Guess who was here…

This photograph was taken by WPC Watershed Technician Alicia Trexler near a stream in the Buffalo Creek watershed in Washington County.

The prime suspect is the North American Beaver (Castor canadensis), a large semi-aquatic rodent from the Castoridae family.

A beaver may most notably be recognized by its large broad, flat, scaly tail, which it uses to help motor around in its aquatic habitat. But beavers also have another distinguishing characteristic: big teeth. Their large self-sharpening incisor teeth are used for cutting down trees and shrubs. These felled trees are then stripped of their branches, which are then eaten, stored under water for winter-feeding, or used for dam construction or lodge building.

For a time the beaver was trapped in great numbers for its fine pelt and by the mid-1800s had disappeared from the waterways of Pennsylvania. With reintroduction programs beginning in the early 1900s, the beaver has been making a steady comeback to the lands of the Commonwealth ever since.

A great website to find out more about these busy mammals is: http://www.beaversww.org/beaver.html.

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