Leave It to Beaver at Juanita Beach

If you’ve ever walked along the old roadway turned boardwalk at Juanita Bay Park and looked into the watery marsh, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a beaver dam on the east side of the walkway. If you are lucky, you may have caught a glimpse of the furry rodent.

While I was walking in Juanita Beach Park’s west end at the creek this morning, I caught a glimpse of the elusive little guy. This quiet part of the park was only occupied by a few pairs of ducks. The stillness of the scene was only jarred by the unmistakable paddling tail of a little beaver motoring his way up the creek. I tried to snap a photo of him but he wasn’t in the mood to say ‘cheese’. So, no luck in the photo department. The one above is compliments of Wikipedia.

 I like that Juanita Beach Park has both active areas with beach volleyball, swing sets and kids playing in the grass, yet a stone’s throw away, one can see ducks and beavers swimming around in their own world.

Here’s the thing. If I’m reviewing an article about destroying a beaver dam, flooding, trapping, blocked culverts or getting rid of beavers it could pretty much be from state – East,  North, South, West, you name it. But if it’s an article about enjoying beavers – standing and watching them in a city park, it could pretty much only be from two places. Washington or  maybe Vermont.

Hint: It’s mostly Washington.

Someday that will change. Some day California will be as smart about beaver as our pacific cousins. Some day they’ll be a beaver blogger writing about how wise Martinez is and why can’t we all be like that? But for now we will just enjoy a reporter enjoying beavers in his creek. Makes a nice change!