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It has been incredible getting the chance to explore the world that our beavers created. Every time I go to the pond I am amazed by how it is just filled with life. So many animals use the pond for water, food, shelter or as a passageway; I can’t even walk two feet without a colorful hummingbird zooming right by my face! And, now that we have the game cameras, I have been able to see so many animals that I wouldn’t have ever expected to be by the pond. So, as a treat to all you beaver brigaders, here are some sneak-peaks at all the animals that keep our beavers company.

I hope you enjoyed these glimpses of life in the pond! Stay tuned for more beaver updates and cute animal pictures 🙂

Beavers mate for life and like to live in close family groups called colonies. They’re super social animals, like us; they groom each other and the young beaver play and wrestle. We’re lucky enough to have a tight knit family of healthy beavers right here in Atascadero. We can see that Mom and Pop beavers are well-fed, and they have two adorable babies!

When baby beavers are born they stay safe in the lodge drinking their mom’s milk and growing for the first several weeks. But they quickly start exploring around and learning everything it takes to keep a dam up and running, because pretty soon they’ll move out! After two or three years, most beavers leave home to find a mate and create a lodge of their own (seems pretty young if you ask me!).

Did you know… baby beavers are called kits? It’s true, beavers are usually born in early spring, so our kits are probably getting ready to turn six months old! I don’t want them to ever grow up and leave the pond, but momma beavers keep having babies nearly every year and can have up to 6 kits. So if we’re lucky, we’ll have baby beavers here for years and years 🙂

I can’t even begin to explain the excitement of getting to see OUR very own beavers! It is so special.

I have seen lots of beaver footage, and have enjoyed every bit of them, but nothing quite compares to getting to see the beavers that created the environment that I love so much.

Feeling super appreciative for the gifts of technology, visiting experts and beavers continuing to follow their natural instincts to survive. Here are a few glimpses for your enjoyment.

It is understandable, the Atascadero Mutual Water Company is tired of removing couches and shopping carts out of the river bed, saying they pull about a dozen of each out each week! Yikes. The homeless encampment along the river is getting large, cutting holes in their fences, using the river as their bathroom.

The Atascadero Mutual Water Company owns the access to the river bed on the de Anza Trail, the one we use to access our beaver dams. And now they are threatening to close access to the river because of the work involved with dealing with the homeless encampments.

This is such a tricky issue. I have a soft spot for the homeless population here. It is so expensive to live in this county and if I were homeless, I would want to live near the river also. I don’t think kicking them out is a solution. Would these homeless go to a shelter if there was more rooms available? Should we help fundraise for the homeless shelters in our county? Should we encourage our city to provide bathroom facilities in the vicinity of the river? Should our naturalist community contribute to a county-wide education campaign to educate the homeless on how to shit in the woods? Is the world ready to learn how to compost Humanure ? and here ?

I just have questions. This is what I will be looking into in the near future. If you have suggestions or some energy to contribute in this realm, reach out to me. We can combine forces.

Thanks.