Relocation: Not A Happy Ending?

Guess who came to dinner last night?

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, kits, New Species September 3, 2010

Don’t worry. Baby beavers weren’t on the menu. But carp, minnows, perch and crayfish beware! There’s an otter in town. Two at least, because Moses filmed a huge one just a few days ago and now look!

This was a little fella, long and sleek and fast. Cheryl and Jon dashed about looking for the right place to photograph as he selected the choices spots to fish. He didn’t use the gap to cross the dam (otters hate to be predictable). He crossed on the bank farthest from the street.

Our beaver pond is a haven for fish eaters. The irresistible temptation to fish that captures the fancys of teens who should know better, is even more powerful for Otters. They have nothing but success in those crowded waters, making it worth risking some human contact. He even followed a few fast fish into the round-fence filter for the flow device! I sent this picture to Skip who was very excited about the prospect of being able to demonstrate that 6×6 wire allows wildlife access to the area! He thought the filter needed a loving touch up though, and asked if he should come out before the next storm?

After the otter cleared away, the main feature came out to play. GQ came upstream with three kits in tow looking lovely. All in all it was a pretty exciting evening. What are you doing this weekend?

Photos: Cheryl Reynolds

I couldn’t leave the above title without this…

Surprising things…

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, kits, New Species August 14, 2010

Just so we don’t become too jaded and accustomed to our wondrous creek viewing, I thought I’d take a moment to list some surprising things about going to visit the beavers. The first has to be their size. Everyone gasps the same thing when GQ lumbers out of the water. “They’re so BIG!” The tail slap, if you’re lucky enough to get one, is a big surprise. I saw my first one in May of 2008 on a morning where there was a massive otter hanging out on the beaver dam. Dad slapped 19 times and I was finally able to get the last one on film!

The fact that beavers don’t eat fish or live in the dam comes as a surprise to many people at first. People are also surprised to learn that they don’t pat mud with their tails but can walk upright when they carry it. The kit tail size brings wonders of its own, and everyone seems to adore their little tail. Ahh. But beavers don’t have a monopoly on surprises. How about the way turtles leave their heads above water while they float and hang out? Or the amazing squawk of the green heron when his repose has been disturbed? Don’t forget the rapid swimming of the muskrat who appears to go right into the beaver lodge at times, or the fact that everyone uses the same passage over the primary dam. I never fail to be surprised by the huge splash that comes when a massive fish leaps out of the water. And my most recent surprise has been a reminder of how well your basic Norwegian rats can swim, and even dive!

I guess turning beavers into gold isn’t really all that surprising. It was once the driving force in opening the west. A lot of people did it. Millions of beavers were turned into gold and the entire terrain and geology of a country changed forever. Places that had never known drought became arid, and places that had once supported rich growth flooded over. Never mind that’s no surprise. Beavers were turned into gold all the time. But how about this?

Out All Night!

heidi08 kits July 21, 2010

Photo: Cheryl Reynolds

The primary pond by the main dam has been a kind of playpen for our three new kits. They get to practice swimming, diving, chewing branches, and carrying sticks in the water without actually going anywhere too dangerous or far away. We’ve had a few kit explorations as they maneuver the gap and follow where the two year-old and dad go every night, but for the most part they’ve been “campouts in the front yard” very short expeditions that usually end running home in a panic.

Last night all that changed. Check out Cheryl’s Video Debut!

Cheryl was at the dam at 7:30 when she heard something down stream and looked to see a baby come back OVER the gap. Followed by kit number two!!! Clearly the rules have changed. When Jon was out at 5:30 this morning he saw the two year old by the footpridge and a kit beside him! They both ducked under the blackberry brambles and did some feeding. The kit got his very own branch and swam home with it proudly.

Our babies are growing up! Sniff!

Photo: Cheryl Reynolds

Every night

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, kits July 11, 2010

A sleek steady beaver swims close enough to eye the people on the shore, does some brief nuzzling of a kit. gives a beaver-back ride or brings a branch, and slowly makes his or her way over the dam for some alone time. Most nights we lose sight of the two year old somewhere around the first scrape, where sneaky swimming becomes their habit. We believe they may be scent marking near the damlet, but we can’t know for sure. I have no idea what happens if a passing beaver takes him/her up on their offer. Will they move in or move on?

We know the rule is one breeding pair per colony. So we assume dad is also leaving scent marks for potentials. If the two year old gets lucky first, evolution would argue that dad would ‘retire’, although I have never read about that happening. At least two beaver experts have mentioned the possibility that Dad might breed with the two year old, if its a female, but that’s a lot to wrap our heads around. Go read Hope Ryden’s Lily pond which has a long account about why it isn’t a genetic problem if you’re interested. Sharon Brown of BWW described a widowed father beaver that was rebuffed by a yearling with an ‘I don’t think so’ and eventually found another partner. I think if the two year old is clearly working on attracting a mate, its a pretty good indication that its a boy, and that complicated issue won’t even come up.

Cheryl took this photo on Friday night. We have taken to calling the two year-old GQ (even though we can’t know the gender) because it is always so meticulously groomed and so much sleeker than Dad. GQ is not the most gentle of parents. He’s a little gruff with the kits and awkward at times. The other night he gave one of the kits such a scolding for going over the dam that no one has dared approach it for days. When you think about it, the two year-old hasn’t been around children before. Our last yearlings had new kits in the lodge with them when they were just a year old. But since our 2009 kits died he never got practice being with youngsters until now. It’s fun to watch him learn.

Photo: Cheryl Reynolds

This is clearly the “Gloria Swanson Moment” for beavers….

Montana Zoobeavers

heidi08 kits July 6, 2010

BILLINGS – This week ZooMontana welcomes two more animals to its family. Zoo keepers are calling these two month old beavers “Xena” and “Hercules,” although, they tell us they may be holding a contest to find official names for the babies. Story is the beavers were orphaned when their mother died in a dam building accident. The animals are in quarantine right now, but will be debuted for the public at Zoo-Fari on July 24

kulr8

A Dam-building accident? Really? Was mom using a crane to lift heavy steel-girders into place and one just slipped and suddenly orphaned her children? Did she accidentally fall on a long sharpened branch and impale herself? Or maybe there was a washout and she drowned? Hmm. I bet this is this the kind of ‘dam accident’ where the property owners hated beavers, destroyed the dam, and waited until they came to fix it that night before shooting everything furry they could see. The exterminating-hero(es) didn’t realize there were kits in the lodge until they came out whining and hungry. I guess that’s a kind of accident. I was thinking about the zoo’s assumption that these were ‘orphans’ given the fact our dad and 2-year old are caring for the kits now, but then I realized that the accident-causer(s) probably shot enough beavers to be certain they were ‘orphans’.

Ahhh, reminds me of the old favorite tune; “I still miss you honey, but my aim is getting better!”

Good luck, Montana. Hey, I have an idea. Why not use the interest in these adorable fuzzballs to teach visitors about the value of beaver in the watershed and to educate about the solutions to common beaver problems? Wouldn’t that be a great way to honor your ‘orphans’? Meanwhile, our logo designer, Kiriko Moth, offers this lovely update to our logo in mom’s honor. It;s very fitting, don’t you think?