April 9th, 2006
the slap
This afternoon, while hiking along a creek, we caught sight of a large Beaver resting under some tall White Pines a few feet above the shore. Periodically, it would groom itself, scratching and ruffling through its coat with its front paws. We watched for a couple of minutes until it became aware of our presence and slid into the water. It then swam in long loops in the fast moving water just above a set of large culverts which carry the flow under a roadway. I shot several photos while it swam, the image below being about the best. The Beaver approached me a couple of times, and then, on one of its passes, it gave the water a big slap with its tail and dove under for a couple of seconds before resurfacing and swimming closer to me. I captured the slap on my digital camera and have converted it into a QuickTime movie (.mov file) which is about 1.9MB. As usual for these kinds of movie clips, it’s not terrific, but might be of interest to someone who has never been around a Beaver when it gives the water a slap with its tail (hope it works!). The clip has sound, so the slap can be heard above the rush of the water.
Tags: Beaver, Castor canadensis
April 10th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
Thank you for the latest photos and video. I come to your page daily now, and I am always delighted by the peek you provide this city dweller of the great wilderness that still exists out there. I am especially fascinated by your careful cataloguing of invertebrates, and how you tease out themes of particular interest from the images you share in each post.
April 10th, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Thanks for your comments, Nancy. I’m very glad to be able to bring a little piece of my world to this place to share with others. Regarding the invertebrates — yes, it’s true that I do keep fairly detailed records of my sightings — mainly through the data that is recorded on my digital photos, but also very often with GPS coordinates. I’m constantly reminded of how location, time and weather are so intertwined with the lives of invertebrates. By becoming more aware of these factors, I find it easier to both find insects, millipeds, etc.. but also to learn more about their life cycles. It all seems quite fascinating — at least to me. (-:
November 23rd, 2006 at 4:50 am
Spider are carnivores.They live and hunt.In 1997,I find a very special spider.I hope that one day this spider will have a name.