There’s a slew of stories about beavers in Anchorage viciously biting helpless dogs when pet owners take them for a walk in the mornings or evenings. The bloody tale made it onto the AP so that means it’s been picked up around the country by other journalists who are happy to pass along incomplete information that contains graphic stories of injured pets.
How can I accuse the Associated Press of misinformation? Here’s how:
Dogs have been going after beavers at University Lake so long that the beavers have drawn a line in the sand, says state Fish and Game biologist Jessy Coltrane. Come in the water near their lodge, get bitten. “They were harassed for years. And they finally said, ‘that’s it,'” said Coltrane, the Anchorage area wildlife expert.
Really? Really? Really? It’s June and this is the best explanation that the wildlife expert from Anchorage can come up with? Beaver revenge? A beaver vendetta? Are you honestly telling me not a single biologist from the entire Deparment of Fish & Game could bother to weigh in about what exactly beavers are doing at this time of year? No suggestion that there might be a slightly delicate operation in process that merits greater protectiveness? Not even one reporter thinks to raise the question?
Just “beavers are mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore”!
Sigh. Since no one in all of anchorage (or CT or MA where this story was also run) can be bothered to actually do their job I will endeavor to provide a somewhat more reasonable explanation of why beavers would suddenly be more territorial and aggressive to canine intruders. My answer is based on a complex and subtle understanding of fur-bearer biology, reproduction habits, wind direction and the tilt of the earth. Let me know if I’m going to fast for you because obviously only a RARE GENIUS COULD THINK OF THIS, certainly not a wildlife expert from Anchorage.
When beaver kits are born they require significant care. Although they can swim right away, they can’t dive to get away from predators or even to get out of the lodge or get back in without help. Beaver kits in Martinez are born in May, and temperatures in Anchorage were 50 yesterday so I’m going to guess they’re born in June there, or are very close to being born. Beavers protect their kits by using their massive incisors to fight off intruders who show up uninvited, (say big floppy-eared gallumping hounds leaping through the water when their owner lets them off leash). Beavers are usually pacifists and just avoid these intruders, but now they actively seek them out to discourage any foe from harming their kits.
From an evolutionary perspective its in the parents interest to protect the offspring. Maybe you heard something about it before?
Here’s a suggestion for even the laziest reporter which should include most of you. Google the terms “Anchorage beavers biting dogs” and check to see if this outrageous canine fatwa ever happened before? OMG! It did? When? June 2008? You don’t say!
Since its an annual occurence you might think about posting signs near the water “Caution: Dogs on leash May-June wildlife will attack to defend young”. You could take them down in July and keep them at the AP office during the year.
Grr.
If you need cheering up after that big bit of beaver-stupid, go to the right hand margin and check out our two new toys! Scroll down to follow the Keystone species story all the way to the otter!
