Glimpses of wet fur I

Mammals are the hardest things to see in our northern woods. But it’s been a good month for furry creatures, so I thought I’d show you a few.

I have been very worried about our beaver pond, because the water levels are extremely low, and it’s not clear that the dam is being maintained. But this week I saw a beaver, out of the water (rare), sunbathing on dry land in broad daylight, with glossy healthy-looking fur. It was there two days in a row in the same spot at 9am. It must have heard me, but it was far out in the pond on a mound, and felt safe enough to ignore me.

It was grooming too, using its webbed hind feet for a good scratch:

When it eventually moved on, the tail was the last evidence of its presence as it headed off to the right into the grasses:

As I walked on, I crossed a tiny stream that flows into the pond, and to my delight there was a small dam, freshly constructed.

If you look carefully, past the dam, on the righthand shore, there is a sort of landing, where the beaver has been bringing sticks and stripping the bark for a snack.