I was doing some more research on the topic of urban beavers, and was really surprised to come across this bold sentence on a page called “What can beavers do for you?”:
TWC is collaborating with the guidebook authors to add a chapter focusing on urban beaver in the next version of the book to be released next summer.
Of course, all kinds of bells immediately sounded in my brain. Hurray! More people talking about urban beavers! And then: Exactly who ELSE was doing this topic and were they trying to release their chapter before we got around to ours and steal our thunder? Had I tipped our hand by writing about it here and been hoisted on my own petard? Then I put my speculations away and actually read a little more closely.
TWC stands for “The Wetlands Conservancy” and if that sounds vaguely familiar it should. Hmm, who’s the Urban Land Steward for the organization? Kaegan Scully-Englemeyer who just happens to be one of the co-authors of the chapter. Our chapter. That chapter I’m working on. Duh.
OHHHH, okay then.
Guess what I found next? A very lovely column from an old friend.Well not that old, but Simon Jackson of Ghostbear photography was kind enough to donate some of his remarkable images to the auction at the festival in 2014. And pleased when we noticed that his awesome photo was of a nursing female, which he hadn’t seen before. He was a great sp0rt so that makes him pretty friendly.
An Ode to Urban Beaver
The odd thing about this article featured in the Yellowstone Daily is that it allows me to copy the photos but not the text. Which is the opposite of what you’d expect for photos of this caliber. Of course I found a way to do it anyway, but still, it’s odd. It’s hard to see how Urban it is because it just looks beautifully snowy. But I trust Simon, don’t you? Here the beaver is surrounded on either side by photographers.
The amusing thing was that this cooperative beaver disliked Simon’s fiance for reasons known only by the beaver. And would get upset every time she tried to watch him. This bit of beaver quirkiness made me smile.
It’s a lovely article and a fine study of urban beavers. Go check out the whole thing here, and let’s keep our eyes peeled for when our own UB’s return, which I’m feeling right now that they will!
