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Project Noah Nature School
Castor canadensis
Beavers are mainly active at night. They are excellent swimmers and may remain submerged for up to 15 minutes. More vulnerable on land, they tend to remain in the water as much as possible. They use their flat, scaly tail both to signal danger by slapping the surface of the water and as a location for fat storage.
Thank God I got a great opportunity to photograph an entire beaver family in California. I didn't originally know we had any left, thinking they were all hunted to extinction in California. Living in a canal at the edge of Martinez and popular with the town's people, I watched them at the edge of a bank floating by me at sunset. Somewhat thankfully their eyesight is terrible and didn't realize I was there at first. One of the juveniles actually came up to me and sniffed my boot, which was awe-striking, but realizing quickly this is bad, we then had to haze it by scaring it off with yells, shouts, and loud hand claps. This kind of behavior signals human imprinting; as I was informed; the homeless like to feed them at night time. Feeding animals makes them more susceptive to human attack, abuse, or poaching. Please don't feed wild animals. The first picture is the Father and the rest are the 2 out of 3 kits they have.
Spotted on Aug 16, 2013
Submitted on Aug 28, 2013
22 Comments
Thanks Tic :)
beautiful shot
Thank you Maria :)
Great series and information! I especially like the third photo.
Thank you Mona :) Really appreciate it.
Very cool !! :) I love this series :)
Thank you Karen! :)
Fun fact! Although ungainly on land, the beaver is perfectly adapted for its aquatic lifestyle, with a paddle-shaped tail that it uses as a rudder, large webbed rear feet that act like swimming fins, transparent eyelids that function like goggles, and a naturally waterproof coat. These attributes allow beavers to swim at speeds of up to five miles an hour, and remain underwater for 15 minutes without surfacing.
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Thank you surkha, RiekoS, and Larry! Appreciate it :)
Great series Josh!
Nice!
Lovely series :)
Thank you Alice and Carol for the great comments! Appreciate it. Carol you crazy girl ;p
I LOVE SO SO MUCH!!!! A beaver is one of my favorite mammals. Don't ask me why. HA!
Like the whole series, but no. 4 is my favorite!
Thank you JasmineJ, Jemma, and Marta :) Marta, if you wait there long enough and then big ripples in the water before you see anything else, it could very well be a beaver coming out of its den. Just from the one I've seen, they built their dens directly into the side of a river bank.
wonderful series :)
Precious spotting! We have beavers in our area but so far we only see their dens and trails. I would love to see them one day!
Maybe Alhambrha creek.
Wow! I hope I will get to see them in the wild as well at some stage. Thank you for the detailed description.
I don't think so but I also don't know Martinez very well. The canal they live in is in a very small park next to a big bus and train stop.
is this the martinez marina?