Beavers in Point Pelee Park could be expecting kits, officials say
Call it Baby Beaver Watch 2013.
Officials at Point Pelee National Park in Leamington are keeping a keen eye on a local beaver lodge, waiting to see if kits emerge. “We’re watching because we want to know if we’re going to have babies,” said Park ecologist Tammy Dobbie. “But at this point, we don’t even know for sure that we have a mated pair. We did see two separate beavers, but we’re not positive that they’re a male and a female.”
Well, that’s a nice way to start the spring! Beavers appreciated in a National Park! Of course they should be valued if for no other reason than the fact that they bring hundreds of other species along with them. That’s what National Parks are for right? To connect you with wild places and things?
“If there is a pair in the marsh, they would have mated already. We would have baby kits being born any day now — in March and early April,” Dobbie said. “They would emerge from the lodge in early June. That would be a real treat for visitors.”
Beavers were hunted almost to extinction but are making a comeback in southern Ontario. “They’re just now starting to come back because of less trapping and more conservation, but there are very few wetlands left,” Dobbie said. “This is a wetland with available habitat. It was just a matter of time before a prospecting beaver made its way here.”
Oh, the long nights waiting for the pitter patter of little webbed feet! I’ve been there myself, and in fact hope to be there again soon. (Three beavers seen this morning, including a little one climbing up the bank for something delicious.) Well, I’m glad the National Parks is greeting beavers with open minds at the moment. I’ll make sure to write Dobbie to make sure she has all the information she needs because we know that cordial reception could turn on a dime – er nickle.
