Life is flammable and I think we need a sweet news day. Let’s start out with Vanessa Petro of OSU telling me I wasn’t wrong.

Vanessa Petro

You both are correct. Beavers in captivity can live up to 25 years of age (the Zhou et al. 2020 genome work is referring to this for the maximum lifespan) and beavers in the wild will average around 10-12 years based on results from several peer reviewed age structure, colony composition, and reproduction studies conducted across the U.S. Some have found 18-20 year old females in the wild, but this is rare. I believe the oldest beaver on record lived to be 30 years old in human care per the Smithsonian.

Thank you Vanessa! And thank you Emily for a very interesting couple of days! Don’t worry there’s more good news than that. How about the High Desert Museum?

My father was an avid traveler, mostly to far places you can never hope to name, but one of his favorite places to stop on his many trips up and down the pacific coast was the High Desert Museum in Bend Oregon. He was particularly enamored of the porcupine display – especially  the adorable little noises he would emit in protest when one of the squirrels stole his carrot. Well recently we were approached by Louise Shirley who is working on a new exhibit for that VERY museum. An exhibit all about our favorite subject. I’ll let her explain,

I’m the curator of natural history for the High Desert Museum, a non-profit in Bend, Oregon, and I’m excited to be curating a temporary (8-9 month) exhibition called Dam It! Beavers and Us, about the beaver, our history with this remarkable rodent, and its ecological role. The primary aim is to foster a sense of appreciation and stewardship. Promoting coexistence, particularly in the arid West, feels vital.

 I think your website is fantastic and I appreciate the updates you post to the beaver management Facebook group, too. Thank you so much for the great work you’re doing, and so tirelessly! I’m writing to ask if I might please be able to feature a few of your photos in the exhibition (with credit to you as the photographer, of course). I’d particularly appreciate any of beaver colonies or kits, for a display that will describe the life stages of an individual beaver. Thanks for your consideration!

So of course I chatted with Cheryl, who was in agreement that it was a great place to share our photos, and I sent Louise a palate to choose from. I also suggested she might use the Ecosystem poster I designed and she was very grateful and thought that was a PERFECT idea and a great way to get the idea across.