Sitting here watching the world of beavers I can usually trace ideas as they trickle from one location to the next. I can tell how often new headlines are recycled and when they are actually NEW and had never ever been used before.

This particular headline got my attention, not because of it’s novelty, but because of its familiar ring. Other than a Peter Bush article about beaver sex, I’ve only seen it one place in a decade if beaver reporting. And I think you all know where that was.

The Secret Lives of Beavers

Beavers are some of the most misunderstood animals. By nature, the critters gnaw at trees in order to fell them, so that they can create dams… homes, where they live. Unfortunately, in modern times when humans have done all of the felling, there are few trees left for beavers to do what they do best. This is especially true in urban environments, of course.

Where bodies of water are found, or streams/rivers, beavers will still most likely be present. Take, for example, the Scajaquada Creek, and the Buffalo River. Have you ever noticed the metal caging wrapped around the trunks of trees, to protect them from the beavers?

Yes, beavers have it rough. There are few trees, and the ones that are left are protected from their gnawing nature. What’s a beaver to do? They head to Tifft Nature Preserve… that’s what they do.

On Monday, January 15, you are invited to explore the fascinating world of beavers.

“Hidden beneath ice and snow is the busiest animal you’ll ever know! Meet the beavers on a guided hike and indoor workshop investigating real clues at the beaver lodge and hands-on specimens in the classroom.”

In addition to being Martin Luther King day, January 15 is my mom’s birthday! What a wonderful day to teach folks about beavers and the good they do on the landscape. Please start with whoever wrote this article because they should know that beavers don’t live in the dam.

They should also know that stealing other peoples titles is frowned upon in the literary community. (Check out the subtitle under Eager). Like I said, other than the Peter Bush article I haven’t seen this headline used a single time in an entire decade, and now that the book is officially for sale on Amazon someone else suddenly ‘thought’ of it.

Sheesh!

Yesterday there was a city meeting in Port Moody BC and folks showed up to talk about how important the beavers were to the community, and how badly the city had bungled the process to clear the culvert that lead to drowning the kit. I spoke with Judy on the phone for the first time, (which was like hearing my own voice from ten years ago talking back to me). I gave her ideas about where to focus public comment and congratulated her for doing so much so well. They haven’t seen the other parent or the kit since the bungle took place. but one wonderful thing happened that we could celebrate.

A creek on the other side of the subdivision suddenly ‘got’ beavers!

Judy and I talked about how this was likely the other part of the same family, leaving the danger zone and carrying on. I also suggested that there was a chance that the beaver they are still seeing in the area is a yearling they never knew was part of the family, and that the parents had brought the kit to the new zone.  It would be pretty unusual for a parent to abandon a kit, I thought. But not so unusual to have a family member you never accounted for. I told her that one year we spent an entire summer SURE that we had two kits, until another one suddenly ‘appeared’ in August. Beavers don’t always show their hand.

They have Secret Lives, as you may have heard.