Beaver Fever

[Blundstoned Love]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-37616970

This story made me laugh.

Some pictures of the damage would have been good, but online journalists are rubbish.

I suspect that it's human beavers.

That came out wrong - you know what I mean.

 

[jmagee]

So how does one become a beaver expert?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk

 

[Tengu]

I dunno, but A. Belaney was.

He didnt even know much about castor, either.

 

[Bishop]

Any beaver prepared to gnaw down a tree then drag it across a main road and a field to reach water is not to be messed with.

 

[Robson Valley]

Just out of curiosity, are those beaver contaminated with the Gairdia parasite?
Infections here are NOT trivial.

 

[boatman]

I believe they have been given a clean bill of health.

 

[Blundstoned Love]

I believe they have been given a clean bill of health.

No, that was the Platypus also spotted in the vicinity.

 

[Arya]

But they really are a busy species these days. They are obviously doing some home decoration or expanding here, because they have taken down quite a lot of trees here these last few weeks.
They seem to love Birch in particular. Come to think about it, I´ve never seen a pine or spruce tree taken down by beaver, only leaf trees.

 

[Robson Valley]

Birch is sweet wood = reasonable sugar content which can be rendered down for syrup (nice smoky birch flavor). Also fermented as beer & wine (skull-buster.)
Aspen poplar and the twigs on cottonwoods have edible bark (for a beaver).
I don't think that they care at all for the sticky sap resins of the conifers.

They're building a lot now to increase the pond water depth before winter freezes the surface.
Here, they plug the culverts and use the logging road itself as the dam.
Then the water level is high enough to flood the road, to erode the road, to destroy the road
as the road bed becomes water-saturated.

 

[Arya]

That makes sense Even humans love Birch juice, no wonder they do to.
I have to say that I am fond of these big rats. I hope I get to see them in action again before the end of this week. Sleeping bag+food+patience= Beaver show!

 

[Robson Valley]

I hope that you do, too. Have had them come out of the water and sit 2-3m away with food twigs.
Absolutely silent as I was focussed on fishing.
Some photographers will wreck a short length of dam to get their attention to fix it.

Have you got porcupine in Norway?

 

[Arya]

2-3 meter away? That is amazing! Lucky you!
Wreck the dam...Possibility of getting pictures in adequate light...Oh don´t put ideas in my head now!

No, we don´t have porcupines here. The closest thing is maybe our tiny hedgehog?

 

[Robson Valley]

Yeah, has happened just twice with me too stupid to comprehend my surroundings.
Local beaver like carrots, tops and all.
If you get to see them cut down a big tree, watch for them to harvest all the small top branches.
Out in the pond, they will dive to anchor that stuff in the muddy bottom = food for over the winter
when the pond is frozen over. There's an air shaft in the lodge.

Adult porcupine are beaver-size and bigger. They doze off in the winter like squirrels but do get out and about to eat tree twigs.