Backyard visitors - beaver

Walkabout

Walkabout

Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
637
Hi,

This beaver pair just finished stopping by... it was great to watch them. I live on the Red River in Manitoba, and am fortunate to have such scenes in my back yard. It also means that any trees I plant back there need wire mesh around their trunks :)

beaver1.jpg


beaver3.jpg


beaver4.jpg



In this photo the beaver had just done a loud "slap" of its tail and was headed under:

beaver2.jpg
 
Walkabout Great pictures. They are always fun to watch. I have had some great chances to watch them. Doug
 
Love the pics. I rarely ever see em out of the water like that, very cool.


Those tail slaps they do(I assume in an attempt to threaten anyone around, or to warn other beavers someones in the area) drive my dog crazy. She's chased beavers around the water, swimming after the slaps. I leash her when we're in beaver territory now. Worries me a little bit, it's probably a fight my dog would lose, at least if they were in the water.
 
Awesome pictures! I have never seen a beaver in person. Thanks for sharing!
 
I've been reading alot of threads about beav's lately. I personally have encountered them, but interesting creatures. Kinda ugly and cute at the same time... Thanks for the pics.
 
I was hoping for a completely different kind of beaver, but cool pics nevertheless. ;)
 
Great photos! Love that 2nd one, its a classic 'Are you looking at me?'shot.
 
Sign me up--great photos and a great eye. My yard doesn't sustain enough water to support a beaver; we have an intermittent creek that forms after rainfall, but nothing to interest a beaver. They are common in my area, though, as are muskrats. I get just about everything else: skunk, possum, hawks, squirrels, raccoons, robins, cardinals, all sorts of sparrows, owls (barn and great horn), ducks, bats, geese (the dog loves them), rabbits... and we can get any/all of these in the span of a day. Coyotes and foxes are very common in our area, but haven't seen any signs of them in my yard. These are all very good signs of a happy ecosystem.
 
the splashes, as far as I can tell are a warning to the others. I've been told that within 30 seconds of them splashing, they are looking for you, nose and eyes above water, without a ripple, to determine if you are a threat.
Another point, beaver have, and will kill dogs, no matter how tough, or big your dog is, if it gets in the water with the beaver, it's in a lot of trouble. Beavers can adjust their buoyancy (learned this from some old trappers) and can stay down while fighting for about 10 minutes, dogs can't, also a beaver's fur keeps them warm where as the dog will likley be getting cold quickly. beavers seem to have an "evade first" mentality, and all of the people I know who have had dog lost to beavers it's because the dog caught the beaver, then it fought back.

I've been told by some old woodsman where I grew up that the only animal that will mess with a beaver on land is a black bear, or a wolverine, and that they have seen coyotes walk right passed working beavers as though they weren't there, they know better.

Hate for someone to loose a friend to an overgrown water rat!
 
Nice, they're a nuisance back around my parents' house, people trap em and shoot em. I spend more time on rivers here in Idaho than on lakes, I grew up in Wisconsin and have alot of prior lake experience, so obviously along with that came beavers and muskrats. Now I see river otters moreso than anything, it's a refreshing change of pace. They're alot of fun to watch, very playful.
 
That's cool. You guys up in the north have it made. All we get in the back yard down here are poisonous snakes, alligators, and other people's dogs.
 
C_Kyle said:
That's cool. You guys up in the north have it made. All we get in the back yard down here are poisonous snakes, alligators, and other people's dogs.
Click to expand...

Don't forget anorexic deer, swamp bears and worm-ridden wild hogs. Lots of turtles and insects the size of small dinosaurs, as well-most of which are poisionous and out to kill you.
 
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