Last nights visit to the beaver dam was as full of devoted beaver fans as I can remember. There was much excitement waiting for the young star to appear. One couple drove up from Hayward specifically for the viewing. Others were first time visitors who had read about it in the chronicle and wanted to stop by. A handsome yearling made the first appearance at 7:30. He is almost as big as dad, but much braver and easier to spot. He is clearly the reason we have such lovely mudwork all along the primary dam because he stopped to do a little patch job before going over.
Mom was next with her scruffy hair do and swollen eyes. She fed on willow and hunted about for her new seasonal favorite treat: sow thistle. (I just read that the plant is used in herbal remedies to treat high blood pressure and fever. Hmm) She has been seen climbing up the banks in search of June’s offering d’jour. Not sure what she loves about this scraggly plant, but she definitely loves. it. I remember because she was in the habit of swiping some from the bank next to the elections building when they were busy counting votes two Junes ago. A lot of election officials got an unexpected treat as mum scrambled up the bank and snatched a sow thistle three feet away.
Photo: Cheryl Reynolds
At 8:30 the little paddler made his dramatic entrance swimming from the the lodge past the filter and into full view. No greeting of mum this time, just a determined snatch of willow and then back to the lodge. The crowd was adoringly crushed. Is that all we’re going to get? Did you see that tail? That nose? After some more appreciative dialogue, his highness came back. This time he padded onto the dam to snatch an apricot left one of our generous-spirited homeless. He liked that so much he stuck around to take a bit of mom’s fennel, shown above.
It is possible we were watching two different kits at two different times. This visit s/he definitely seemed more confident, more “beavery” and able to scramble on his own. There was some confusion about who’s who and whether mom beaver had died, and dad had ‘remarried’. (!) I thought I’d show you the genealogy as best we know it. Dates in blue show when the kits of that year were first filmed. Red boxes indicate confirmed current lodge residents. Green boxes show the kits that died of parasite and purple show our yearlings that have successfully launched.
Got that? Now you know as much as we do about the beaver family history.
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.
Invitation?
