Our friend Mike Digout of Saskatchewan is getting famous. I thought he might when his ‘beaver-crashing-through-ice” video made it into the daily mail. Now he’s be on the NY Post and ABC. His own Canadian TV is starting to take notice and has a nice profile of him today.

‘I just couldn’t believe it:’ Photographer captures Saskatoon beaver bursting through ice ‘like Superman’

SASKATOON — A Saskatoon-based beaver has become a viral video star after a local photographer and nature enthusiast filmed it bursting through an ice-covered pond last week.

“She just sort of exploded through the ice like Superman and I knew right away it was a really great thing to have caught on camera,” Mike Digout said.

When the weather got colder and the pond froze over, Digout wondered what that would mean for the beavers. He then started noticing that after having a snack, the mama beaver would swim around and strategically choose areas to break the ice.

Hurray for Mike! And hurray for beavers, that are so amazingly robust.

“I just couldn’t believe it. They’re so clever, they understand their habitat so well.”

Digout said he tried for two days to get a shot of her in the act but was unsuccessful. Finally, on the third day, he got lucky.

“I had a hunch where she was going next to break the ice and I could see her body moving under the ice so I hustled. I literally ran to a spot, pressed click on my video camera.”

That’s when he captured the video that’s garnered not only local attention but has also attracted national and international audiences — something that was a huge surprise to Digout.

First, he shared it on his own social media pages last Friday then submitted it to the Weather Network. Since then, it has also been shared on ABC News, the London Daily Mail and the New York Post. The ABC News video alone has gotten over 500,000 views.

Heh heh heh, beavers will make you a star, kid. Just stick with them.

“I thought well, that’s half a million people that are getting to witness this magical spot in Saskatoon and this crazy fun mama beaver that entertains me everyday,” Digout said.

He said he began visiting the pond on the Meewasin Valley trail and taking photos and videos of the beavers at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as a hobby. Now, his Facebook page has inspired children, families and so many others to come down to the pond to see the beavers for themselves.

Good. Humanize the beaver and endear it to the viewer. That’s what we need more of. People care about what they see, and you are doing an excellent job.

He added that his photos and videos have also helped people who aren’t able to go out and explore nature themselves right now.

The Meewasin Valley Authority and the Ministry of Environment told CTV News that while the moment Digout managed to captured seems extraordinary, it’s fairly routine behaviour for beavers during this time of year as they get settled for the winter, gathering food and materials.

Yup. You should mention also how many of them are normally KILLED in the ice under your watch. Winter is a dangerous time for beavers. Not only are they racing against the elements, they are subject to trapping season and hoping they live to breed another year.

The thing I love best about Mike’s movie star is that now that she’s achiever international FAME it will be much, much harder to issue the order for her death. Fingers crossed. Visibility keeps beavers safe.

Yesterday’s beaver conference was fantastic again, and Ben did a great NM specific presentation about the importance of beavers to the area. Meaghan Conway from Game and Fish had a very good talk about why specifically beavers matter in the region. It’s kind of nice to forget about the election and just think about beavers. The next is Monday and then a final closing with Mary Obrien on Wednesday, All in all it’s been an excellent use of a very difficult set of circumstances.