Humongous Blaine beaver removed from watershed ditch

Rice Creek Watershed District staffers recently received a big surprise when they learned a trapper had taken an unusually large beaver from a Blaine ditch.

An adult beaver in the wild can reach 60 pounds. This 75-pound version of Minnesota’s largest rodent was recently pulled from a section of Anoka-Ramsey Judicial Ditch 1, near a stormwater pond not far from the end of Dunkirk Court N.E. and a residential area in Blaine.

You know how sometimes you find something rare and special that no one has seen for 50 years and maybe no one will see again? Something that should be on the cover of National Geographic and explored by a team of scientists so we could understand how its rare specialness came to be?  And its so gosh darn rare and special that you KILL it?

Yeah, me neither. Well, Blaine Minnesota sure does, because they’re celebrating that the trapper they hired to keep their ditches clear caught a big one. Actually, even though 75 lbs is big for an adult beaver, it’s probably not that rare. Plus its the beginning of winter and he hasn’t lived off his food cache for three months. We’ve always said that in Dad’s biggest strongest days he was 70 lbs. And when mom’s emaciated body was weighed at her death she still weighted 39 lbs. So on a good day she must have been 60, which means Dad (who was always gasp-inducingly bigger) must have been 70.

Well, this fine strong patron is gone now.

This is my favorite line from the story, demonstrating the super inteligence of the ditch supervisor who championed the assault.

People think beavers are rare because they don’t see them, Schmidt said.  “They are nocturnal,” he said. “Most of their activity is dawn to dusk. They need open water to enter their lodge. Without the open water, they will die. Right now, it’s kind of panic time for them, because beavers are getting ready for winter.”

Further proof that reporters dutifully write down whatever they’re told without any applying any thinking whatsoever. “Most of their activity is DAWN to DUSK?” Is that really what nocturnal means? Isn’t most of OUR activity from dawn to dusk? Does that mean we’re nocturnal?

Or does that just mean that Ditch captain Schmidt is an idiot?

Here’s some good beaver news from  a nearby M state to cleanse the palate.