A few weeks after we had some trees cut down and limbed along the creek, we started seeing this:

It was obvious there was an active beaver (or perhaps more than one) gnawing on the limbs, but I could never catch it in the act.

So we borrowed a wildlife trail camera from the in-laws, attached it to a tree near the chewed limbs and waited a few days to see if we got anything. During the day, it looked like this:

At night, however, lo and behold, we captured this:

Technically, a rodent, the beaver is the largest rodent in North America. They are active mainly at night, which explains why I never saw it during the day. They eat the bark off trees as well as cattails and other aquatic vegetation. This one seemed to be most active between 2 and 3 a.m.

So far, all they’ve done is gnaw on the cut limbs. They haven’t built a dam. I’m fairly sure they actually live a bit farther down creek and only visit here at night.

They say beavers mate for life, and I think there may be a couple of them on our creek, so I’m wondering if we might capture some offspring if I put the camera in the right place.

I’m having fun with the trail camera. I’m hoping to capture some otters and coyotes. There’s such an abundance of wildlife out here, and unfortunately, these critters seem to be most active when we’re asleep. The trail camera gives us the chance to see what’s going on out there even in the wee hours of the morning. Stay tuned.