Martinez creek menagerie now has minks MARTINEZ

A baby mink hides in a muskrat hole on July 28, 2009 in Martinez, Calif. A family of minks has joined the famed beavers of Alhambra Creek in downtown Martinez. There's a mother mink and four babies. A baby mink hides in a muskrat hole on July 28, 2009 in Martinez, Calif. A family of minks has joined the famed beavers of Alhambra Creek in downtown Martinez. There's a mother mink and four babies. Photo: Courtesy Of Cheryl Reynolds Photo: Courtesy Of Cheryl Reynolds Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Martinez creek menagerie now has minks 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

First, there were beavers. Then otters and muskrats.

And now - as if the Martinez Public Works Department needed more cute, furry mammals paddling around Alhambra Creek - there are mink.

Ten months after the city spent $500,000 to shore up the eroding creek bank, a condition many blamed on the beavers and their obsessive handiwork, a mother mink and four babies were spotted this week cavorting near the beaver's primary dam, just north of the Escobar Street bridge in downtown Martinez.

The silky, razor-toothed critters have apparently taken up residence in the pond created by the beavers' dam, along with a variety of other aquatic wildlife.

"I was pretty blown away," said Doug Bell, a wildlife biologist with the East Bay Regional Park District, who viewed video and still photographs of the frolicking creatures and confirmed that they are, indeed, mink. "They appear to be taking advantage of the habitat created by the beavers. Isn't that fantastic?"

Mink are native to the area but are highly unusual. They're more often spotted in the delta or the Sierra Nevada, but their population could be rising because of the decreasing popularity of mink coats, Bell said.

Maureen Flannery, collections manager for the ornithology and mammalogy department at the California Academy of Sciences, also confirmed that the animals in question are Neovison vison, a.k.a. American mink.

The babies probably were born in April or May and will stay with their mother until fall, when they will head out to claim their own territories, she said.

"It's definitely a sign the local ecosystem is healthy and doing well," she said. "And it's nice people can now view them in the wild."

Meanwhile, the city of Martinez, which at one point wanted to trap and kill the beavers, is taking a cautious approach to the town's explosion of wildlife.

"We'll have to monitor the situation," said Don Salts, the city's deputy public works director. "But mink? That's news to me."

Dan Murphy, owner of Bertola's restaurant adjacent to the beavers' dam, was also taking a wait-and-see attitude. Liability concerns over the restaurant's weakening foundation were one reason the city decided to shore up the creek bank last fall.

"I don't really care," Murphy said. "Although I guess the creek's becoming more and more of a habitat, which is pretty cool."

The mink are a happy addition to Martinez's growing menagerie, said vice mayor Mike Menesini.

"Martinez is a very welcoming city, and obviously we have room for everyone," he said. "Although it'll be interesting to see how this mixed community gets along."

So far, the mink, beavers, muskrats, otters and turtles have adopted an attitude of mutual indifference. The crayfish aren't so lucky - they're often dinner for their carnivorous creek-mates.

The mink were first observed by Cheryl Reynolds and Heidi Perryman, members of a group of beaver advocates called Worth a Dam. Reynolds, who formerly ran the wildlife hospital at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, was spending a quiet moment by the creek Wednesday evening when she saw "four little squirming things" splash in front of her.

"They make this chirping sound. It was really crazy," she said. "I knew they were mink because of the little white patch under their chin."

It's no surprise the mink have moved in with the beavers. The dams slow down the creek, making it easier for mink to scoop up crayfish, ducklings and other morsels, including, perhaps, baby beavers.

The adult beaver pair that moved into Alhambra Creek in early 2007 had a litter of four kits in May, but the kits have not been seen in some time, Perryman said.

Still, the natural cycle has been a joy to watch, Reynolds said.

"It's amazing to see how much that creek has changed since the beavers moved in," she said. "There's always people over there now. It's a great natural education."

Inside

How to tell apart beavers, mink, muskrats and otters. C3

A dam good time -- Today is Beaver Fest in downtown Martinez, a celebration of three years of beavers in Alhambra Creek. The festival will include bagpipe music to celebrate the return of beavers to Scotland, where they have been nearly extinct for 400 years. There also will be live bluegrass and jazz bands, tours of the beaver dams and arts projects. -- The festival runs 12:30-6:30 p.m. at Alhambra and Marina Vista avenues. -- For information go to www.martinezbeavers.org.