A Beaver Came This Way...

[FrankMi]

I got a chance to get out into the woods today and came across an area where beavers had been building dams.

This looks like one where Mr. Beaver got called home for lunch and never got back to finish the job. Perhaps he simply had too much on his 'honey-do' list?

[Momo]

I see your beaver...



and I raise you one lodge full of 9 beavers. Yes, I counted them all one evening.

[jeeperman]

Frank, actually Beavers do not finish the cut, they get it close and go do the honey-do list until the wind blows it over. I guess it is a safety thing so that they don't get squashed. =}
And Darren, now all you have to do is sit and wait and wait and wa....... I finally caught two a couple weeks ago, and a nutria.

[tbob]

I once told a fairly naive person that beavers are actually carnivores and gnaw the tree most of the way through, then wait for a moose to come by then drop the tree onto the moose.

[Dizzy]

I once told a fairly naive person that beavers are actually
carnivores and gnaw the tree most of the way through, then wait for a moose to
come by then drop the tree onto the moose.

Darren, that looks like it's down in the Kent/Renton/Boeing area? If there
were 9 beaver there at one time, it won't be long till the Alpha adults send a few of
them down the road. They keep kits for about 2 years, and then it's "See ya!"..LOL

The problem is going to be: Where do these excess beaver go? Mom and Dad will beat
the tar out of them if they stay around, so they really have no choice but to seek ground
of their own.

Never known of a meat eating beaver...lol Can't imagine one being fast enough on the
ground to catch anything but a face full of quivers from a porcupine..

Beaver = An oversized, tree eating rodent, and if he wants to eat those tender
fresh shoots up there at the top, then he's got to drop the tree to get to them. Next good
windstorm comes along will drop the tree, and then he'll be dining in fine style ....

Frank, I've found more than one beaver carcass that was pinned under a tree they had
been working on, so evidently they aren't always bright/fast enough to get out of harms
way when a tree doesn't fall in the expected direction.

[Momo]

Hi Dizzy,

Yes, you are correct in that the location is the Kent Valley and an area we call Boeing Ponds. It's a great place for watching birds and, evidently, beaver activity. I counted at least nine last summer and I actually suspect there was at least one more. I was leaving the area of nine swimming in the water when I swear one ran across the path in front of me. So, it was my first encounter with these critters the evening I was taking census. It's hard to describe the scene, but I had 4 on one side and 5 on another side divided by bushes in the water. They seemed either curious or agitated by my presence, as they "paced" in the water directly in front of me. The closest was maybe 8 feet off the water's edge. I have some photos, but they're beyond lousy, as my camera would not focus without light and when it did the shutter speed was crap.

So, the story on the tree in the photos above... I regularly go to the ponds just for a walk or whatever. I noticed this particular tree had been gnawed and I could not help but chuckle. They obviously don't care about traffic safety. See the photo with my tripod in the foreground. (keep in mind these are snapshots, not photos intended for National Geographic) So, I snapped this pic and checked in on the tree every morning as I would drive to work. It took them almost two weeks to finish the job. I'm fairly sure it fell across the road and someone pushed it back onto the sidewalk. I'm also pretty sure someone felt sorry for the little buggars and lifted the tree into the water. They're strong, but not that strong... (I think!)





Here's another that I thought was kinda funny. This is taken on another side of the pond. They just chomped out the choicest part of the tree. As of today, the entire tree is gone.

[FrankMi]

Now who-da thunk you could get such an ed-u-ma-kay-shun about Beavers at CiC! Thanks for all the background information and photos. Unfortunately for our local beavers, there are no moose in the area!

[wlou]

I see on the pics where the beavers leave, what kind of work they do, what is their technique to fall down trees, but...no beavers yet!!!

[jeeperman]

Someone request a beaver shot...um yeah anyway....

[wlou]

Well, down boy, down!
As this is a site about seeing thing in "pictures" I do prefer to see what we are talking about. And being an international site, not everyone is familiar with this little animal. They must be active now that the ice on their pounds has melted? We may be seeing the youngs ones soon?