Price Edward Island looms large in my mind for exactly two reasons. The first because it was home of the very famous fictitious town of Avonlea where Lucy Maud Montgomery set the story of her delightful heroine “Anne of Avonlea” in 1908. The beloved book has been translated into 36 languages and sold over 50 million copies, and is foremost among the things every slightly imaginative child reads in her early years.
The second thing I learned about P.E.I. is that it has a notoriously complicated relationship with beavers – even to the point of insisting at one time that they weren’t native to the island. Their intolerance and ignorance of beavers is among one of the first things I ever came to learn on this twisted journey. Like you, I had once thought they were impervious to the things that other parts of Canada had learned in regards to their value.
Mark today on the calendar because that might not be true any more.
11 things you always wanted to know about beavers on P.E.I.
Beavers have been in the news on P.E.I. recently — some have been busy builders in Bedeque and another was a visible victim of illness in the P.E.I. National Park.
“Beavers are almost ubiquitous, and virtually every watershed in the province would have some presence of beavers,” says Garry Gregory, a P.E.I. wildlife biologist with Forests, Fish and Wildlife who agreed to share his extensive knowledge of beavers.
Did you catch that? Not only do beavers belong here, but they belong practically everywhere! Garry Gregory is that remarkable biologist that knows his beavers. In fact, of the 11 facts he gives the paper only ONE of them is obviously incorrect. (After 11 years of reading beaver misinformation I am definitely grading on a curve – he gets an A in my book.”. Fact #7 is my personal favorite.
“If a beaver is present in a wetland, it’s not hard to tell,” Gregory said.
Beavers can’t help their natural instinct to build dams to protect themselves, Gregory said. They also build dams in order to flood land.
“A beaver is a bit clumsy on land, but if it can swim to its food, then it’s much more readily available to him,” Gregory explained. “So he’ll flood a large area to create a large surface area of pond.”
Not only do beavers want their ponds to be wide, they also want them deep, Gregory said. Since they do not hibernate, they need water to be deep enough that the water doesn’t freeze all the way to the bottom.
While dams and flooding can be a nuisance, the positive part of the beaver’s natural industry is that dams create a lot of wetland habitat for species such as songbirds and bats.
“So they’re incredibly important landscape architects,” said Gregory. “Sometimes it’s a bit overlooked, their importance.”
I also like how the article has several photos and NOT ONE of them is a nutria or muskrat or prairie dog! Practically unheard of!
His one mistaken fact is about how long beavers can hold their breath – he says only 4-5 minutes which is true for the otter but not for the beaver which can, as you know, hold its breath three times longer. I’m okay with that mistake because if people think they need to be MORE careful about letting beavers breathe that’s cool with me. (I was way more upset by the snapple lid that once upon a time said they could hold their breath for 45 minutes! Sheesh! Lawsuit waiting to happen!)
Welcome to the beaver defenders club, Garry. We are so glad to have you! As Anne herself one wisely noted:
