, which includes river and sea otters, badgers, weasels, martens, fishers, and wolverines. All mustelids, except the sea otter, have anal scent glands that produce a strongsmelling secretion used for marking territories and sexual courtship. The American Mink is native to North America, ranging from Alaska and Canada throughout the United States, except Arizona and the more arid regions of the western states. Fifteen subspecies are recognized. They have been introduced to many parts
of Europe and South America. In Europe, they are classified as an invasive species, causing declines in European Mink, Pyrenean Desman , and Water Vole populations. Since the extinction of the Sea Mink (Neovison macrodon) in 1894, the American Mink is the only living (extant) member in the genus Neovison. The American Mink is the animal most frequently farmed for its fur, exceeding the silver fox, sable, marten, and skunk in economic importance. Fossil records of the American Mink date back to the Irvingtonian Land Mammal Age, from 1,350,000 to 160,000 years BP. The American Minks closest living relative is the Siberian Weasel of Asia, although they superficially resemble the European Mink. The American Mink has a long, streamlined body which allows it to enter the burrows
of its prey. This fusiform (streamlined) shape also reduces water resistance while swimming. Males are 15 to 18 inches long, with the tail, up to 10 inches long, constituting 38-51% of their total length. Females are smaller, usually less than 15 inches. Males are heavier than females, reaching 3 pounds in weight. Weights vary with sex and season, with maximum heaviness occurring in autumn. The American Mink’s winter fur is highly
This month’s Special Section:
Senior Living
pages 8 - 9
valued as it is denser, longer, softer, and more close-fitting than the European Mink. The winter fur’s tone varies from very dark blackish-tawny to light-tawny, with the color evenly distributed over the entire body. The underside is slightly lighter than the upper body. The underfur on the back is grayish-tawny with a bluish tint. The tail is darker than the See Mink page 4