"THE THISTLE EATERS"

Beaver (North American) - 6 Photos

You watch long and often enough, you might see something you haven't witnessed before & personally weren't aware.

That happened one evening, just after a rain shower. Four of the six beaver family members had made their way to one end of their pond, where there is a small peninsula. It was all about eating that first part of the evening. There were some trips back to the lodge with grass & small leafy branches, but each trip was followed by a return to the little peninsula and eating.

There were lush grasses & willows in and around the area where the beavers were feasting, easily accessed on land & in the water. But these were not for what the beavers were searching. It was a Canada Thistle which is designated as a noxious weed in Alberta. It wasn't the plants that were in flower that the beavers were harvesting and eating. It was the new ones, the beavers chose and the larger, the better. So forget about all that other delicious soft greenery.

The plants might have been new but those wavy leaves have prickles or thorns growing from their edges. And from personal experience, you generally feel their thorny leaves well before you actually see the plant. 

But for a beaver whose diet consists partly of bark, leaves & rough wood, a few thorns are probably not an issue. Only the beavers know what makes the thistles such a delicacy and what taste buds they appeal to. That small group of beavers were reminiscent of children in a candy store, looking for and choosing just the right treats.

And then eventually it was back to the lodge and onto work matters.

Domestic goats are used in Alberta to manage invasive weed species, like the Canada Thistle, through targeted grazing. Beavers definitely can't eat anywhere near the quantity consumed by a herd of goats but every bit helps, particularly in those wetland areas. And what could be better than really enjoying what you eat while helping the environment. :)

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