Yesterday morning we drove with Mary back from st. George up to Cedar city, cold and crisp at 6000 feet. We checked into our very delightful hotel and tried to recover from our somewhat less delightful hotel the nights before. We may be out of state, but are certainly not forgotten.  I received this video from Robin Ellison in Napa who just wanted to verify that this was definitely mother beaver. See for yourself and you can guess what I answered.

 

Then I got an email from Vladimir Dinets, a Russian born zoologist and the author of this book who had  gotten my name from Suzy Esterhaus after hearing there were beavers in the bay area. He wanted to include them in his new book and  wondered where to see our beavers. He came down Saturday night and was thrilled with his immediate success.

Thanks a lot for the tip! We visited the site last night, and saw at least 3 different beavers under the footbridge. They are amazingly tame! I was surprised to see them in a place with almost no trees, but we didn’t explore the area much. I’m certainly coming back for a better look! What’s the best time to see the young of the year?

Score another point for the most famous beavers on the planet!  I will try to see if we can show him where the baby is hanging out these days.

Then I got an great summary from Mike Settell of their Beaver Dam Jam in Idaho. I want pictures but this will have to do for now.

To Heidi and all of our Flat-tailers:

 We did it!  We pulled off the first annual Beaver Dam Jam (Idaho)! “Thank you” x 9!  To those who weren’t able to come, fear not, there is always next year.  To those who were able to make the transit:  Great time, eh?    We even had a belted kingfisher show up for the Mink Creek tour, on queue!

 Thank you especially those who bid on auctions items… you helped put us over the top.  If you have not paid or picked up your item, please e-mail or call me 232-0825 

Thank you to everyone who helped and made this a success.  We could not have pulled this off without the support of some very special friends who had faith in our cause….that beaver are worth more to us than the $15 pelt.

There’s an update on the explorer of the world’s largest beaver dam that makes me a little less irritated with him. Someone obviously sat him down and explained what tail-slapping means.

Meet the first person to explore the world’s largest beaver dam

“It came out and started slapping its tail to let the other beavers know that something was wrong, and to stay away,” 

But my favorite part is the Cree Elder who was the only one willing to give him a boat ride and told him how to mark the area he wanted to be picked up by chopping a willow.

his quixotic quest earning him a few laughs and polite declines—before finding a 79-year-old Cree elder willing to make the trip. Mark told him to come back for him in seven days, but worried about how the man would know where to pick him up amid the tall reeds blocking the lake. The elder, said Mark, gave him an axe to cut down a willow tree. It was, for the otherwise fearless Mark, a real moment of panic. “ ‘That’s my extrication plan? A willow?’ ” 

And finally a shout out to our old friends at Castoro Cellars who decided to donate 10,000 or the proceeds of beaver stock to education. Even after they donated tickets to us! It just goes to show that beaver people are GOOD people. Drink up!