What fun to get an alert for “Untrapped Tuesday” that featuered OUR martinez beaver in Suzi Eszterhas excellent photo of our yearling who we affectionately dubbed “Junior”, I am sorry every day that Junior met such an untimely end but he sure had a spectacular beginning.

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Untrapped Tuesday presents Eco-hero #1: The American Beaver

JACKSON, Wyo. — Did you know American Beavers are often referred to as ecosystem engineers? Long before humans thought to build the Hoover Dam, American Beavers built and altered landscapes across Wyoming. Beavers are phenomenal engineers, enriching the health of Wyoming’s ecosystems by creating and maintaining wetland habitats.

Beaver dams control water flow and quality, creating healthy ecosystems that benefit all life, including humans. The wetlands that beavers maintain increase the groundwater table, suppress wildfires, mitigate drought, and regulate flooding. Unfortunately, beavers are commonly trapped when they build their homes near humans, mainly because they are unaware of their benefits.

Don’t you just love when someone else delivers all the lines you’ve been rehearsing and you can go backstage and find something else to do? I actually do. Please make it happen more often.

Help us educate our community on the advantages of beavers. Reach out to us for non-lethal beaver management options that can keep this eco-hero on the landscape. Beavers need our protection. After all, they are protecting us. We are all interconnected. Please join us to ensure their future, our future, and the future of Wyoming through coexistence.

I’m doing what I can to HELP EDUCATE. I worked on this Thanksgiving weekend and was pretty happy with the result. Feel free to share!