When we stood on the bridge Wednesday night it was windy and mysterious – the kind of stormy weather brewing that made everything feel suspenseful. It was so windy that after we went home a branch from the cottonwood fell down into the park. If the tree falls and no beaver chewed it, does it make a noise?
Apparently!
I guess if you’re a beaver a high branch cracking sounds a lot like a dinnerbell, even if you have to scramble 6 steep feet to get there! Wish I could have seen beavers in the park eating this. They obviously had such full tummies that Jr. made narry an appearance last night. Sheesh!
There was some interesting followup to the officer who picked up a beaver by the tail in Illinois after he had been hiding under some office stairs for a few days. I wrote the reporter and the officer about the dangers of tail-picking. The unceremonious photo ended up on Canadian news as a national slight. And the reporter wrote:
First came the email Heidi Perryman, president and founder of Worth A Dam, who was concerned that Underwood had lifted Beaver by his tail.
“… Beavers should never be picked up by the tail, which have fragile vertebrae and are easily fractured,” Heidi wrote. “A better solution would be to secure the beaver with the pole and direct it to the open crate, since he will likely be happy to move into an enclosed space away from humans.”
Just to make one thing clear, Underwood didn’t mean to pick up the beaver by his tail. If you watch the video, Underwood was trying to slip the catch pole’s loop around the beaver’s torso, but when Beaver made a run for it, the loop tightened short of his tail.
Anyway, I responded to Heidi, and I figured that would likely be the end of Beaver’s tale (har har).
I suppose you are offering some explanation as to ‘motive’ and clarifying that this was NOT premeditated tail-picking, but in fact a second degree pluck? Obviously whether he meant to do it or accidentally did it, it’s still hurtful to the beaver and deserves a revisit of Jack Prelusky’s memorable poem:
Here’s a grainy video of the mom (?) beaver bringing home some cottonwood treats. Apparently heidi’s new camera can shoot in slowmotion if she can remember to point the lens in the right direction. Really not enough light for the beaver, but watch to the end because the water drops are lovely!
