Nocturnal Swimming Rodents


There’s a place on the Park Loop Road at Acadia National Park where people often stop to look at Bear Brook Pond.  When a tour bus stops it attracts attention and many cars stop too.  People wonder, “What are they looking at?”  It isn’t a bear.

Bear Brook Pond, nestled against the flank of Champlain Mountain, is also called Beaver Dam Pond for good reason.  Near its far edge is a huge mound of sun-bleached sticks that’s an unusual sight for most of Acadia’s visitors.  It’s even unusual to me.

In southwestern Pennsylvania we have beavers but we don’t have many ponds.  Our beavers tend to make their homes in creek and river banks, usually around the roots of overhanging trees.   One such place is at the big bend in Raccoon Creek at the Raccoon Creek Wildflower Reserve.  Over the years the beavers have felled the trees on the floodplain and dragged them into a pile in the creek below an overhanging tree.  It’s not a lodge in the classic sense but it serves their purpose.

Every time I visit the Wildflower Reserve I’m amazed at the changes to the beavers’ home.  During floods the creek piles more debris against their structure or it sweeps part of their home away.  This undoubtedly keeps them busy all the time but I never see them.  They work at night.

Which brings me back to Acadia.  Though beavers are nocturnal, there are always a few cars stopped at the pond and people standing by the road hoping to see them.  I have never seen a beaver there — I always show up at the wrong time — but I stop too.  Maybe some day I’ll see one as close as in this photo.

(photo from Wikimedia Commons of a beaver in Canada.  Click the photo to see the original)

7 thoughts on “Nocturnal Swimming Rodents

  1. Kate — Beaver dams are so cool! When I was at Prince Gallitzen State Park near Ebensburg PA many many years ago… there was a huge dam. The best time to catch the beavers… right before sunrise. Maybe you can try that at Acadia. Good luck.

  2. I did not know that beavers were nocturnal. When I was in Utah visiting my daughter and family we fished at a lake near their cabin. One of the fishermen in waders came close to a beaver’s den and out came two large beavers smacking their tails on the water. I guess that smacking was a warning to get away from their den? Maybe they had young? Of course the fisherman moved away fast — he said he did not want a confrontation with them. Anyway because of that incident I just assumed that beavers swam around during the day. I always learn great facts of nature from bloggers like you — barbara

  3. Schenley Pool has a a resident groundhog population. One of our regular “adult swim” folks had some houseguests from Germany recently, and when they saw one of the groundhogs, they were sure it was a beaver! He tried to explain the difference and that beavers don’t live at Schenley Pool — plus, they’re much bigger than the groundhog! — but he’s not sure they quite got it.

  4. Groundhogs are endemic in Sq. Hill. We see them routinely (or only one many times, since they’re solitary) in our back yard. My sort-of-scary observation on 8-30-10 about 5:30 pm was a “large mangy rug” in the first floor parking garage of the Market District on Centre Av. It wasn’t until he moved under a car that I realized what it was. I alerted a man taking a break, and told him to call a manager–or ANIMAL CONTROL. These guys can be nasty. They’re wild. In Punxsutawney, where “tame” Phil reigns, his handler wears welders’ gloves, because he’ll bite him!

    They’re not cute. They’re wild, and should be respected as such.

    Anne

  5. While walking our new dog, we discovered a beaver building a dam on a creek near North Park (Pittsburgh area) in May of 2008 and saw it almost daily until March 2009. It was so fascinating to watch it and we looked forward to our sightings. After a bad storm, the dam was destroyed and the beaver was gone. We miss him…but there is hope…we have spotted some recent gnawing in another area and are hoping we will be blessed to see another beaver at work.

  6. Every time we go to camp at Belltown on the Clarion River, we make it a point to drive to the top of the hill at dusk, to watch for the beaver to come out. Its a sight to see kids and even adults enjoying their antics.

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