Busy As a Beaver in Sonoma Valley, for Good Reason

Our wildlife cameras at this Sonoma Valley park captured a few hardworking beavers dragging branches and twigs from land to water over the course of several nights — and even putting up with some very curious raccoons!

You might call them the ultimate preppers, storing plenty of food to last the whole winter long. A beaver family, called a colony, usually includes a mom and dad, this year’s kits and older siblings from last year. Together, they gather and stash piles of branches, twigs and leafy snacks to last through winter. While they don’t hibernate in the winter, they do like to get snuggly in their dens, snacking on their food stores and tapping into the fat reserves in their tails for energy.

All that tireless chewing and tree felling does more than feed a family. Beaver dams also help improve the habitat for many other species. Ones we’ve seen around this dam include otters, salmon, raccoons, kingfishers, western pond turtles, bobcats, deer, great blue herons, great egrets and monarch butterflies and more!