The graveyard shift: Beaver encounter

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:

Am I crazy or does this look like Oregon State’s angry beaver mascot?

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.

7 thoughts on “The graveyard shift: Beaver encounter

  1. Yes!! O S U……..fight, fight, fight, Er or uh, gnaw, gnaw, gnaw…! Maybe the Beaver thought enough ๐Ÿฆ† ducks in the stream, time for some beaver influence,๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ˜‰! What great pictures from the camera. I can see why you like it. Fascinating what life happens when ๐Ÿ˜ด ๐Ÿ’ค!

  2. Wow, a truly busy beaver, and yes, it does look much like the Angry Beaver of OSU. Shades of an angry raccoon I once encountered (and a midnight drive to Mary’s Peak).

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