Extinct
Around the World in 80 Days - Day 73
These used to live from Nova Scotia and maybe even Newfoundland all the way down into Massachusetts. For a while it was thought they might be a subspecies of the American Mink, but that was disproved eventually. They were bigger than all the other species of mink, more sturdily built and fatter too. That was most likely due to how much time they spent swimming in cold Atlantic waters. They were said to be bigger than a fox with dark reddish fur. Unfortunately they never really got a chance to be studied. Though the native people of the area had always hunted them, when the unchecked fur trade came into play, they were completely wiped out. The last one was slaughtered in 1880 or possibly 1894 (that one may have been an extra large American Mink). They may have gone extinct at that time, but there may have been some that survived as late as 1920.
My oldest had his wisdom teeth out today. We opted to have him put under, and I'm glad we did. His two bottom teeth were in the nerve channel. The dentist did not feel comfortable removing them on his own. A slip could cause permanent nerve damage. The initial meeting with the oral surgeon he said it would be easy and he didn't see any difficulty to be likely. When I talked to him today, he said that the one tooth was tricky. He saw what was probably the nerves but said they looked healthy. The tooth was pressed up against them, and the tooth had curved roots which was what made it tricky. He said it didn't want to come out. We do not know yet if there is any nerve damage, probably won't until tomorrow. I had one tooth that was a big problem when I had mine out. I didn't go under, and three of the teeth the numbing did not work in spite of vast numbers of injections. Thankfully I have a very high pain threshold especially since one of the teeth needed to be cut up into pieces! My son has been doing really well though, and I hope he will be his normal self soon.