Mystery Animal...what do you think it is?

[Catherine]

That is one of our mink. I have seen one up close. The Fisher is bigger and I think Tobi is right, the face is wider. It is still a good sign that there are mink back in the area. It means we are returning to biodiversity. We have ravines and river valleys all over the city. They should be full of wildlife. Now that they are being respected as natural spaces and cleaned up of garbage, we are getting a whole range of animals.

We are a city that is recovering from the mismanagement of the environment by previous generations.
We have a number of small creeks that were channeled through pipes and buried under landfill. In some places they put houses over them. It hasn't worked well. The houses are leaning badly because there are creeks running under them. We also have localized flooding problems because those creeks were part of the natural drainage system for the area.  I think we should open up the creeks in the areas where they pass under parks. It is a partial solution that will help channel runoff rain water. We could end up with a mink in my back yard if we opened Garrison Creek in the park nearby. The creek could become a feature of the park.

I have a good shovel. I would help dig.