When Jon trotted down with the dog on New Years’ eve around 4:30 there was a crowd gathered around at the Escobar bridge watching this little fellow meticulously grooming his fur without any awareness of his audience. Moses Silva was there filming of course, and very kindly gave me some photos afterwards. What a fantastic way to draw attention to Mom’s memorial! Thanks Otter! The mayor walked by on his way to the creek monkey, but if he had any impulse to look at what his constituents were watching, he gamely resisted it.
As you can see, the dedicated grooming paid off, and The nibbler eventually fluffed himself into a very warm and furry young otter. Otters are born blind and helpless but are in the water by two months. They stay with the mother for most of a year, then straggle of on their own to make their way before the new pups are born in spring. Obviously this young one was introduced to Alhambra Creek as a prime fishing spot, and came back because it was easy and familiar.
This great Egret was jealous of the spot and came to check it out for himself when the otter retired. Wow, what a creek!
Speaking of memorials, did you spot the End of the Year Highlights in the Gazette? Along with a mention of August Events that gave the beaver festival top billing over the Peddler’s Faire there was this bit of reflection.
September ended on an ignominious note for City staff after a downtown, creek-side property owner complained about the inclusion of a beaver in a new mural being painted in Main Street Plaza. When staff directed the artist to remove the beaver illustration at the behest of the property owner, word got out and area media, including the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote about the latest chapter of the “city’s conflicted relationship with its resident beaver family,” as Chronicle reporter Carolyn Jones wrote.
Did you catch that? A creek side complaint! That didn’t make the earlier reports and I suppose the rumor eventually percolated to the surface. Good Ol’ Dave Scola, taking the heat for a powerful landowner’s petulant decision AGAIN. Well, we always knew how it happened. But it’s nice to see it in print. Thanks Greta.
And our Georgia friend wrote me that Sherri’s interview plays annoyingly with every page load if you are using Chrome, and doesn’t play at all if he’s using another browser. I tried several and realized he was right. I apologize for that and will work on the fix. Sometimes I forget to check how the website is working with other browsers. We’ll get the hang of this eventually! We’re on iTunes now, so GO SUBSCRIBE, avoid the hassel and never miss an episode! And while you’re there maybe you could rate beavers kindly?
