The setting Hunter’s Moon is brightly outside my window as I type, so if you missed here’s a recap. Even though it is apparently as far away as it can possibly be it still manages to pack a wallop
In the beaver world there are two wonderful things to discuss. First and foremost this photo which was posted by our european friends and shows a fateful street in the capital of Latvia.
Allow me to contend this is one of the single finest photos in the known world. It does a far better job than any of us could hope achieve to say that the beaver population is rebounding and urban beavers are coming to a city near you soon whether you like it or not. Notice, if you will, the cobblestones and micro bus nearby. As well as the busy city streets and office buildings. There are even electrical wires for a crossing cablecar,
The beaver in question walked all around that tree to chew, in a dark city street for hours, but stopped just sort of the prize. Did the street cleaner interrupt? Or an approaching car of workers ready to start their day? Or was it left on purpose for a young beaver to take down easily tomorrow night and feel proud? I will never get tired of wondering, and never tire of looking at this wonderful photograph. Nor should you, Enjoy.
Which leaves is time for this fine article from Colorado by Dave Hallock of the Eldora Mountain Ear. Somethng tells me that having Sherri Tippie as a neighbor for a few years has rubbed off.
A look at nature: Leave it to beaver
Beavers are the engineers of the animal world. They build dams, lodges and canals to regulate water levels that provide shelter and access to food. Their dams raise the water table and increase the size of wetlands, benefiting the many animal species that depend on them, such as waterfowl and neotropical migratory birds that nest in willows (Wilson’s warblers, yellow warblers and dusky flycatchers to name a few).
Beavers can have profound effects on the stretches of stream they inhabit, as well as areas downstream. By raising the water table, they expand the size of wetlands. Beaver enhanced wetlands, with their mosaic of willow and birch shrublands, ponds and emergent vegetation, are some of the richest breeding bird habitats in Colorado. They are nodes of high biodiversity. Beaver dam complexes help catch and retain flood waters and sediment. In essence, they help manage watersheds. They help retain more water on our local landscape. During these times of global warming, that is a significant benefit to having them around.
Think of beaver as a legal way to keep more water on our landscape. And for this one factor alone, besides all the other benefits, try to see them more as helping to maintain a healthy ecosystem and less as a nuisance.
Isn’t that a fine sentiment? Good work, Sherri. We here at Worth A Dam couldn’t agree more, Dave.
