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Native Californian, biologist, wildlife conservation consultant, retired Smithsonian scientist, father of two daughters, grandfather of 4 small primates. INTJ. Believes nature is infinitely more interesting than shopping malls. Born 100 years too late.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Wetland engineer




Beaver visited the set 7 times, and left 10 pictures over 3 week.

This was the only full body shot. 

In another photo it was munching a stem of cat tail. 

These are "bank beavers" -- they lodge in burrows dug into stream banks and levees.

My fellow camera trappers at Camtrapper.com post some very good beaver portraits with fair regularity.

For a monogamous rodent, however you'd expect to see more family shots. 

Seems they sleep together but work independently.

2 comments:

biobabbler said...

Re: last sentence: how thoroughly modern! Nice shot. Got a decent look at one at night via car (going SUPER slow). Slow creature (at the time) but charming and VERY exciting for moi.

Did you ever see that video footage of a beaver REALLY fending off a bear attack? It was AMAZING. Bear tried a few swipes ostensibly looking for an easy meal and then flinched backward as this OUTraged creature freaked out, spitting, charging, and the bear eventually left, probably thinking "Jeeze, cranky!" From a documentary years ago. Reminded me they are rodents which if necessary can be FIERCE. =)

Shervin Hess et al said...

Nice framing Chris. Looks like a good spot for a DSLR/ camera axe setup.