Beaver in the Backyard
Posted: 09/21/2010 Filed under: Nature, Photography | Tags: animal encounters, backyard, beaver, Castor canadensis 10 Comments »
Today, we sat at the kitchen table eating lunch, gazing out at the lake.
“Whoa!” exclaimed Matt. ”That tree! Did… did a beaver do that?”
Life in this wonderful house involves a certain intimacy with wildlife (a fact of life we are thankful for). We’ve happened across a colony of flying squirrels in the attic, and turtles, voles, moles, deer, herons, swans, a flock of robins, and a host of other birds in the yard. So far, we’ve seen neither hide nor hair of a beaver, but this gnawed tree and accompanying pile of woodchips makes us wonder if an encounter is imminent… (We hope so — though the homeowner’s association, which manages the lake, likely does not!)
Beavers are found in every county in Virginia. They love slow-flowing water (like our lake) and typically build their lodges in the late summer and early fall. The season is right for this kind of handiwork (toothiwork?)!
[Update: 21 Sept 2010, 8:36 PM. Matt and I were sitting in the kitchen again, this time for dinner. It's dark outside. We joke to each other that maybe the beaver is out there this very second! We decide to flip on the porch light and see, just for fun. Sure enough! America's largest rodent is hugging the base of the tree trunk, gnawing away. It's too dark and far away for a photo, but -- ah, we interrupt this message to report that at 8:42 PM, with the sound of crashing, the official score became Beaver: 1, Tree:0!]
That IS amazing! You’d probably expect to have heard something with that much gnawing going on – that’s a pretty sly beaver you have
We saw the beaver at work just now (~8:40 PM), and saw the tree fall! You could hear the gnawing from across the yard. WILD!
your photo and comments are so perfect Laurelin, thanks very much for your blog, it gives me reason to enjoy the positive aspect of the internet, take care, L
Thank you so much! I am so happy you enjoy what is shared here!
This is the most breathtaking account of human-beaver encounter I’ve ever heard of! What are the chances? I mean – if you’re not used to beavers, of course. I would have to look their pictures up first – I’ve only seen them in elementary school textbooks, and read about them in fairy tales. You go, beaver (and make sure the trees you snack on fall away from Laurelin’s house)!
Beavers are smart little engineers… He or she definitely gnawed in a way that ensured the tree would fall toward the water. The trunk got caught in a nearby tree, but we freed it so that we could see what the beaver would do with it next! I’ll keep everyone posted…
This is all so INCREDIBLE–yet natural! So wonderful that you could share it with a picture.
We were so excited! We may be thirtysomethings, but we were like giddy 5-year-olds watching the scenario unfold! Too fun!
Wow! Amazing how quickly he gnawed through that tree! Certainly was a busy beaver!
[...] are busy building winter dams this month. (For those of you wondering: we’ve not seen our backyard beaver since our last encounter — the tree remains downed, and sadly [...]