Published: Friday, November 21, 2014 at 05:28 PM.
Question: Coyotes howl, ducks quack, and deer snort. What sounds do beavers make?
Answer: The only sounds I have heard from a beaver are when they slap the water with their tail. It is a rare day that you walk up on beavers unnoticed. They have a keen sense of either hearing or sight. Your question prompted me to contact my wildlife biologist friends. Both Harlan Hall and Jason Allen agreed they do not have a distinct call. When caught in a trap they will growl and hiss. But most animals do that. They did comment that puppy like sounds can be heard coming from their lodge. A lodge is where a beaver family dries out and sleeps. It is there that they are protected from the weather and their predators. Swamps and all the animals that inhabit them surround their lodges. You are welcome to pursue this answer. Let me know what you find out.
Raise your hand if you think Mr. Davis is correct? Well the poor man only talked to trappers for research so we probably shouldn’t blame him. We should invite him to come to Martinez from North Carolina and have a listen around June, when kits are whining away and yearlings are starting to get jealous. Then he will find out how very wrong this answer is.
Once upon a time, an entire age ago, I didn’t know beavers made noise either. And I thought they might possibly eat fish. I remember standing at Starbucks looking into the creek just after the city said they should be killed and thinking, do the people who want them dead even know about that noise? Have they ever heard it?
And then, if I let these beavers die, when will I ever hear that sound again?
So that plaintive whining became my call to action. I thought, well I’d give the issue a weekend and try to save them. Then a week. And then, well you know the rest.
For beaver, though it hath no tongue, will speak
With most miraculous organ
