Dispersal – Worth A Dam

Yesterday morning Mom beaver was seen chewing willow with another, mostly adult beaver that was not dad. We were thinking our three yearlings, not seen since March, had moved on to seek their fortunes. Apparently at least one of them is still around.

Yearlings “disperse” around their second year and head off looking for territory of their own. They will go anywhere from 2-30 miles away looking for a place to call home. Sometimes you hear the very strong belief that “beavers always go down stream from their parents”, but obviously if that were true by now all the beavers in the world would be in the ocean. In fact, several dissertations have been done on this subject, and it turns out that slightly more yearlings go upstream than downstream, but that the ones that go upstream are more likely to come back.

“Coming back” is an interesting thing beaver families allow. Although they wouldn’t let another beaver move into the territory, they will let yearlings come back and hang out with the colony for a while. Every family member recognizes them by their scent. Beavers are the only animal besides porcupines where the females “disperse” for greater distance than the males. This again speaks to how importantly the beaver family is a matriarchal society. It’s important to note that as unlikely as it seems, dispersal also happens over land. Beavers walk their way to freedom, and often when we are at displays or events the most prominent story we hear from strangers is that “once they saw a beaver hit by a car.” In fact, more people have probably seen a dead beaver than a live one, I guess because they stay still longer.

At any rate, one of our yearlings is in the lodge still, and whether this means he didn’t ever leave, or he’s come back to try again, we have a family of at least three, possibly more. Interestingly mom was seen swimming upstream last night, past Starbucks, past ward street and towards where the creek is under cement. Not sure what that’s about, but very interesting to ponder.

“If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose,” the Walrus said,
“That they could get it clear?”
“I doubt it,” said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

Lewis Carrol

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Last week the Winnipeg free press ran a puzzled column about why there were so many recent reports of beavers seen on sidewalks and streets. The blogger, Ace Burpee, a radio personality, wrote that he would get to the bottom of the mystery and find the answer. (He especially got my attention by writing the secret code words, ‘beavers are awesome’.)

Since we received the first phone call late last week about a beaver roaming the streets around Main and Higgins, many more have followed. I’m now up over a dozen calls and e–mails on confirmed beaver sightings on streets and sidewalks in the last week. This is bizarre. One report is intersting. The second report means we might be on to something… but once you hit double digit reports it’s officially a trend. Beavers strutting down Marion. Beavers walking down streets in St. B nowhere near a body of water. Beavers are the greatest thing in the world, but I’m concerned. There are a ton of questions here.

So I tracked down Ace at the radio station and wrote him about overland dispersal. I explained it was the ‘launching’ time for the almost two year-olds, before the new kits are born, to go and seek their fortune. While it was startling, it was perfectly normal and happened every year at this time. He was thrilled to get an explanation that made sense and posted my email on his next column. Another beaver fan in Winnipeg which is always good to know.

Since I first wrote about the oddly high number of beavers–walking–down–sidewalks sightings, I’ve received a ton of e–mail on the subject. Hundreds of people have seen beavers recently, none of them in the water. They’re downtown. They’re walking down Marion. They’re in backyards in Riverview. They’re everywhere you wouldn’t expect them to be. This seemed odd to me, but apparently it is not. I got a detailed e–mail from Heidi Perryman, Ph.D., the President & Founder of Worth A Dam. She knows about beavers. She wrote the following:

“Hi Ace! And I hope I can help with some answers. The walking beavers being seen are probably ‘dispersers’. Around the time before the new kits are born the yearlings (almost two years old) of a colony go off to seek their fortune. They can go by water or quite far over land to find a new place to start a life for themselves. Dispersal is, for obvious reasons, the most dangerous time in a beavers life. No shelter, no family and no idea where they will end up. Actually beavers are one of the few species where females go farther afield than males, probably to be more sure of food supply for a new family. Unless you have some new massive change in waterways, they are doing what they do every year, and its normal for the season.”

There you go. Beavers are just being beavers. If you see one, do nothing. They have a plan. And they’re awesome.

Ahhh music to my ears. Thanks Ace! You can bet we will be asking for your help the next time we read a story like this about beavers in your neck of the woods.