Well, did the beaver see his shadow?
At Oregon Zoo, ‘Stumptown Fil’ says winter’s not over yet
Sure, Punxsutawney Phil may be calling for six more weeks of winter, but more importantly for local residents, so is Stumptown Fil — aka Oregon Zoo resident Filbert the beaver.
“Groundhogs like Punxsutawney Phil are fine for their part of the country,” said Christina Parr, a keeper in the zoo’s North America section. “Here in the Northwest, though, we are beaver believers.”
Filbert made his forecasting debut last year, Parr said, and he did not have an impressive first showing.
“Last year, Filbert predicted an early spring, and in March we had to close the zoo because of snow and ice,” Parr said. “Then again, Punxsutawney Phil’s record isn’t so great either — you might be better off flipping a coin.”
Gosh I’ve read plenty of old timer articles about how pioneers could tell how long the winter was going to be by how high and thick the beavers were building their dams and lodges. Fil might just know something you don’t. I remember we used to say you could tell by the fur of a woolly catepillar how cold the winter was going to be. Beavers have got to be smarter than that, right?
Even if meteorology doesn’t end up being Filbert’s strong suit, he does a great job connecting people with one of Oregon’s most iconic and misunderstood animals, according to Parr.
Born at the zoo in 2011, Filbert has acquired thousands of fans on the zoo’s social media channels, where his industrious wood-gathering activities have earned him the title “branch manager.” Last March, he welcomed a new coworker when Maple moved in. The toothy twosome now share a lodge and go on dam-building adventures together.
Filbert also is an experienced research assistant. In 2015, he lent his services to Oregon State University for its Beaver Genome Project.
Very impressive resume there Fil. You’ve clearly been busy.
