"POND PATROL"

Beaver (North American) - 3 Photos

This is a sequel to the previous blog, "BABY ON BOARD", August 28th, 2023.

So the next morning I headed out to where I had spotted the mink the day before, hoping to have more mink sightings. 

Before I had had a chance to sit down, there was the unmistakable sound of a beaver slapping its tail against the water. And then once I had settled in, there was another slap. Yes, there definitely was a beaver in the pond and close by.

I have seen beavers out at this time of the year (around 9:00 a.m.) but generally they are on their way home to their main lodge from a night/early morning of dam repairing, eating, etc. This beaver was actively patrolling, travelling the full extent of this particular pond including the individual water channels and the area near the small disused beaver lodge where the mink had disappeared the day before. 

Occasionally it took a break in a shaded area to groom and at several points, it almost appeared to be napping, taking that beaver position of sitting, with its stomach protruding. This time, however, its head was low to its chest and eyes closed. Have never actually seen a beaver nap! :)

There were at least four complete patrols and they lasted until 11:30 a.m. (No wonder this poor beaver was tired. It was well passed its bedtime.)

On one of those last patrols, the beaver swam around to where I was sitting (next to the little lodge) and popped up (Photo #1 through to Photo #3) and looked directly at me before diving back down.

It then swam across to the wooded area, where it exited the pond and walked down a little dirt path through the trees. I believe this path leads into a water meadow where the beaver could then cross one of its dams and head home.

And no, there was not a mink to be seen. In fact, there was no sign of a mink all day. Lots of fish breaking the surface, though.

These beavers do patrol the full extent of the pond network on a nightly basis. However, I have not seen a beaver in this pond since very early Spring and generally it's the youngsters in the early evening. Because of the minimal rainfall this Summer, this area has been somewhat difficult for the beavers to traverse from their lodge. Was it coincidental that only the day before, a mother mink had taken up residence in the small beaver lodge and a beaver was sent out to check out the area?

Unlike muskrats, mink are not welcome visitors to beaver lodges and definitely not welcome as lodgers. Mink can easily prey on baby beavers so any intrusion would result in a beaver defense and friends in the past have witnessed a beaver taking on a mink on top of a lodge.

So if this was a reconnaissance mission, who was the CI (Confidential Informant)??? Was it the scent of the mink alone? Mustelids have a very strong distinct odour. Or was it one of the Mallard Ducks who inhabit the pond? :) :)  I know they were very vocal in quacking the times the mink appeared in the water the day before, which had alerted me. And why did that beaver swim over and give me the once over! :) :) :) 

Only Nature knows the truth of what happens out there. 

PHOTO #1

PHOTO #2

PHOTO #3