Always playful, incredibly hardworking, the beavers are amazing to watch.
Being nocturnal, they begin coming out around 6:30-7:00 in the evening and begin working on their dam. 

After weeks of watching, and not much really happening with the dam building, suddenly, one morning at about 5:00 AM
when I went to the pond to check on them, they were working hard, building the dam.
Two days later, I knew why - it began to rain non-stop.  The dam held.

BEAVERS MEETING AND GREETING

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT © MARK LINDQUIST / LINDQUIST STUDIOS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
NO COPIES MAY BE MADE WITHOUT PERMISSION


During the dam building, the female left her kits and came out to help.  As is customary, the beavers met in the center of the
pond and began their "beaver dance" circling each other and checking out the banks of the pond for any predators
or unwelcome guests. They met, greeted one another, then began a quick wrestle, initiated by the male who always wants to play.
They tussled above and below water for a few seconds, then then came back on top and came close together, then the female
submerged to get back to her kits. The wrestling is possibly a sign of affection, although the female does not put up with much of it.

CEMENTING THE DAM - MUD AND STRAW

Always building carefully, the beavers use tall grasses from the pond's edges along with mud from the bottom.
They layer it atop the dam and add branches and limbs.  In this sequence, the beaver muds the top of the dam
then places straw on top of the mud to help stop the coming rain from washing it all away.

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT © MARK LINDQUIST / LINDQUIST STUDIOS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
NO COPIES MAY BE MADE WITHOUT PERMISSION


















Finally after working with the mud, the beaver rinses himself then shakes like a dog.










Dinner for the kits - 6:00 AM






Finally calling it a day around 6:00 AM, the male returns upstream disappearing into the hidden lodge.

That evening, he was back at it, building the dam.
























 

WILDERNESS ART CAMP PHOTOS

ALL PHOTOS COPYRIGHT © MARK LINDQUIST / LINDQUIST STUDIOS
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
NO COPIES MAY BE MADE WITHOUT PERMISSION

Directory  |  Locations  |  Beavers  |  The Dam  |  Deer/Elk  | Birds  |  Abstracts  |  Coyote

Cedar Waxwings  |  Diving Swallows  |  Hummingbirds  |  Miscellaneous Birds

NEXT>