My Mountain Beaver Journal

Mountain Beaver Journal

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Journal Table of Contents (this page)

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Intro New Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) Journal (highlighted updated 11/20/09) .....................................................4

Why? What makes Mountain Beaver so interesting? ...................................................................................................................6 Why I'm interested in Mountain Beaver ..............................................................................................................................7

Issues Management & Conservation .............................................................................................................................................9 Climate Change and Mt. Beaver .......................................................................................................................................10 You want to catch a Mountain Beaver? ............................................................................................................................11

Photos & More Mountain Beaver Photos, Video and Questions ...............................................................................................................13 Mountain Beaver in the Garden Pictures ..........................................................................................................................14 More Mountain Beaver Pictures .......................................................................................................................................15 High Sierra Winter Mountain Beaver Pictures ...................................................................................................................16 Mountain Beaver Close Encounters! ................................................................................................................................17 Feedback on Seattle Times Article ...................................................................................................................................18 Photos Requested for Oregon Extension Report ..............................................................................................................19 Looking for Mountain Beavers Poem ................................................................................................................................20

News & Links Mountain Beaver News & Updates ...................................................................................................................................22 My Mt. Beaver Publications: .............................................................................................................................................23 More Mountain Beaver Links ............................................................................................................................................24 Chipmunks! .......................................................................................................................................................................25 NATURAL WILDLIFE CONDITIONS IN THE WEST, A MYTH? ........................................................................................26 Mountain Beaver Brain .....................................................................................................................................................27

Pending Work & Communications Articles & References Seattle Times Article "The Pacific Northwest's elusive mountain beaver" .........................................................................37 ..........................................................................................38 USDA National Wildlife Research Center - Staff Publications Lewis & Clark Research Discussion ..................................................................................................................................39 Lewis and Clark Notes ......................................................................................................................................................40 Latest Edition of Walker's Mammals of the World etc .......................................................................................................41 NWF "Creatures that Time Forgot" article June 2002 ......................................................................................................42

Multidex

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Table of Contents (this page) This is my work book of information and activities related to my interest in mountain beaver. For more information, contact me at (dalet.steele@gmail.com).

Cover Credits: Lee Aurich Subject: Mountain Beaver at the Hoh Rain Forest Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2006 23:12:10 -0700 Attached is a picture of a mountain beaver from the Hoh Rain Forest, within the Olympic National Park.

The critter was running back & forth across the trail, carrying ferns and other stuff to build a nest. I did not realize pictures were so rare or I would have taken a few more for you.

Lee Lee Aurich

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Intro New Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) Journal (highlighted updated 11/20/09) ...................................................................4

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New Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) Journal (highlighted updated 11/20/09) Researchers and biologists have long been aware of this most unusual and interesting species, first reported by Lewis and Clark. Few people are aware of the mountain beaver, and even fewer have actually seen it in the wild. I've been interested in this species for many years. I wrote the article Mono Basin Discovery! to explain how I became interested in the mountain beaver. I hope after you read more about it, you will agree with me that the mountain beaver is very unique and want to learn more about it. Use the table of contents or click on the Section tabs to the right to read my journal on this species. It's a work in progress.

BASIC INFORMATION The mountain beaver is not really a true beaver. It's a little-known but fascinating rodent which occupies a unique taxonomic and ecological niche. It lives underground in burrows and is seldom seen above ground. Most people don't even know it exists. Little is known of its ecology.

Cover Drawing from the Final Point Arena Mountain Beaver Recovery Plan

Drawing used in my earlier reports (artist unknown)

Uncopyrighted artwork from The Friendly Mountain - A Story of the Olympics

by E. B. Webster, 1921 (2nd edition) published in Port Angeles, about Mount Angeles (Hurricane Ridge area of ONP)

Range: Mountain beaver have a limited distribution along the west coast of the United States, from Point Reyes along the coast and the Sierra Nevadas in California, northward along the coast and in the Cascades in Oregon and Washington, and slightly into British Columbia.

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Range Map from the Final Point Arena Mountain Beaver Recovery Plan

Subspecies: There are seven recognized subspecies of mountain beaver, four of which are effectively endemic to California. Two of these, the Point Reyes mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa phaea) and the Point Arena mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa nigra), are restricted to very small ranges although considerably more suitable habitat seems to exist. The Point Arena mountain beaver is a federally-listed endangered species.

Identification: The mountain beaver has been described as a large gopher or tailless muskrat. Since they live underground and come out primarily at night, they may live in the vicinity but never actually be seen by humans. Identification is usually made by finding the burrow openings which are about 6 inches in diameter and in groups of several in a small area.

Clipped vegetation near the burrow system is another sign. There may also be "haystacks" of drying vegetation near the burrows.

Food: Mountain beaver are strict herbivores and eat just about any type of succulent vegetation available including plants that are often inedible to other species such as nettle, bracken fern, and salal. Plants are also gathered and dried ("haystacking") near the burrow system, probably for food storage and nesting material.

Habitat: Aplodontia live mostly in areas with dense understory vegetation such as coniferous forests or coastal scrub.

I originally created this website as a communication and information sharing tool while I work with this species. I now keep my Journal in NoteBook and highly recommend it as an information management tool (Mac only!).

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Why? What makes Mountain Beaver so interesting? ........................................................................................................................6 Why I'm interested in Mountain Beaver ...................................................................................................................................7

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What makes Mountain Beaver so interesting?

Mountain beaver are the most primitive species of living rodents, sort of a living fossil. While their range has decreased from that of the fossil record--probably because of geological and climactic changes primarily--very little appears to have changed morphologically.

Mountain beaver were used in early studies of kidney function because their primitive kidneys lack Loops of Henle and are unable to concentrate urine effectively. Other organ systems have not been well studied.

These are mysterious animals. While foraging can occur at any time, day or night, mountain beaver are primarily nocturnal.

Most of their time is spent in underground burrows, coming out only to forage or during the short juvenile migration period when young animals leave the nest to establish their own burrow sites. They are difficult to study so have not been given adequate attention by biologists.

At one time it was thought that mountain beaver were colonial animals because several animals may inhabit a series of interconnected burrows. However, it is now agreed that there is little interaction between animals except for territorial behavior within burrows. Each animal has its own burrow nest area which is connected to tunnels with openings to the outside. It is difficult to determine how many animals inhabit a burrow system since an area riddled with holes may contain only a few animals. It has however been well documented that many other species are often found in mt. beaver burrows. I received a photo previously that is a good example of this as a bushy-tailed woodrat was found sleeping in Aplodontia burrow.

Mountain beaver are not pet material. They can be crotchety, vicious animals and have never been domesticated. When disturbed, they can secrete a thick material from their eyes which has been misinterpreted as tears.

Most people don't know mt. beaver exist and some even continue to question that fact it seems even after they've heard about them. For a funny look at what it can be like to search for mt. beaver, check out this poem!

I have been studying the ecology and distribution of this species for many years (Mt. Beaver Publications). You can also find some interesting mountain beaver links here mountain beaver links.

The largest flea in the world, Hystricopsylla schefferi, is only known from collections made from mountain beaver and their burrows, and grows to 9 mm (over 1/3 inch) in length! The coevolution of these two organisms has never been investigated but, given the ancient lineage of mountain beaver, may provide some interesting insights to both. For a fascinating discussion on this subject and the danger of coextinction, check out this article in Flea News (vol. 49, pg 566-67). I've also included a similar discussion from the Journal of Medical Entomology (Vol. 31, no. 6) in this file.

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Why I'm interested in Mountain Beaver

by Dale Steele, Conservation Biologist I want to open this article with a personal experience that helped lead me to a long-standing interest in mountain beaver. Years ago I was participating in ecological studies at Mono Lake (see Mono Lake Natural History for more information). In the heat of summer in this harsh climate, I noticed a strange animal scurrying among the tufa (calcium carbonate) towers. I was sure that the animal was a mountain beaver but when I researched the subject I found that all available information indicated the species couldn't possibly exist in this hot, dry climate. Nonetheless, some years later several roadkilled mountain beaver were in fact documented in the Mono Basin. It seems to me that if we can learn more about this unique species we can better understand how is has survived for so long and perhaps find ways to coexist with it.

I've long been interested in this most unusual and interesting animal, the mountain beaver or Aplodontia. I want to share some my interest and hopefully to raise your curiosity in the species. If you end up agreeing that this is an amazing animal and want to know more, I will be happy to share stories and references that should hold you over until you can go looking for them yourself!

The mountain beaver is not a real beaver. It has been compared to a muskrat without a tail. It's a little known but fascinating rodent, which occupies a unique taxonomic and ecological niche. Aplodontia are considered to be the oldest group of living rodents, being the sole extant member of the superfamily Aplodontoidea, which has been found almost morphologically unchanged in the fossil record since the Miocene. It is thought to be ancestral to the squirrel family. The first published account of mountain beaver, Aplodontia rufa (Rafinesque), comes from the journals of Lewis & Clark in 1805.

Aplodontia are not considered game or fur animals today although, in the past, Native American Indians wore robes made of mountain beaver and valued their meat. The Indian robes, called "she-wal-lal," were the origin of the mountain beaver nickname, sewellel, which Lewis and Clark misunderstood to be the name of the animal.

What makes mountain beaver so interesting? The mountain beaver is sort of a living fossil. While their range has decreased from that in the fossil record, probably because of geological and climactic changes, very little appears to have changed morphologically. The species seems to have a number of physiological limitations that should decrease its ability to adapt to new environments.

Mountain beavers were used in early studies of kidney function because their primitive kidneys lack the structure to concentrate urine effectively. The animals need large amounts of water as a result. Other organ systems have not been well studied. There is a unique structure in their brains whose function is unknown. One theory is that it provides high sensitivity to changes in air pressure.

These are mysterious animals. They spend most of their time in underground burrows and come out only to eat or during the short juvenile dispersal period when young animals leave the nest to establish their own burrow sites. They are difficult to study and so have not been given adequate attention by biologists.

At one time it was thought that mountain beaver were colonial animals because several animals may inhabit a series of interconnected burrows. However, it is now agreed that there is little interaction between animals except for territorial behavior within burrows. Each animal has its own burrow nest area that is connected with tunnels opening to the outside. It is difficult to determine how many animals inhabit a burrow system since an area riddled with holes may contain only a few animals.

Mountain beaver are not pet material. They are crotchety, vicious animals that canﾃ付 be domesticated. In captivity, many have lived for a period of time and then died suddenly from undetermined causes. When disturbed, they secrete a thick material from their eyes which has been misinterpreted as tears. These behaviors combined with their poor eyesight sometimes lead to some unusual interactions between researcher and animal!

Mountain beaver burrow systems support a community of vertebrates and other animals. Skunks, salamanders, moles, voles, shrews, chipmunks, ground squirrels, mice, woodrats,7-1 gophers, weasels, mink, hares and brush rabbits have all been trapped in mountain beaver burrows. These animals may have been present as commensals, predators, or by accident.

There is also a unique invertebrate fauna associated with mountain beaver. Perhaps the most striking example is Hystricopsylla schefferi, the largest flea in the world, which grows to 9 mm (almost 1/2 inch) in length. The coevolution of the two organisms has never been investigated but, given the ancient lineage of mountain beaver, may provide some interesting insights.

animals.

Mountain beaver are not pet material. They are crotchety, vicious animals that canﾃ付 be domesticated. In captivity, many have lived for a period of time and then died suddenly from undetermined causes. When disturbed, they secrete a thick material from their eyes which has been misinterpreted as tears. These behaviors combined with their poor eyesight sometimes lead to some unusual interactions between researcher and animal!

Mountain beaver burrow systems support a community of vertebrates and other animals. Skunks, salamanders, moles, voles, shrews, chipmunks, ground squirrels, mice, woodrats, gophers, weasels, mink, hares and brush rabbits have all been trapped in mountain beaver burrows. These animals may have been present as commensals, predators, or by accident.

There is also a unique invertebrate fauna associated with mountain beaver. Perhaps the most striking example is Hystricopsylla schefferi, the largest flea in the world, which grows to 9 mm (almost 1/2 inch) in length. The coevolution of the two organisms has never been investigated but, given the ancient lineage of mountain beaver, may provide some interesting insights.

Mountain beaver are strict herbivores. They are known to eat a wide range of plant species, which often includes just about all species within reach of the burrows. Herbaceous plants are eaten whole while woody plants are discarded after the bark has been peeled off for food. Clipped vegetation can often be observed near burrow systems.

Mountain beaver are voracious eaters. Studies have shown that the majority of their active time is spent gathering, handling and eating food. They seldom venture far from their burrows, which may open directly into suitable vegetative stands. The animals forage for short distances above ground, then carry or drag the cut vegetation, which may vary in length from a few inches to several feet, to the burrow. There the material is cut into short sections at the burrow entrance and carried into the burrow to be eaten or stored. Animals may eat vegetation outside of the burrow, but most often consume it in feeding chambers which are adjacent to the nest.

While mountain beaver gather much of the vegetation in their vicinity, there appears to be a decided preference for certain types of plants including shrubs and smaller trees. Some of their preferred foods include species that are unpalatable or toxic to other mammals such as bracken fern, sword fern, nettles, thistles, corn lily, salal, foxglove, larkspur, and skunk cabbage. This gives the mountain beaver a largely uncontested food niche. The ability to consume plants with such a variety of toxic secondary compounds is unusual and may involve a metabolic "cost" to the animal.

Mountain beaver require large amounts of succulent vegetation for survival. Distribution limits are associated with rainfall and edaphic conditions that promote succulent vegetation and high humidity within burrows. Studies suggest that the most important factors in habitat use are a cool thermal regime, adequate soil drainage, abundant food supply, and a high percent cover of small diameter woody material and soft soil.

Mountain beaver have a limited distribution along the west coast of the United States, from Point Reyes, California north and slightly into British Columbia. Of the seven subspecies of mountain beaver, four are effectively endemic to California. Two of these, the Point Reyes mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa phaea) and the Point Arena mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa nigra), are restricted to very small ranges. The Point Arena mountain beaver is a federally-listed endangered species. I recently completed a recovery plan for this subspecies for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In the Pacific Northwest, mountain beaver are considered a pest species by many foresters because they are abundant and eat seedlings and young trees. However, in California, they are limited and considered a species of concern. Habitat destruction due to human interaction is a problem. Natural disasters have, in many cases, exacerbated the problem. A recent fire in Point Reyes destroyed about 50 percent of the known habitat of the entire subspecies. Studies are currently underway to determine the extent of damage to the population.

Mountain beaver are known to be prey of bobcats, fishers, coyotes, great horned owls, skunks, eagles, minks, and other predators. Little is known of other mortality factors such as disease. The sensitivity of mountain beaver to disturbance is also not well known.

For more information, contact me by workphone/voicemail (916-698-1146) or email (dalet.steele@gmail.com) If you are interested in seeing what else I've been up to you can get a look here.

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Issues Management & Conservation ..................................................................................................................................................9 Climate Change and Mt. Beaver ...........................................................................................................................................10 You want to catch a Mountain Beaver? .................................................................................................................................11

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Management & Conservation In the Pacific Northwest, mountain beaver are considered a pest species by many foresters and gardeners because they are abundant and eat seedlings and young trees. In the NW, many people first discover mt. beaver by finding that they have a new "neighbor" digging in their garden! Under these circumstances, it may be necessary to discourage the animal's activities or take more direct action to control it.

This updated publication has a very good discussion on avoiding or solving conflicts with mountain beaver. Living with Mountain Beaver in Washington

In California, mountain beaver are much more limited in numbers and distribution. Several subspecies are considered to be species of special concern. The Point Arena subspecies is an endangered species (A.r. nigra) found only in an approximately 6 mile area. Habitat destruction due to human interaction is a major problem. Among other things, special requirements and precautions are necessary if pesticides are to be used near this species. See this publication, Protecting Endangered Species Interim Measures for Use of Rodenticides in Mendocino County, and work with an experienced wildlife biologist.

There are some special considerations whenever this is necessary and you can learn more about them here Mt. Beaver Control Considerations.

There is a very interesting article in the Sept. 2001 issue of Sierra Legal Defence Fund in Canada about how local action prevented the destruction of one of the few known population sites in British Columbia where the species is considered rare.

Disasters have exacerbated habitat disturbance in some cases, for example, a fire started by campers in Point Reyes destroyed about 50 percent of the known habitat of the entire subspecies found only at that location. Studies were carried out to determine the extent of damage to the population. (Need to link to the final report).

Climate change has very significant implications for this species and I've added a few thoughts on that topic. For starters, I've summarized a recent discussion with a Stanford researcher and some photos I took on 1/07/09 at the new Cal Academy of Sciences climate change exhibit.

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Climate Change and Mt. Beaver I'm reviewing a 2009 review paper on mammalian response to cenozoic climate change which includes a reference to a paper discussing causes of linage decline in aplodontidae. Here's a quote about that 2007 paper "Hopkins (2007) suggested that neither climate nor competitive interactions were strongly correlated with extensive diversity fluctuations in aplodontid rodents, but that different climatic factors may have indirectly impacted both diversification and extinction." I need to get a copy of the original paper and complete my review of new paper by Blois and Hadly. 5/16/09.

New research by a Stanford biologist looks at mammalian changes, including Aplodontia, to climate change in the northern California fossil record. 2/6/09 2:57 PM I came across a recent presentation on this subject this week and have been discussing it with the researcher. This seems an important line of research to give us insight to potential responses by a long existent species like Aplodontia with a restricted range and limited physiological tolerances to high temperatures and limited water supplies. It could also help us identify conservation strategies that may be needed. Her work shows a previous range shift or retraction by mountain beaver in California during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition to warmer, drier conditions.

This work took place in the lake Shasta area and probably needs to be expanded to other areas. We know that on a large regional scale the projections are for a warmer, dryer climate in the west. We need to apply the best available modeling on a local regional scale to better understand what can be expected on more local scales such as the current distribution for mountain beaver subspecies in California.

(Note: I've just received her Annual Review publication and will be reviewing & discussing here soon. 4/28/09)

Re: "Fossils from Northern California Reveal Mammalian Response to Climate Change" Hi Dale, Generally, the radiocarbon dates we have for the late Pleistocene are between 12000 and 18000 years old, and we don't see Aplodontia in deposits with dates younger than 12000 years old. In terms of temperature change, globally the transition from the last glacial max around 21000 years ago to the modern saw temperature change on the order of 4-7 deg. C. Overall, that gives an average rate of change that is much less than would be expected with future warming.

One issue that I think needs more attention is the influence of precipitation, which could be particularly important for Aplodontia. Other work I have done with California ground squirrel body size shows that they have responded more to precip over the past 21000 years than to temperature.

Most climate modeling I have seen for the future indicates that precip may not change much in terms of total amount, so perhaps that bodes well for Aplodontia, but I think it will depend on how precip and temp will interact to influence the available habitat. Aplodontia rufa is the last species in a formerly highly diverse lineage, so it seems like they are just barely hanging on, evolutionarily speaking!

I'm excited to hear that you are updating action plans to deal with climate change. Good luck with that!

Jessica On Feb 3, 2009, at 9:36 PM, Dale Steele wrote: Hi Jessica, Thanks for the offer to share your soon to be printed paper. I'll look forward to it this summer. Meanwhile, I wish you the best on getting the next paper underway including the aplodontia data you mentioned. Maybe more good fair trade coffee will help....!

I suspected that the aplodontia data would be scarce, here and likely elsewhere. I've been interested in this species for many years and am currently thinking about it in the context of climate change as we are now experiencing it. Do you have any sense of the range of temperature changes & timeframe for the shifts you are describing? I wrote the recovery plan for the Point Arena subspecies and along with the Point Reyes subspecies, suspect that both are among the native wildlife most sensitive to climate change here.

I think the type of work you are doing is certainly important to help us understand and take measures to adapt to these changes. We'll be updating our state wildlife action plan soon to give additional attention to climate change & its interaction with other stressors facing the states wildlife.

Good luck with your work and I look forward to hearing more from you as things progress.

Thanks, Dale On Feb 3, 2009, at 7:22 AM, Jessica Blois wrote: Hi Dale, I would be happy to send you a pdf of the paper, once I get it- it comes out in the May issue of Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science. The Aplodontia data will be in another paper I am preparing, for one of the chapters of my thesis, but that hasn't been fully written yet!

I don't have a whole bunch of data on Aplodontia in N. CA. I definitely found them in the deposits in Samwel Cave, and all of our radiocarbon dating seems to indicate that they were found in the late Pleistocene deposits and not in the Holocene deposits. This is consistent with changes we see in a couple of other animals, where species that today are found at higher elevations or a bit more northerly were near Lake Shasta in the past.

If you don't hear from me with a pdf of the Annual Review paper by June, send me a reminder and I'll send it to you ASAP. Thanks, and have a good day!

Jessica On Feb 2, 2009, at 11:46 PM, Dale Steele wrote:

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Hi Jessica, I just came across your presentation at the recent PIER climate change conference and noticed that you presented data on mountain beaver in California. I've been interested in this species for some time and would like to hear more about your findings. I understand that you have a paper in press and wonder if I might receive a copy and/or other background materials on this subject? I'm sorry I missed your talk as I had planned to be at the conference until something came up. I work for the Department of Fish and Game on various wildlife issues.

I look forward to hearing more about your research activities and especially your insight to mountain beaver response climate change.

Thanks, Dale

dating seems to indicate that they were found in the late Pleistocene deposits and not in the Holocene deposits. This is consistent with changes we see in a couple of other animals, where species that today are found at higher elevations or a bit more northerly were near Lake Shasta in the past.

If you don't hear from me with a pdf of the Annual Review paper by June, send me a reminder and I'll send it to you ASAP. Thanks, and have a good day!

Jessica On Feb 2, 2009, at 11:46 PM, Dale Steele wrote: Hi Jessica, I just came across your presentation at the recent PIER climate change conference and noticed that you presented data on mountain beaver in California. I've been interested in this species for some time and would like to hear more about your findings. I understand that you have a paper in press and wonder if I might receive a copy and/or other background materials on this subject? I'm sorry I missed your talk as I had planned to be at the conference until something came up. I work for the Department of Fish and Game on various wildlife issues.

I look forward to hearing more about your research activities and especially your insight to mountain beaver response climate change.

Thanks, Dale

Cal Academy of Sciences Exhibit: Climate Change Threatens California's Biodiversity (including mt. beaver) I spent the day at the very impressive new Cal Academy of Sciences facility (1/7/09) and highly recommend it. Much more to go back and explore but I highlight was the very interactive climate change exhibit which included a special surprise for me.

Climate Change & Mountain Beaver. The caption reads "Smaller snowpacks reduce the supply of water to rivers and streams that animals such as this mountain beaver need for their habitats."

Empty Mountain Beaver Exhibit. The caption inside reads "This exhibit is being updated".

Below it says "This is a work in progress".

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You want to catch a Mountain Beaver?

The following is a typical response to questions regarding possible "safe" ways of relocating a mt. beaver. Livetrapping mt. beaver is not easy on the animal and may not be for you! Relocating an animal may not provide the results you were looking for or insure that the animal will survive in a new area. You may think it's a better choice than other more lethal options and I would be happy to discuss this with you. Remember you may need a permit to trap wildlife.

"It sounds like live trapping any animals digging in your yard and relocating them some distance away in suitable habitat is what you'd like to do. This isn't much of a sure thing for the animals but may help you get things stabilized in your yard.

Geotech efforts may be necessary to get the slope stable and then you may have to work to keep mt. beaver out. My experience has been that pets can play some role in this, especially when young mt. beaver are dispersing as they are rather vulnerable then. You probably don't have the numbers of regular predators such as bobcats and coyotes, etc to help with these populations given the development in the area now. I don't know if this is much help but I hope that you can work out a reasonable compromise that keeps your home stable and mt. beaver in the general vicinity. I find the animal fascinating and good for the environment in general. Your situation may just a bit too much of close "neighbors" having recently moved back into the area (your yard now) and getting carried away with all that earthwork!"

Live trapping mt. beaver can work pretty well using double door traps about 22-28 inches long placed very near active burrow openings and baited with some slices of apple or other tasty items. I usually place a few bites outside the trap to lure the critter that direction. Some individuals will push the traps away and can be difficult to catch. In any case, don't leave the animals in the trap long as they will injury themselves trying to get away. I try to tape any sharp edges for that reason too. If the weather is bad when you trap, try to provide some shelter and check the traps often to protect the animals.

I hope this information is helpful and please don't hesistate if you have any questions or want to discuss this further. I'll be interested in hearing how things go and hope things work out for you." If you feel like you need to try and control some activities by mountain beaver on your land, I hope this will help and wish you Good luck!

Here is a very thoughtful discussion on what to do if you think you need to control some mountain beaver damage on your property. Dave Pehling is with Washington State University Cooperative Extension and has considerable experience controlling mountain beaver damage. I have included Dave's thoughts on the subject below and if you are having problems with this species up in his area, I encourage you to contact him directly for more ideas. We would both like to hear how your experiences in this effort work.

Controlling Mountain Beaver by Dave Pehling In an area where there is only limited damage such as a single rhodie or tree being stripped, enclosing the plant in a wire fence will often discourage the pest. A two-strand electric fence with the bottom wire about 4 inches above the ground should also work. One can also fence the entire yard with a rabbit-proof fence (chain-link, chicken wire, etc.) to protect the landscape. Be sure the bottom of the fence is tight against the ground or even buried a foot or two.

Repellents have not proven consistently effective but some researchers have had fair results with 36% putrescent egg solid based products. Other researchers have found the Thiram based repellents of some value for protecting Douglas fir seedlings..I have not seen any new info on the efficacy of repellents and I think fencing is still the best way to go. I had one person tell me that he has seen these critters climb a wire fence so it would probably be a good idea to put a single "hot" wire along the top of any chicken-wire or chain link fence.

Mountain Beavers can also be easily cage-trapped and re-located, although some studies have shown that most re-located wildlife does not long survive. Drowning the animals in a garbage can full of cold water may be the most humane treatment.

Check with your local State Wildlife Department for their recommendations.

A rabbit-size cage trap can be set directly in the main entrance of the mountain beavers tunnel system and covered with a tarp or burlap bag. The cover directs the animal into the 11-1 trap and protects it until it can be dealt with. You can also bait the trap with a piece of apple or sweet potato. For live-trapping, I like to use a partly peeled apple (one person told me that sweet potato worked very well, too) in the trap and trail the peeling into the hole.

Mountain beavers are very prone to hypothermia so do your trapping when the weather is mild.

In Washington State, body-catch traps are no longer legal, as of Dec. 7, 2000, for any species of animal, except that "common rat and mouse traps" may still be used. Conibear 110's also work very well but must be set INSIDE the tunnel to minimize

person tell me that he has seen these critters climb a wire fence so it would probably be a good idea to put a single "hot" wire along the top of any chicken-wire or chain link fence.

Mountain Beavers can also be easily cage-trapped and re-located, although some studies have shown that most re-located wildlife does not long survive. Drowning the animals in a garbage can full of cold water may be the most humane treatment.

Check with your local State Wildlife Department for their recommendations.

A rabbit-size cage trap can be set directly in the main entrance of the mountain beavers tunnel system and covered with a tarp or burlap bag. The cover directs the animal into the trap and protects it until it can be dealt with. You can also bait the trap with a piece of apple or sweet potato. For live-trapping, I like to use a partly peeled apple (one person told me that sweet potato worked very well, too) in the trap and trail the peeling into the hole.

Mountain beavers are very prone to hypothermia so do your trapping when the weather is mild.

In Washington State, body-catch traps are no longer legal, as of Dec. 7, 2000, for any species of animal, except that "common rat and mouse traps" may still be used. Conibear 110's also work very well but must be set INSIDE the tunnel to minimize non-target catches. Even so, bear in mind that other species may share mountain beaver tunnels so you may end up catching weasels, skunks or other non-target animals.

With any trap, it is most important to make the set at an active burrow. Mountain Beavers make a lot of holes but use only a few regularly. Hope this helps.....

Dave Pehling W.S.U. COOPERATIVE EXTENSION-SNOHOMISH CO. | | 600 128TH ST. S.E. | | EVERETT, WA. 98208 U.S.A. | | PHONE - (425)338-2400 | | FAX - (425)338-3994 | | EMAIL pehling@wsu.edu Here's a new twist that I received regarding moving mountain beaver. I thought it was very creative. See what you think?

On Jun 28, 2009, at 10:18 AM, Tim wrote:

Dale, Could the beavers be relocated and used for vegetation and brush control? I was thinking of replacing herbicides (that runoff could possibly enter streams) with a more natural method of vegetation control. Would an acre of dense vegetation be eough area for a pair of beavers? Are they particular in the vegetation they eat or adapt to what is in the surrounding cover? Is this a practical solution? If so how do I get a pair of beavers? Tim Hi Tim, That is a creative idea. Like most biologists, I'm not a fan of moving wildlife as a way to solve a problem. The results are usually pretty unpredictable and may not turn out well for the wildlife, or possibly those moving them. I think well managed domestic animals like goats are a better way to go for non-toxic vegetation control. There are folks that apparently specialize in this approach and move the herd in and out as needed. Of course they probably don't do that for free. Mountain beaver can eat most plants but they do favor certain types. What types of vegetation are you trying to control? I'm not sure you would see a lot of change in the overall vegetation cover after mountain beaver moved into an area. They depend on dense vegetation for cover and it's often not possible to find their burrow systems because of all the vegetation remaining in areas that they have occupied for long periods of time.  Perhaps you can locate an existing mountain beaver site and get a better idea of the existing vegetation cover there.

The regulations for trapping and moving wildlife are different in various areas including state, local and perhaps federal laws.

You would need to check with a local state wildlife biologist to get a better idea of whether it would be possible to capture and relocate any wildlife species including mountain beaver. I'm most aware of the regulations here in California.

You might have seen some of the press on moving true beavers back into areas they previously existed in before the fur trade came along. The idea is that their dams make for good habitat for other species and can act as a tool for flood control and other ecological functions. This type of idea needs to be carefully thought out and there are far too many examples where moving wildlife has caused great harm in ways not even imagined. Best not to go there unless perhaps it's part of a research project to conserve or recovery a species by improving conditions such that it can once again exist where it was known to be before.

I only mean this to be constructive input and do like your thinking and looking for ways to manage vegetation without causing other impacts. I'd be happy to discuss this further with you if you'd like.

Thanks for the thoughtful idea.

Dale

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where moving wildlife has caused great harm in ways not even imagined. Best not to go there unless perhaps it's part of a research project to conserve or recovery a species by improving conditions such that it can once again exist where it was known to be before.

I only mean this to be constructive input and do like your thinking and looking for ways to manage vegetation without causing other impacts. I'd be happy to discuss this further with you if you'd like.

Thanks for the thoughtful idea.

Dale

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Photos & More Mountain Beaver Photos, Video and Questions ....................................................................................................................13 Mountain Beaver in the Garden Pictures ..............................................................................................................................14 More Mountain Beaver Pictures ............................................................................................................................................15 High Sierra Winter Mountain Beaver Pictures .......................................................................................................................16 Mountain Beaver Close Encounters! .....................................................................................................................................17 Feedback on Seattle Times Article ........................................................................................................................................18 Photos Requested for Oregon Extension Report ..................................................................................................................19 Looking for Mountain Beavers Poem ....................................................................................................................................20

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Mountain Beaver Photos, Video and Questions Here's a photo of a Sierra mountain beaver taken at night with a remote camera set up to capture wildlife activity.

(11/20/09) Debbie from Gig Harbor sent some great backyard photos of her mt. beaver encounter. I added them to the iPhoto gallery link mentioned below. 6/12/09 "What's the strange animal?" has generated considerable discussion on this local Seattle blog, My Ballard. (6/4/09) Check out this great photo of a mountain beaver skeleton. I just came across it today (6/2/09) I received this mountain beaver postcard on 12/29/08. Nice way to end the year!

I've created a new gallery of mountain beaver photos I've received and will be adding to it and editing them soon. Let me know if you have some to add. (1/17/09)

Photo of a Mountain Beaver (by Dr. Lloyd Ingles) More very unusual mt. beaver pictures!

Mystery Critter (link appears broken now) Andy and Robin shared this great set of pictures of a rather bold mt. beaver that visited their garden regularly. Garden Pictures I've also just added a couple of very nice pictures thanks to a certain group of students and their teacher in Wishkah Valley!

More Mountain Beaver Pictures I've received High Sierra Winter Mountain Beaver Pictures 13-1

Here are some links to video you can check out. USGS has posted some great video footage of Point Reyes mountain beaver. You can view this and other wildlife here. I now have several amazing videos of mt. beaver thanks to Steven Miller and "Baldric". I will be adding them to the website once I figure out how to handle streaming video. These videos really help with showing the movements and behaviour of the species and are quite exciting. You can try an early sample but be advised this is a large (4.3 meg) file. Vladimir Dinets, a sometimes California based naturalist, has succeeded in his quest to photograph the wiley mountain beaver. If fact, he has gone even farther and captured the animal on film "Quest for Aplodontia". You should really check this out.

I regularly receive requests to help students with class projects/reports on the mountain beaver. These students often have some great questions and generally work hard on these projects. I will see if I can post a few of the reports here later.

I have regular contacts from people, mostly in the NW, that have observered mt. beavers and wanted to learn more about them and/or determine if they could keep them from causing harm to their property. I've received some more new close encounter stories and photos and will be adding them soon.

I was contacted to solve a mystery regarding a potential mountain beaver sighting in an unusual location in the Sierra foothills.

It turned out to be an escaped guinea pig but was an interesting quest.

I am always interested in hearing about observations of this species including natural history, ecology, impacts and other subjects. I would be especially interested in hearing about new locations and/or habitats for the species or areas where the species is no longer found.

I get a surprising number of contacts from people who want to learn more about mt. beaver after discovering them in some form. Most of these contacts come as a result of a web search which locates this web site, one of the few available on this species. If you find other parts of the site not working please let me know and I'll try to get them fixed as quickly as possible.

I'm very interested in mountain beaver observations or questions and would like to hear from you. dalet.steele@gmail.com. If I'm online, you can contact me directly by sending an instant message on Yahoo at daletsteele too.

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Mountain Beaver in the Garden Pictures Andy and Robin shared this great set of pictures of a rather bold mt. beaver that visited their garden regularly. They used this opportunity to education a few of their neighbors about this special little critter and as you can tell once you see these pictures, they have been able to get some excellent views of this "neighbor" themselves.

Mountain Beaver 1 Mountain Beaver 2 Mountain Beaver 3 Mountain Beaver 4 Mountain Beaver 5 Mountain Beaver 6 Mountain Beaver 7 Mountain Beaver 8

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More Mountain Beaver Pictures Mountain beaver are not easy to photograph to say the least. I have spent many hours in the field and only see the animal on rare occasions. Most of the time, there isn't a chance to get your camera out in time much less take a picture. Most photos of mt. beaver have been taken of animals caught in live traps or held in captivity. Some of the pictures below were taken by one of the many people that have contacted me over the last few years to learn more about this unusual animal. Several other pictures here were taken by the late mammalogist, Lloyd Ingles, who shared them with me. These pictures are rather unusual for several reasons which may be more obvious once you've had a chance to look at them! More recently, the use of remote controlled camera "traps" has proven to be another tool that can give good results. If you don't believe me, check out Chris Wemmer's Camera Codger site!

Mountain Beaver in the open Mountain Beaver in the open & up close Very Unusual Coloration!

Very Uncommon Piebald Mt. Beaver!

Baby Mountain Beaver!

Another Baby Mountain Beaver More Baby Mountain Beaver One More Baby Mt. Beaver A More Typical View (peeking out) Sierra Mt. Beaver Picture taken by Dr. Lloyd Ingles Sierra Mt. Beaver Picture from Dr. Lloyd Ingles UCB Digital Library Dr. Ingles Photo

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High Sierra Winter Mountain Beaver Pictures Tracy and Bruce shared this great set of pictures of winter mountain beaver activity from several locations in the high sierras.

Mountain beaver continue to be active beneath the snow pack although many of the details of this are not known. These pictures show some plant and root materials, and scat from in and around mountain nests and latrine areas. Pussy paws have been identified as one of the plant species found here. The nest and caches were located several feet above ground level in the snow pack. This is very exciting information and the site will hopefully continue to be monitored in the future.

Snow Pack Nest & Latrine Snow Pack Nest Latrine 2 Mountain Beaver Nest Mountain Beaver Nest Inside Mountain Beaver Root Cache Mountain Beaver Root Cache 2 Root Cache Root Cache Closeup

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Mountain Beaver Close Encounters!

I get quite a few contacts from folks who have come across a mountain beaver in their area for the first time and usually don't know what they have just seen. I'm including a few of the previous contacts I've received and will be adding more soon. This page was linked to an article in the Seattle Times Pacific NW section (2/8/09) resulting in some new encounters to share here.

Please note that a couple of these really were "close encounters!" Let me know if you have a tale to share too....

A killer mountain beaver? OK, this one is something that turned up on the internet (8/6/09) and should be examined closely making comparisons against other information found in this journal. The Summit Cheeseburger website claims to have documented the first encounter with "A Killer Mountain Beaver!". You decide...

Here's an update about another close encounter from Shawn who's earlier blog note is also included afterwards. The photos referenced have been added to the gallery too.

Hi Shawn, Great story and great photos!

I've had a few encounters like this by chance or when releasing a live-trapped individual and marveled at how non-adaptive it seemed to be for a near sighted, slow moving species to sit vulnerably in broad daylight. i suspect you are right that this particular animal was injured or sick. Alternatively, it might have been stunned by something and recovered to make it back to cover somewhere. Either way, the body posture in those photos doesn't look quite right to me and I don't think we are looking at a healthy animal. We'll probably never know unless you find its body somewhere nearby. That was a good deed you did to safely get it out of immediate harms way without exposing yourself to possible injury.

In those captive releases I mentioned, it seems like sudden exposure to bright light and/or warm temperatures can cause a mt. beaver to actually doze off or slow down to avoid physiological conditions they are not well adapted for.

Thanks again. I look forward to adding your photos to my journal gallery and updating my close encounters collection with your very good story. I enjoyed your blog and always get a kick when Google kicks up a new mountain beaver reference.

Nice to see that your posting got so much attention.

Take care, Dale On Jul 20, 2009, at 10:52 AM, Shawn White wrote: Hello there, Dale!

You recently commented on a blog post I wrote about the mountain beavers living in our backyard. I wanted to share another mountain beaver encounter my husband and I had yesterday in the street about 1/2 mile from our home.

We were returning from a friend's house, and as we drove on a residential street towards our house, we saw a furry-looking ball in the road about 100-150 feet farther down the hill. My husband said "It's a mountain beaver!," and indeed--it looked like it was. However, it didn't move, even as other cars drove by more closely, so we discarded the idea. As we drove by, however, we slowed to check it out and it was definitely a mountain beaver. We guessed it must be sick or hurt if it just sat in the middle of the road like that, and my husband and I pulled off to the side of the road to figure out how we could at least help get the little guy out of the road.

We approached with a rigid cardboard-and-fabric contraption that I happened to be carrying in the trunk of the car, intending on using it to scoot the poor little guy off to the grassy berm next to the road. As we got nearer, the mountain beaver didn't move. We brought the cardboard closer to him and he started, turning towards the cardboard and clicking his teeth together in agitation. Eventually we managed to get him to scoot off the road--he didn't seem to be injured physically in terms of his mobility, and we don't know why he was acting so dazed and letting us be so near for so long (~10 minutes). Perhaps he was struck by a car? Or poisoned somehow?

The good news is that we were able to take some nice photos of this mountain beaver. I've attached them here for your collection - and please feel free to use them as you wish.

When I drove back out of the neighborhood this morning, I saw no sign of my little buddy. I hope he either made it safely home or made it peacefully to that great mountain beaver burrow in the sky!

Cheers, Shawn

Here's a blog note I just came across regarding a backyard mt. beaver encounter. (7/15/09) I just received this summary of a high sierra close encounter and added two new photos to the mt. beaver gallery link elsewhere here in the journal (7/11/09).

I live in Southern Calif. and just returned home from a series of day hikes based from Tuolomne Meadows lodge. This photo was taken in the afternoon on July 9th, about 3 miles from the Lundy Lake trailhead (Hoover Wildnerness Area). I had crossed a trickling stair stepped stream and what I think might be a mountain beaver, appeared in the middle of the stream. It was completely unaware that I was standing within a few 17-1 feet from it and it looked like it was absorbed in sipping water. When it did finally see me, it was very startled. It ran a panicked circle within inches around me before retreating back into its streamside burrow. Reminded me of tying a bowlen knot where a fish jumps out of a pond, around a tree and back into the pond again! I looked it up because it didn't seem like the thousands of marmots whose paths I've crossed. It was grey, not yellow like the marmots around Yosemite, and it was shy and addled, not like the brazen marmots around Yosemite. Cute!

I just received this summary of a high sierra close encounter and added two new photos to the mt. beaver gallery link elsewhere here in the journal (7/11/09).

I live in Southern Calif. and just returned home from a series of day hikes based from Tuolomne Meadows lodge. This photo was taken in the afternoon on July 9th, about 3 miles from the Lundy Lake trailhead (Hoover Wildnerness Area). I had crossed a trickling stair stepped stream and what I think might be a mountain beaver, appeared in the middle of the stream. It was completely unaware that I was standing within a few feet from it and it looked like it was absorbed in sipping water. When it did finally see me, it was very startled. It ran a panicked circle within inches around me before retreating back into its streamside burrow. Reminded me of tying a bowlen knot where a fish jumps out of a pond, around a tree and back into the pond again! I looked it up because it didn't seem like the thousands of marmots whose paths I've crossed. It was grey, not yellow like the marmots around Yosemite, and it was shy and addled, not like the brazen marmots around Yosemite. Cute!

Here's an observation that came in 6/28/09 about a sighting on the Oregon coast. I need to collect more Oregon observations like this.

My husband and I were hiking last week on the Oregon coast--between the beach and Hwy 101--near Cape Falcon, but we were actually on the trail to Neahkahnie Mountain--and we saw what appears to have been a mountain beaver. We saw it moving through the underbrush. Then it stopped and looked at us for a short time before it moved on. It was about 10 a.m.

Sounds like that kind of sighting is rare, so I thought I would share it with you.

Lois

Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 9:32:50 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: Re: possible "close encounter" Hi Mary, You do certainly live in a region that has mountain beaver even though most folks don't know it or ever see one.

Based on your descriptions of the whistling sounds made I'd have to say this sounds like marmots who use a whistle sound as an alert. Perhaps there were mt. beaver nearby in those wet wooded areas watching out from their burrow entrances as that whole scene unfolded? Better signs to use for detecting mt. beaver include burrow systems, fresh clipped vegetation nearby, and often haystacks of this vegetation curing before taken underground.

We'll have to go with this encounter remaining a mystery for now begging for another visit to search the area more closely. Take a camera too!

Thanks for sharing.

Dale p.s. would you mind if I add your story to my "close encounters" section on my mt. beaver journal/web site?

On Mar 16, 2009, at 10:18 AM, Mary Nordstrom wrote: The Seattle Times article stirred up a question I’ve had since the late 1970’s. I hope you can answer it.

We took a group of about 20 junior high students on a hike to Twin Falls, northeast of Everett, near the Verlot Ranger Station. To get there, we passed two small lakes and a swampy area before climbing to the Twin Falls.

I stayed with the stragglers while most hiked ahead. All of my hiking buddies were girls and we were having fun talking as we walked.

We kept on hearing high-pitched whistles off to the side of the trail. I assumed the boys in our group had backtracked and were hiding along the trail and whistling to play a joke on us girls. We returned the whistles when we heard them, shouted into the woods and laughed. We thought it was great fun that the guys were “out there.”

When we caught up, we asked about the whistling and we were assured that no one had the energy to circle back during the hike. They were busy resting and exploring. I was left with a mystery.

I was told later that the calls were from Whistling Marmots, which I have accepted all these years, but now I’m wondering if they were actually Mountain Beavers. What do you think?

Mary Nordstrom Kent, WA (2/27/09) Re: The Wily Survivor , by Carol Ostrom Pacific Northwest Magazine (Feb. 9, 2000)

Another close encounter with the mountain beaver About 45 years ago, my husband and I “trapped” a mountain beaver in the carport of our home in Fircrest, WA. Our dog had been barking frantically in the area where we stored our garbage cans. When we went to investigate, we found that Happy was holding at bay a small creature huddled in a furry ball behind the cans. To our Midwestern eyes, the critter resembled a small woodchuck, but we had never seen anything quite like it on our hikes in the Washington Cascades - definitely not a marmot or beaver. There were unusually long fingers and fingernails. Maybe a muskrat? But we could see no tail.

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Curious, we thought we might be able to identify the creature if we could capture it. An empty birdcage was about the right size, and it was quite easy to pop the cage over the cornered animal, now chattering and threatening to bite. It was time to put on thick leather gloves.

To keep the animal happy, we thought we should offer food until we could locate a wildlife expert. Feeding turned out to be a daunting task—there was no sign of a diminished appetite after an entire head of lettuce and half bunch of carrots had been consumed. Since there was an abundant crop of dandelions in our back yard, we then decided to move the cage from plant to plant, slipping the slider out to allow the animal to eat. As many dandelions as we offered were devoured.

Later in the day, it happened that one of our neighbors (a native Washingtonian who had worked in the woods) heard about our captive and came to

(2/27/09) Re: The Wily Survivor , by Carol Ostrom Pacific Northwest Magazine (Feb. 9, 2000)

Another close encounter with the mountain beaver About 45 years ago, my husband and I “trapped” a mountain beaver in the carport of our home in Fircrest, WA. Our dog had been barking frantically in the area where we stored our garbage cans. When we went to investigate, we found that Happy was holding at bay a small creature huddled in a furry ball behind the cans. To our Midwestern eyes, the critter resembled a small woodchuck, but we had never seen anything quite like it on our hikes in the Washington Cascades - definitely not a marmot or beaver. There were unusually long fingers and fingernails. Maybe a muskrat? But we could see no tail.

Curious, we thought we might be able to identify the creature if we could capture it. An empty birdcage was about the right size, and it was quite easy to pop the cage over the cornered animal, now chattering and threatening to bite. It was time to put on thick leather gloves.

To keep the animal happy, we thought we should offer food until we could locate a wildlife expert. Feeding turned out to be a daunting task—there was no sign of a diminished appetite after an entire head of lettuce and half bunch of carrots had been consumed. Since there was an abundant crop of dandelions in our back yard, we then decided to move the cage from plant to plant, slipping the slider out to allow the animal to eat. As many dandelions as we offered were devoured.

Later in the day, it happened that one of our neighbors (a native Washingtonian who had worked in the woods) heard about our captive and came to inspect. “Mountain beaver,” he said at first glimpse. No stranger to the man, this almost full-grown creature was definitely a pest, and we should get rid of it as quickly as possible.

Reluctantly, as it seemed that there might be pet potential here, we decided to transport and release the animal beside a small stream in a nearby marsh.

Hoping that this place would offer an inviting habitat to a creature with an insatiable appetite, we expected a quick exit and disappearance into the brush.

To our surprise, we almost had to pry the animal out of the cage, and we left it standing in the middle of the path when we said good-bye.

About fifty feet from where we had parted company, we looked back and saw that we were being followed. Our friend was clearly in no hurry to leave us.

Each time we quickened our pace, the animal quickened his pursuit. Eventually, after loudly shushing it away and running down the path, we lost sight of each other.

Clearly this mountain beaver was an intelligent animal. The aggressive posturing disappeared soon after we began to feed it, and the encounter left us with the sense that a kind of bond had been formed between us.

Mary and Fred Pneuman – 02.27.09

(2/9/09) I thoroughly enjoyed the article in this weekend’s Pacific Northwest Magazine section. I laughed out loud when I pulled it out of the newspaper because I knew instantly what the animal was on the cover. I had a mountain beaver “encounter” a couple of years ago that has become family legend…

I am a gardener and of all the plants in my garden, my berries are the most prized. I consider raspberries to be the queen of fruits. So, I was horrified two summers ago to find that the new, green raspberry stalks that were growing in (and would bear our crop for the following summer) were being removed at their base every few days. At first I thought my 4 year old daughter, who also loves to garden and wields a mean pair of pruning shears, had gotten overzealous with her “helping” and had cut them down. After ruling that out, I decided that the lawn service folks must have been careless with the weed whip that they use to edge the yard and so I approached them about the damage. They apologized profusely in broken English and assured me that it wouldn’t happen again, so I thought that was the end of it. One afternoon a few days later I was standing at my kitchen sink doing dishes when I looked out into my yard and saw a small, grayish/brown furry creature scuttling along the edge of my raspberry plants…holding tightly clenched in its little opposable-thumbed paw…a bouquet of raspberry shoots. I screamed and ran outside. The thief stopped and looked at me, dropped its bundle, and ran over the bank into the underbrush. My mind immediately went back to a conversation that I had a year or two before with an exterminator who had given me a brief description of the elusive animals. My husband and family thought I was making it all up (my stepfather’s a recreational cryptozoologist and so there were lots of those jokes going around). I knew what I saw though, and my suspicions were confirmed when I starting looking for more information on mountain beavers online. I promptly apologized to the lawn service guys, learned how to install an electric fence and we are finally expecting a bumper crop of raspberries this summer. I have been moderately obsessed with mountain beavers ever since.

So I really got a kick out of the article on Sunday. Thanks!!

Sure, no problem including it on the website. I forgot to add one other funny tidbit. The mountain beaver gets blamed now for ANY unclaimed or unexplained damage or naughtiness in our house now. When I was growing up, we always used to blame stuff like that on a mythical troublemaker we called “skruben”…now it’s the mountain beaver.

Anne, Seattle (2/8/09) Hi, after reading the story in the Seattle Times, I think I solved an old mystery. A couple years ago, I was mushroom hunting in Discovery Park in Seattle, near the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center. Underneath a row of cedars was this fuzzy thing 'chumbling' along. I could tell it couldn't see very well, but when it did take notice of me, it just paused and kept going. It wasn't a rat, and moved slower than a woodchuck or marmot. I'm pretty sure it was what you're describing! Kind of surprising to run across one in such a busy park. Thanks for the site!

Rob (p.s. from Dale. Rob had several other close mt. beaver photos "butt" I liked this one best).

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of cedars was this fuzzy thing 'chumbling' along. I could tell it couldn't see very well, but when it did take notice of me, it just paused and kept going. It wasn't a rat, and moved slower than a woodchuck or marmot. I'm pretty sure it was what you're describing! Kind of surprising to run across one in such a busy park. Thanks for the site!

Rob (p.s. from Dale. Rob had several other close mt. beaver photos "butt" I liked this one best).

(2/8/09) I just read an article about Mountain Beavers in the Seattle Times Northwest Magazine and found it interesting. I then googled Mountain Beaver and found your site. I'm hoping that you can shed some light on my experience Last summer I had a critter on the patio that I hadn't seen before. At first I thought it was a mole however its black and white coloring and longer hair changed my mind.

I've tried to find someone that could tell me what it is. It resembles a Guinea Pig more than anything and I wonder if it could be one that had been a pet that was turned loose.

Do you think it's possibly a young Mountain Beaver? I live in rural King County, Wa between Black Diamond and Auburn.

There is a natural pond that joins our property and we have a natural area in our yard that has trees and natural undergrowth.

Your opinion would be appreciated.

Sincerely, Tedd McGraw (p.s. from Dale: Yes it is a mountain beaver, I have a number of records of "piebald" (spotted or patched, especially in black and white) colorations in the greater Seattle area)

(2/8/09) Mr. Steele - I enjoyed your web site about Mt. Beaver encounters & wanted to add my experience. About 50 years when I was about 10 years old I lived in Seattle on the west shore of Lake Washington just north of Sand Point Naval Air station, now Magnuson Park. I was out exploring a large wooded area about 6 blocks south by Mathews Beach, which was then Mathews farm, when I found a brown furry animal along a tiny stream. It wasn't at all afraid of me & didn't run away.

Somehow I found & cardboard box, picked up the animal, put it in the box & carried it home. When my dad saw it he new immediately it was a Mt. Beaver, he'd grown up in Tacoma & must have encountered them as a child. It continued to be very passive, stayed in the box so my dad & I returned it to the steam where I found it. The article in the Pacific Northwest magazine is the first time I've seen one since.

Chris Morrell La Conner WA Â

(2/8/09) I saw the Seattle Times article this morning and visited your website. I had my one and only encounter with a mountain beaver about 20 years ago on Scouter's Mountain, a Boy Scout facility southeast of Portland, OR. As I was walking up the trail I saw this large rodent with a large clump of ferns in his mouth right in front of me. I followed him for a while, until he went into his burrow. I was confused as to what kind of mammal this was, until someone told me it was a mountain beaver. Until I read the Times article this morning I erroneously thought mountain beavers were nutria.

Thanks for the information on your web site.

Edward

What a great website! My brother-in-law was recently doing a good deed for some neighbors who live along Schooner Creek near Lincoln City, OR, and had to crawl under their old house. Armed with a flashlight and a screwdriver, he came face-toface with a long-dead and petrified "Boomer" as Mountain Beaver are commonly called here. (I confirmed this with the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department.) In my search on line for information about Boomers, I found nothing. Guessing Nutria, I found information that led me to make inquiries to OFWD, and they told me about Mountain Beaver. I have also heard these critters referred to here as Land Beavers. I guess their range is extending farther South that commonly believed.

Have you ever heard the moniker "Boomer" before for these animals?

Hi Dale, it's okay to use the story I sent earlier on your close encounters section. The information I got from the OR Fish & Wildlife guy was that the range of Mountain Beaver was essentially Washington and Oregon from the coast to the Western slopes of the Cascades, with a little incursion into adjacent areas of B.C and Northern California. Your site and others I read talk about the different populations such as the Point Arena and the ones observed in Mono County. I guess they may be subspecies, though, while the Oregon population is the simple aplodontia rufa, without any other Latin words appended. I find it all extremely interesting. Thanks for confirming the "boomer" handle. Jim Stovall, Neotsu, OR I took this picture 10/21 on the bank of the Skykomish river near Monroe WA. I was told it is a groundhog, but was wondering if it is. It appeared to be about 15 or 16 in. long and didn't go far from its burrow. The color is dark grey. It was 17-4 darting in and out of a large hole and grabbing weeds and leaves (it really liked the dandelions). Today I think I saw a smaller one. Thanks for any info you can give me. Thanks for responding to my inquiry. The picture you sent sure looks like what I saw, but I didn't see it on the Olympic Penn. We are currently parked in our RV in an RV park on the banks of the Skykomish River just SE of Monroe WA in Snohomish Co. - about 30+ mile NE of Seattle. Quite a ways from the Olympic Penn. I took the pictures(walking) (peeking) out of my window- The burrow he came out of is about 8 to 10" and only about 10 foot from the back of our RV. Do you think it really is a Mountain Beaver even though we're not any where near the Penn.?

I took this picture 10/21 on the bank of the Skykomish river near Monroe WA. I was told it is a groundhog, but was wondering if it is. It appeared to be about 15 or 16 in. long and didn't go far from its burrow. The color is dark grey. It was darting in and out of a large hole and grabbing weeds and leaves (it really liked the dandelions). Today I think I saw a smaller one. Thanks for any info you can give me. Thanks for responding to my inquiry. The picture you sent sure looks like what I saw, but I didn't see it on the Olympic Penn. We are currently parked in our RV in an RV park on the banks of the Skykomish River just SE of Monroe WA in Snohomish Co. - about 30+ mile NE of Seattle. Quite a ways from the Olympic Penn. I took the pictures(walking) (peeking) out of my window- The burrow he came out of is about 8 to 10" and only about 10 foot from the back of our RV. Do you think it really is a Mountain Beaver even though we're not any where near the Penn.?

Feel free to use the photos. I took several, but those are the best (not bad considering I took them thru the window.) I didn't want to go outside - I didn't want to scare him. I'm sure I saw a smaller one yesterday - running near the trailer next to us again in broad daylight.

I read some of your website after I emailed you and will look at it some more later. After reading about them, I realized it probably was sort of unusual to be able to see it that closely during the day. They sound as mean as possums - guess I won't go poking around in his burrow-I'll just keep the camera handy.ĂŠ Earlier the same day, I was lucky enough to spot a huge bald eagle at the top of a huge cedar tree - I got some great photos of him too. We see them fishing here in the river quite often. It's an interesting place to stay.

Randy and Peggy I found your website on these little guys the most useful in identifying what I saw in my backyard. I live in Redmond, Washington about a mile from the first Microsoft campus. I also live about a mile from a very large (don't know the acreage) natural park that is by Lake Sammamish. This subdivision has a sizable green belt area so my backyard is natural with huge Western Red Cedar and Western Hemlocks. The green belt is a steep ravine with lots of very loose soil, nettles, bracken fern and salal. A stream runs through it also. We have barred owls, coyote, deer, frogs, pileated woodpeckers and a great assortment of other birds. I was pruning some salal in my yard when I heard lots of rustling in a nearby salal loaded with berries. I thought spotted towhee since they make considerable noise in the bushes, then no maybe a squirrel, but that didn't fit either. Much to my surprise I watched this critter climb a rotten stump that has a salal plant growing out of it. I had never seen anything like it. I like to identify everything, so I know the birds and animals that visit. I couldn't figure out what this was. It rummaged around in the salal eating berries like they were going out of style! It sort of climbed, half fell back to the ground and was coming toward me through the salal when a frog croaked and scared it. It didn't go far before all was quiet. I saw mountain beaver in my Pacific Northwest books, but the drawings were not good and the descriptions were not great either. It wasn't until I found your website with the great pictures that I confirmed that this was what I saw. The picture of the baby looked exactly like what I saw. What fun to see this little guy and so cute! Happy mountain beaver research and thanks for the info!

Susan (8/17/02) Here is another Mt. Beaver story from Redmond, Wa. I was only able to make a positive ID by reading your Web page, the information you present there left little doubt (after reading the Close Encounter posting by Dan Plute I am now certain of my 'encounter'...as you will see my situation is very similar).

I was spray painting some furniture in my garage one evening after dark. My dad, who was helping me, noticed a large rodent slowly walking down my front steps and pointed it out to me. I walked out of my garage and approached the critter just as it had reached the driveway...it looked back at me and then continued slowly on down the driveway. I continued to follow.

When the little guy reached the middle of the street in front of my house I stopped on the sidewalk and I stood there trying to figure out what I was looking at.

Well, about this time the critter decided he had had enough of my attention so he turned around and hissed at me (which surprised me) and then with no further warning he just charged after me as fast as his little legs could carry him. So with the combination of surprise, adrenalin, paint thinner (which was on the bottoms of my Teva sandals), and the wet sidewalk (it was lightly raining) I attempted to run, but wound up on the ground. However with the thought of that little guy chomping down on my exposed toes I was up and running in no time. I ran about 10 yards down the walk and then looked back to see my buddy charging after me STILL at full speed.

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Now my dad, who was watching this whole thing from my drive (laughing hysterically) was able to get to the garage and grab a shovel and run to my defense. Once he had ran a little way down the walk (shovel in hand) the critter stopped (between us) hissed again and tore off after my dad (needless to say, it was now my turn to laugh).

I think I will leave the end of the story to your imagination. I will say that your page made me aware of the uniqueness of this little creature, but if my kids ever come across one of these guys I bet we'd go through quite a few band-aids.

figure out what I was looking at.

Well, about this time the critter decided he had had enough of my attention so he turned around and hissed at me (which surprised me) and then with no further warning he just charged after me as fast as his little legs could carry him. So with the combination of surprise, adrenalin, paint thinner (which was on the bottoms of my Teva sandals), and the wet sidewalk (it was lightly raining) I attempted to run, but wound up on the ground. However with the thought of that little guy chomping down on my exposed toes I was up and running in no time. I ran about 10 yards down the walk and then looked back to see my buddy charging after me STILL at full speed.

Now my dad, who was watching this whole thing from my drive (laughing hysterically) was able to get to the garage and grab a shovel and run to my defense. Once he had ran a little way down the walk (shovel in hand) the critter stopped (between us) hissed again and tore off after my dad (needless to say, it was now my turn to laugh).

I think I will leave the end of the story to your imagination. I will say that your page made me aware of the uniqueness of this little creature, but if my kids ever come across one of these guys I bet we'd go through quite a few band-aids.

Jeff Hancock (7/18/02) Thank-you for posting such an informative web page(s) on Mountain Beaver.

I live in Redmond Washington and by chance stumbled across a Mountain Beaver during the daylight and was fortunate enough to have quick access to a camera.

It was pretty late in the evening and I went out back to the garage to check on a project. My drive at the garage is 40 feet wide and raw gravel. As I approached the garage I noticed the critter about 15 feet to my right, right in the middle of all that gravel. He took me by surprise as I had never seen one before. "Whoa critter" I said, "what the heck are you"? He just kept his head down and waddled his way right for me. When he got to within 5 feet I began to wonder if he was sick or something because he seemed so task oriented (here to there) and it was appear that I wasn't going to stop him. I leaned down to get a closer look and he looked up, hissed, and lunged at me a well as his tiny legs could.

This was too odd to pass up so into the house I went for the camera. By the time I got back he had waddled his way into the greenery and as I tried to stick the camera in his face he again disapproved by hissing and lunging at me! I wondered who is this brave little guy that wants so badly to get from here to there that even a 6 foot human can't stay him from his course......

Here are the 3 snaps I took before the batteries went dead in my camera. You are welcome to do anything you like with them.

Dan Plute (6/30/02) close up #1 close up #2 close up #3 Thanks for putting up such a fantastic website - you helped me solve a mystery!

I was downright giddy when I found out that this bizarre creature we saw two nights ago was your mountain beaver!! This was in the woods in Quilcene, WA around 1:00 a.m., looked to be about 2 pounds, seemed disoriented but now I understand it's because they're hard-of-seeing (is that a term?!). I can't tell you how excited I was to see a mammal that I couldn't remotely identify. "A tailless muskrat" was the closest I could come up with, but that was only for the sake of trying to describe it to someone.

We just watched him for a few minutes, then let him go his way. that was so cool!!!!!!

-Linda (6/30/02) Hi Dale, I live in Brier, WA, a small town on the north end of Lake Washington, outside of Seattle.

17-6 On Saturday morning, about 10:00 AM, I saw a small creature running up my driveway and thought that it was an escaped guinea pig; it was about the same size and overall configuration. I took my 2-1/2 year old daughter out to see it and managed to trap it under a plastic milk case. I had no idea what I had caught so I dragged my neighbor out and showed it to him and he told me that it was a baby mountain beaver. Since I had never heard of one of these I was sort of sceptical about it, figuring that this was a local name for a woodchuck or groundhog. I asked at work this morning and lo and behold, mountain beavers

Hi Dale, I live in Brier, WA, a small town on the north end of Lake Washington, outside of Seattle.

On Saturday morning, about 10:00 AM, I saw a small creature running up my driveway and thought that it was an escaped guinea pig; it was about the same size and overall configuration. I took my 2-1/2 year old daughter out to see it and managed to trap it under a plastic milk case. I had no idea what I had caught so I dragged my neighbor out and showed it to him and he told me that it was a baby mountain beaver. Since I had never heard of one of these I was sort of sceptical about it, figuring that this was a local name for a woodchuck or groundhog. I asked at work this morning and lo and behold, mountain beavers really do exist and it was suggested that I look on the web. Which obviously I did. Although we live in town and on the edge of a major metropolitan area, our town is small and quite rural We are fortunate to be able to rent 3 acres of overgrown forest and idle filbert orchard.

There is a sort of wet land in front with what appears to be a year round stream and several small "lakelets", one cemented, one more natural. In the back, in the forest part, there was a pond this spring but it has dried up now. So it must be a good habitat for these little guys. I was thinking that it was flat, but actually there are gullys around so there must be good places for them to dig holes although I haven't seen any.

Peter (7/1/02) Hello, My wife Karen and I live on 2 1/2 acres in Sammamish, WA. Yesterday (06/28) she saw an unknown animal in her pumpkin patch. Upon doing a little research we came across your website and have positively identified it as a mountain beaver. This is the first one we have ever seen. Our area is rapidly building up but there are five 2 1/2 acre properties plus an undeveloped 10 acre parcel, that is heavily wooded. Is he/she likely to eat my wife's pumpkins? If so, I would hate to be the mountain beaver!

Regards, Chuck (6/29/02) We had our first encounter with a mountain beaver the other night and got to see it first hand. Our dog heard it in our backyard and chased it into a clearing (at 3:00 a.m.).

My husband went out to see what the dog had cornered and found a grey, husky little fury animal with a round face and short tale.It had long fingers with claws. My husband got the dog to leave it alone. We have the correct vegitation behind the house as you describe in your web page.

We knew we had Mountain Beaver because of the holes in the ground in this area. We are at the base of Woolford mountain (Kalama, Wa.) where there is a hillside so filled with holes, we never rode the horses for fear of the them breaking a leg.I just thought you might be interested in this "close encounter" since you mentioned Mt. St Helens.We are within the 20 mile "red zone" of the blast area although not near the mountain. (6/25/02) My girlfriend found a mt beaver in her yard, so I was out looking for a place for her to go let it loose. I will have her take it to Mt Rainer up in the woods, maybe in a logged off area. She lives in downtown Everett Washington. (7/2/02) (Pay attention to the open skys, you never know what will be coming down....)

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Feedback on Seattle Times Article Here's the feedback I've seen posted online about the recent mountain beaver published in the Seattle Times.

(21 so far. 2/9/09 10:28 PM) February 9, 2009 at 8:19 AM I grew up on 4 1/2 acres in Kirkland. We had a large fenced yard where the dogs roamed and a large vegetable garden. We had several acres of pasture and several acres of bush and woods. There was a small creek, and a swamp full of salmon berries and other brush.

There were also a number of very large old fruit trees rumored to be part of the original Peter Kirk orchard.

In the woods/swamp area there were numerous mountain beaver holes. To the best of my memory none of my family, 2 sisters, a brother and stay-at-home mom or my dad ever saw a mountain beaver. Not only that, but because we never intruded into that swamp, or felt the need to develop any of it or the surrounding woods, the mountain beavers had their habitat and we had ours. The garden and flowers/shrubs were too far away from the mountain beavers lairs and guarded by Great Danes.

The real problem is that we have intruded into and modified the mountain beavers habitat, like so many other animals in the Puget Sound region, that are killed or relocated because THEY have become nuisance animals!

Peter Kirk Middle School now sits where my parents house used to be in Kirkland. Most of the wildlife that used to inhabit the woods and pastures is now gone, along with the swamp and mountain beaver habitat. I guess that's progress.

SeaTimesFan Seattle, WA February 9, 2009 at 8:01 AM I live in north Seattle, close to Carkeek Park, and a couple years ago my neighbor told me we have a Mountain Beaver living in our rockery/retaining wall. I've seen lots of possum, raccoons, even a chipmunk in our neighborhood, but I still haven't seen the beaver. Sounds like I probably never will, but it's still cool having one here.

UnicornL80 Tukwila, WA February 9, 2009 at 3:59 AM Looks a bit like a cross between a muskrat and a beaver, minus the tail.

UnicornL80 Tukwila, WA February 9, 2009 at 3:53 AM Very interesting article. I've been here almost 20 years and never heard of nor seen these little guys. Sound pretty intriguing.

Tim B. Olalla, WA February 8, 2009 at 11:39 PM About 25 years ago, we lived on the Kitsap Peninsula, not far from Key Center. At the time, the area was sparsely populated.

Within a radius of 200 yards from the house were two ponds, a small stream, a small field, a young forest (with brush including ferns, blackberry vines, salal, and huckleberry bushes), and scattered alders, madrones, and fir trees. One of our cats dragged home a mountain beaver one day, and it seemed to be bigger than the cat. The poor animal was still alive, but unfortunately, it was injured and we had to kill it to put it out of its misery. The cat was unharmed, which leads me to wonder if the mountain beaver's reputed meanness is "more bark than bite."

NeedMoreVitaminD Newcastle, WA February 8, 2009 at 9:45 PM Interesting article (and reader comments). jerryronr Bothell, WA February 8, 2009 at 9:08 PM In the '50's our family lived on 10 acres above what is now referred to as Totem Lake in the Juanita/Kirkland area.

The name on county records for this boggy lake was18-1 Lake Wittemeyer, but everyone in the area called it Mud Lake.

Mountain beavers would wander up the banks, thru the woody, muddy area and our cocker spaniel, Pudgy, loved to chase them. Many times they would take off down the bank--but other times he would be somewhat chagrined and scratched up by their claws. There is not much left of the lake now and I imagine the mountain beavers are gone also. That area has changed greatly in the last 50 years!!!

Carttin5 Bellevue, WA February 8, 2009 at 8:02 PM

February 8, 2009 at 9:45 PM Interesting article (and reader comments). jerryronr Bothell, WA February 8, 2009 at 9:08 PM In the '50's our family lived on 10 acres above what is now referred to as Totem Lake in the Juanita/Kirkland area.

The name on county records for this boggy lake was Lake Wittemeyer, but everyone in the area called it Mud Lake.

Mountain beavers would wander up the banks, thru the woody, muddy area and our cocker spaniel, Pudgy, loved to chase them. Many times they would take off down the bank--but other times he would be somewhat chagrined and scratched up by their claws. There is not much left of the lake now and I imagine the mountain beavers are gone also. That area has changed greatly in the last 50 years!!!

Carttin5 Bellevue, WA February 8, 2009 at 8:02 PM We have a resident ninja gardener who annually decimates all shrubs in our yard in south suburban Bellevue along Vasa Creek. This mountain beaver is NOT nocturnal and seems to favor attacking rhodies & maple trees in mid-morning and again in mid-afternoon (after a midday nap?) in the spring and fall. It is regularly seen by us and our bemused neighbors and is completely unphased by dogs barking or rocks being thrown at it. We attended a Master Gardener class on "problem wildlife" only to be told to live with it because mountain beavers will outlast us; get rid of one and another will replace it. terwilliger Brier, WA We live in Brier, WA and our lot borders on Scriber Creek. Our lot along with others in the neighborhood has several burrows that fit the definition of the burrow opening described in the recent article on mountain beavers. Every time I fill in the burrow opening it is cleaned out within days. I observed our little friend one evening one time only. The area where the burrow in located is on a hillside above the creek and the vegetation consists of ferns and blackberries and evergreen trees and alders. plarugb63 Toansket, WA February 8, 2009 at 5:45 PM Spending most of my life in North Bend, on our property we had a piece of plywood that had been laying on the ground for well over a year. I picked it up and thought, 'What the heck is that?' I was able to put a leaf rake over it and saw those teeth go around the whole tine! All I could think is that thank goodness it was not my finger. The land was wet year round, and the holes from the mountain beavers and the evidence of their activities was easy to spot. But only ever saw two. mike97 Kennewick, WA February 8, 2009 at 4:24 PM Growing up in Seattle and hiking since I was 6, I have seen A. rufa more than once. Is that "lucky"? I always thought it was some sort of Norwegian rat that found paradise in our forests! acronin Seattle, WA February 8, 2009 at 3:51 PM My first encounter with a mountain beaver came early in the mornings while searching for daily socks in my parent laundry room. Looking out on the misty northwest mornings, I would often see huge branches of our beautiful rhodedendron bushes scurring across the lawn my a dutiful and hungry mountain beaver. They certainly can do some damage to those plants, so if you notice clean angular cuts on the lower half of your bushes and happen to live near a stream or ravine, chances are these little guys are your neighbors. seattlephotoart Seattle, WA February 8, 2009 at 3:35 PM Great article! I've been interested in these critters since my first (and only) encounter with one several years ago. I had never heard of them at that point, and when I walked over to investigate a rustling in the leaves in the forest near my driveway when I lived near Preston a mountain beaver and I surprised each other! We looked at each other briefly, and then he scurried off under the leaves and underbrush. I had to do some research and asking around to figure out what he was. I always hoped to see it again, but I think my Teddy Roosevelt Terrier and all his barking at animals saw to it that I didn't. lordoflys Yokohama February 8, 2009 at 3:33 PM This whole thing about mountain beavers confuses me. I never came across one growing up in Snoqualmie. In E Wash we have whistlers, or rock chucks, and they DO whistle. Hmmmm. I obviously missed something.

18-2 jmwells Mill Creek, WA February 8, 2009 at 2:01 PM I saw one in the Mill Creek Nature Preserve here in Snohomish County. Cool creatures! It was walking on the nature trail, when it saw me it scurried back into the woods.

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under the leaves and underbrush. I had to do some research and asking around to figure out what he was. I always hoped to see it again, but I think my Teddy Roosevelt Terrier and all his barking at animals saw to it that I didn't. lordoflys Yokohama February 8, 2009 at 3:33 PM This whole thing about mountain beavers confuses me. I never came across one growing up in Snoqualmie. In E Wash we have whistlers, or rock chucks, and they DO whistle. Hmmmm. I obviously missed something. jmwells Mill Creek, WA February 8, 2009 at 2:01 PM I saw one in the Mill Creek Nature Preserve here in Snohomish County. Cool creatures! It was walking on the nature trail, when it saw me it scurried back into the woods.

LMcG Quilcene, WA February 8, 2009 at 1:56 PM In Edmonds, my friend and I found a baby mountain beaver but didn't know what it was at the time. We thought it was maybe a tribble beamed down from Starship Enterprise. It was very friendly letting us pick it up and hold it.

Dale Steele Sacramento, CA February 8, 2009 at 11:09 AM Very good article on the NW's very own mountain beaver. I've been interested in and studying this animal for some time. My journal (http://homepage.mac.com/dtsteele/Mountain_Beaver_Work/index.html) on the mountain beaver is linked in the article and I look forward to hearing from others who have observed it or want to know more about it. I think we have a lot to learn from a species that has been around for so long.

Ann in Sequim Sequim, WA February 8, 2009 at 10:06 AM The rangers at Olympic National Park were most helpful to my friend and me by aiding us in identifying a strange animal that we had seen in the park--a mountain beaver. Later, we also discovered mountain beaver holes along a little used trail in the park. It was a real treat and my thanks go to the National Park System for allowing the us this wonderful experience. mcdawg#1 Big Lake, WA February 8, 2009 at 10:00 AM As a kid in Lynnwod in the late 60's me and my buddies would trap them in the woods. We would try to keep them in cages we built out of wood and chicken wire. They were very aggresive and determened as they always escaped by the next day.

I had completely forgotten that they existed until a couple of years ago my cat brought home a live juvenile. jhudon Benton City, WA February 8, 2009 at 9:30 AM My parents own a cabin on Huricane Ridge which has Mountain Beavers all over the property. My Grandfather built the cabin back in the late '70s and we would all refer to the tunnels left in the ground as Mountain Beaver holes. My grandfather has seen them probably becasue he would work early in the morning on the cabin, but I have never seen them only the numerous tunnels they leave behind.

Showing post 21 of 21 clive dexx Seattle, WA February 8, 2009 at 2:20 AM When I lived in Bonney Lake, my german shepard would kill about one a year. We would find it mutilated in the yard. They look vicious. Big teeth and claws. It always looked like it could tear up a dog pretty good. But he never got a scratch.

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Photos Requested for Oregon Extension Report

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IM003778.jpg Mon, 09 Oct 2006 13:29:09 -0700 Oregon State University Extension faculty are revising a publication for family and private forestland owners, "Controlling Mountain Beaver Damage in Forest Plantations" (OSU Extension publication EC 1144, last issued in 1993). The photos come from Dennis Deck's Tracks web page. Permission requested. Andrea Dailey Mon, 09 Oct 2006 13:29:09 -0700

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Looking for Mountain Beavers Poem

by David Wagner (1926- ) Staying Alive.

Indiana University Press. 1966 The man in the feed store called them mountain beavers When I asked about the burrows riddling the slope Behind our house. "Sometimes you see dirt moving, But nothing else," he said. "They eat at night.

My tomcat ate one once, and now he's missing."

He gummed his snuff like a liar. "One ate him."

That night my wife and I, carrying flashlights, Went up the hill to look through brush and bracken Under the crossfire of the moon for beavers And, keeping quiet, knelt at pairs of holes And shone our lights as far as we could reach Down the smooth runways, finding nothing home, No brown bushwhacker's prints straddling a cat's paw, Not even each other's lights around the corners.

We ground our heels then, bouncing on the mounds, Hoping to make one mad enough to exist, But nothing came out. Should we believe in nothing?

Maybe the cat just dreamed it was eating something.

And turned against the nearest raw material Till its own bones were curled up in its head Which then fell smiling down a hole and died.

Or maybe the man meant the holes were the beavers: The deeper they go, the less there is to see.

We felt the earth dip under us now and then Through no fault of its own, shifting our ground.

But seeing isn't believing: it's disappearing.

All animals are missing-or will be.

Something was eating us. We thumped their houses, Then walked downhill together, swing our flashlights Up and around our heads like holes in the night.

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News & Links Mountain Beaver News & Updates ........................................................................................................................................22 My Mt. Beaver Publications: ..................................................................................................................................................23 More Mountain Beaver Links ................................................................................................................................................24 Chipmunks! ...........................................................................................................................................................................25 NATURAL WILDLIFE CONDITIONS IN THE WEST, A MYTH? .............................................................................................26 Mountain Beaver Brain ..........................................................................................................................................................27

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Mountain Beaver News & Updates I'm including some recent contacts and activities involving mountain beaver or otherwise of interest. I'll be filling in more earlier ones as time allows.

April 1, 2009 12:41:51 PM PDT Hello Dale, I found my way to your Aplodontia journal through the article in Pacific Northwest magazine by Carol Ostrom.

Mt sighting was on the north shore of Lake Crescent, (west of Port Angeles), in Olympic Nat'l Park. (The specific location was the Spruce Railroad Trail. About a quarter-mile from the east trailhead, where the old railroad grade cuts through soggy north-facing slopes.) My hiking buddy and I stopped up short to identify rustling in the sword ferns on a completely waterlogged embankment. What we found was a soaking wet, dirty, pale colored beast about the size of a muskrat. We watched for several minutes as it made two trips dragging bouquets of sword fern fronds down into its maze of holes that made swiss cheese of the slope. Nothing unusual compared to the other encounters described, other than the very light coloration.

Attached is uncopyrighted artwork from The Friendly Mountain - A Story of the Olympics by E. B. Webster, 1921 (2nd edition) published in Port Angeles, about Mount Angeles (Hurricane Ridge area of ONP). Just thought you might like it for your collection. ( Note, I've placed this artwork in the intro section. DTS) IanB 3/28/09 10:40 PM Hi Jeff, Thanks for contacting me and sharing this great audio. I had fun listening to the three audio clips you've posted. It reminded me of some efforts I made some years back with a decent recorder & mic using sound activated settings. I placed this equipment in and around active mt. beaver burrows to see if I could get an idea of activity in the burrow systems as an indirect measure. I didn't have much luck but should pick this back up again as this reminds me.

I have heard mt. beaver sounds and don't think that is what you have recorded. Most of the sounds made by mt. beaver that I've heard are growls, hisses, and scratching noises and wouldn't be heard from very far away. If you want to record mt. beaver sounds, I would suggest seeking out an active burrow system that shows fresh signs of excavation and clipped vegetation. I would set the recorder up so that it would capture sounds from around the entrance of the burrow and perhaps inside it. I can tell you are getting lots of other sounds already. Since there are a number of other species that can be found in mt. beaver burrows so you might pick up some of these around these burrows.

Something else you might want to try is using camera set-ups that can be triggered by movement. I know someone who has a good blog on this subject if you are interested, let me know. I should also mention that I've seen some good video of mt. beaver activities but don't have any with any sounds made by them. This might be something else to experiment with.

I'd be interested in hearing more about your sound recording interests and activities. I'd also be interested in posting your question on my website if you are OK with that? I look forward to hearing more about your future recording adventures.

Best of luck, Dale March 27, 2009 10:08:21 PM PDT Dear Dale, I recorded this sound and was wondering if it came from a mountain beaver: http://web.mac.com/jrice1000/iWeb/Site%2011/Movie%203.html Saw your website and thought I would run it by you. Thanks for any advice you may have on this. And if you know of any place I can find recordings of mountain beavers, I would be very interested.

Best wishes, Jeff Rice Lake Forest Park, WA

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I recorded this sound and was wondering if it came from a mountain beaver: http://web.mac.com/jrice1000/iWeb/Site%2011/Movie%203.html Saw your website and thought I would run it by you. Thanks for any advice you may have on this. And if you know of any place I can find recordings of mountain beavers, I would be very interested.

Best wishes, Jeff Rice Lake Forest Park, WA

Not sure what to make of this but I'll add it anyway. This showed up in my Google News Search rule so I assume someone "asked" this question on ANSWER.Com Definition: mountain beaver, sewellel, Aplodontia rufa The Seattle Times Pacific Northwest magazine article came out today (2/8/09) with a link to my old journal page on close encounters. I had to do some quick web editing from my favorite local coffee shop in response and am getting contacts already.

I contacted (2/3/09) a Stanford researcher using the small mammal fossil record in California including a range shift by Aplodontia to study climate change. We're having a good discussion on the subject with more to come.

Groundhog Day (2/2/09) made the news and seemed to fly in the face of climate change this year with 6 more weeks of winter predicted!? This is as close as it gets to having a rodent holiday. Closer to home and more sobering, Prairie Dog Day was held and the report is not so good. In the far west, Mojave Max is getting more attention including guessing when he will emerge (actually Max passed away at the age of 65 last year and a new tortoise is stepping in with big feet to fill now). The desert tortoise is not doing well either in spite of lots of money being spent on mitigation and recovery. Living underground much of the time is hard enough without all the habitat destruction and disturbance it seems.

Reviewed photo of runways under the snow north of Seattle to determine if they were made by mt. beaver. Conclusion is there wasn't full burrows more likely a smaller rodent.(1/14/09) Talked to Chris Wemmer about his upcoming efforts to capture a mt. beaver up a tree with his trusty camera trap gear (1/12/09) Climate change considerations for the mountain beaver have been getting some attention and will continue to do so. (1/7/09) I received at least 45 individual emails with questions or information related to mountain beaver during 2008 including this postcard. (12/29/08) I received the link to the new "Living with mountain beaver in Washington" publication. (12/15/08) I'm waiting to hear back from staff from "Nick Baker's Weird Creatures" who apparently want to do a segment on Aplodontia!

(12/10/08)

An engineering geologist in Seattle is looking at possible mountain beaver contribution to geological activities near a project site. (12/08/08) I provided information for an article in the Sunday "Pacific Northwest" magazine for the Seattle Times but haven't seen a copy or heard when it will hit the streets yet. (12/03/08) A Sacramento State University geology professor contacted me to learn more about mountain beaver as part of a mountain meadow hydrology study being initiated. (6/7/08)

A mountain beaver showed in Lee Vining within the Mono Lake Basin. This adds some new information to the recent discussions regarding a proposed highway widening project nearby too. I received several pictures and other details too and will add them soon.

I was interviewed by a reporter doing an article on the listed Point Arena Mountain Beaver. I also provided photos and other information for several other articles on the species.

The "boomer" is the mascot of the Toledo High School in Oregon. Thanks to Glenn I now have a very cool t-shirt that shows just how popular mountain beaver have become!

I helped several researchers studying mountain beaver in various parts of its home range including southern British Columbia.

Several new projects are getting underway or being proposed too. Updates to come.

I fixed the broken link to the PAMB Final Recovery Plan on the Publications page here. Please let me know if you find any other broken links here too.

I've added more information to help people who have questions about controlling mountain beaver activity on their property.

While there are no guarentees that any of this will work for you, the information comes from experts in Washington. Here's the link: Mountain beaver control information from Washington state Please let me know how this works for you. Also, 22-2 section. there's more information on this subject in the Concerns

I've added more information to help people who have questions about controlling mountain beaver activity on their property.

While there are no guarentees that any of this will work for you, the information comes from experts in Washington. Here's the link: Mountain beaver control information from Washington state Please let me know how this works for you. Also, there's more information on this subject in the Concerns section.

While not exactly a mountain beaver, I had fun working with keenly observant Saskia who contacted me about the mysterious "Woody" living on her property in eastern Kansas. We determined this critter was at the very edge on the species range near the state line. Great team detective work!

Mountain beaver were in the news as a drastic rollback of Washington state’s voter-approved ban on most animal trapping was vetoed by Gov. Gary Locke, who said opponents of the prohibition went too far in overturning voter wishes. The failed alternative would have exempted moles, gophers and mountain beaver, three of the most destructive species, from the trapping ban. Read the whole article here: Rollback of animal trapping ban vetoed Check out this link Aplodontia tracks and signs for some great new information and pictures from the Virtual Dirt Time web site in Oregon. Note there are lots of pictures there and it can take some time to download if you don't have a fast internet connection.

Check out this article in June/July 2002 issue of National Wildlife magazine for a very interesting discussion on mountain beaver and other "living fossils"!

I visited Mount St. Helens (Mount St. Helens Web Cam) where mountain beaver were apparently known previously from the Spirit Lake area. It will probably be quite some time before the species is found there again but I would greatly appreciate any information you might have on this or other locations.

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My Mt. Beaver Publications: Steele, D. 1982. An Ecological Survey of Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) in California. Non-game Wildlife Investigations, Job IV-16.1, California Department of Fish and Game.

Steele, D. 1986a. The Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) in California. Unpublished Masters Thesis, University of California, Davis. 93 pp.

Steele, D. 1986b. A Review of the Population Status of the Point Arena Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa nigra). Final Report No. 10188-5671-5 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Sacramento Endangered Species Office.

Steele, D. 1989. An Ecological Survey of the Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) in California, 1979-83. Wildlife Management Division Administrative Report No. 89-1.

Steele, D. 1990. Point Arena Mountain Beaver Status Update Report. Unpublished document submitted to Dept. of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Steele, D. 1991. Letter to Sacramento Endangered Species Office of U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service commenting of the proposed endangered species listing of the Point Arena Mountain Beaver.

Steele, D, and L. Litman. 1994. Draft Point Arena Mountain Beaver Recovery Plan. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, Portland, OR Steele, D. 1998. Family APLODONTIDAE. in Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for North American Rodents.

SSC/IUCN. Compiled and edited by D. Hafner, E. Yensen, and G. Kirkland, Jr Steele, D. and L. Litman. 1998. Final Point Arena Mountain Beaver Recovery Plan. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1. Portland, OR 71 pages

If this is what I do for fun, what do I do for work? Click here (Dale's Work) to find out.

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More Mountain Beaver Links (Needs to be updated) Living with Mountain Beaver in Washington

Point Arena Mountain Beaver Mt. Beaver Red List Status Point Arena Mt. Beaver Red List Status Point Reyes Mt. Beaver Red List Status Mt. Beaver Status in UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre Databases Mountain Beaver in Washington Species at Risk in Canada - Mountain Beaver Mountain Beaver/Carson Range Mountain Beaver Talk Mountain Beaver Brain Mountain Beaver Control Dave's Favorite VERTEBRATE MANAGEMENT LINKS

Mt. Beaver Inventory Univ. Calif. Museum of Paleontology's Hall of Mammals Washington Gap Analysis Predicted Mt. Beaver Distribution Biogeography of the Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) SF State Geography class project Nature Notes Mountain Beaver Mountain Beaver Skulls and Skeletons for sale? (11/20/09 that's right, but it sounds a little weird)

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Chipmunks!

Note: This was an earlier posting elsewhere).

Some thoughts about natural history study, global warming, and chipmunks I've been lucky enough to visit and old haunt of mine a couple of times this summer. Slate Creek Valley, just outside of Yosemite and starting at 10,000' elevation was my home for a great summer way back in college. Among other things, I helped lead a long term study of chipmunk behavior there that looked at the interactions of two species and their habitats.

One species, the Alpine Chipmunk, is smaller and adapted to the more open, rocky alpine conditions that exist at this timberline site. The other species, the Lodgepole Chipmunk, is larger and better suited for the small forest patches present.

We studied their behavior intensively in natural enclosures and in the wild. Much of this data was apparently never published and I'm looking into that now as it strikes me that these types of interactions and adaptations could be a very good indication of some of the types of changes that will be seen as global warming continues. It's not easy to collect the type of baseline and detailed observational data that may be needed to help with such studies. The wide distribution and range of the many species of chipmunks in California and beyond would seem to make them very good subjects for such long term study and monitoring.

Thinking about all of this brought me back to a very special person, the late Enid Larson, who I was fortunate enough to meet and correspond with back in the early days of my sierra studies of the mountain beaver . She conducted a long term study (!) of Merriam's Chipmunk in the Santa Lucia mountains near Salinas, California from 1957-78. During that period, by her count she spent more than 10,000 hours in the field and accumulated more than 5900 pages of field notes. She published an amazing 3 volume document, apparently at her own expense, that details much of this work. I have a personally dedicated copy of this study on my desk here and have been pawing through it again after my sierra hikes. This incredible dedication and ability is the type of effort that can provide the very baseline information that is so often unavailable when important decisions about landuse change and development are being made. I want to acknowledge Enid Larson's excellent work and am thankful that I was able to meet her even though it was quite late in her very productive life. I'm going to try and follow through on some of this by bringing this kind of perspective into my work with native species in California.

Dale just a little overwhelmed/ Posted: Tue - September 30, 2003 at 07:19 PM

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26 NATURAL WILDLIFE CONDITIONS IN THE WEST, A MYTH? Using the detailed journals of Lewis and Clark, two scientists indicate that the vision of a pristine American West prior to the arrival of European-American settlers may be a myth. Instead, they found that the presence of the region's native peoples already had diminished and displaced wildlife populations.

I haven't seen the full study yet and have requested a copy along with any additional information they may have collected on mountain beaver, my species of greatest interest. I have questions about how far you can go with this type of journal information but at the same time it can help better understand more about the distribution and abundance of wildlife in much more natural conditions. I've been interested in looking at early russian trapping records as well to get an idea of the distribution of mt. beaver but my previous attempts indicate this is not likely to turn up much new information. At this point, I think there are likely to be too many variables that need to be considered to allow much in the way of conclusions regarding conditions this far back in time. We have enough trouble accurately looking a few years into the future or understanding what took place a few years in the past.

Here's some information from the researcher's web site: The Lewis & Clark journals of the 1804-1806 expedition contain some of the earliest and detailed written descriptions of a large part of the United States before white settlement. Using the daily entries in the journals, we are developing a spatial database, recording and mapping wildlife distribution and abundance, various ecological observations as well as encounters with the Native population. We are concentrating on 9 of the larger mammals, since the members of the Corps of Discovery kept detailed records of animals hunted and seen along the trail. One of the objectives is to examine the relationship between wildlife observations, habitat types and proximity to human settlements. We are also conducting a time-change analysis, comparing wildlife distribution and abundance 200 years ago with that of today. All this information is currently being assembled in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The research is expected to be complete by the end of 2003.

From the researcher's web site you can also select an interactive map that shows you some of the data they have collected at a number of places along the trail Lewis and Clark followed.

After I get a copy of the entire report and read it, I'll add more information to this posting.

Posted at 07:37 PM November 25, 2003

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Mountain Beaver Brain From the Brain Museum

Sewellel (Mountain Beaver) (Aplodontia rufa) #64-103

Whole brain photographs

Coronal section through middle

• Standard views

of brain

• Special views

• Movie Atlas

• Rotating brain cast

• Picture Atlas

Physical characteristics and distribution The Sewellel has a thick, heavy body with short limbs. Body length is 33-47 cm. All of the limbs have 5 digits and those of the forefeet are fairly long since they are used for digging and grasping. It resembles a muskrat although it has no tail. The fur is short and dense with uniformly grayish or reddish brown coloring speckled with black. It has prehensile hands and feet.

It is most commonly found at lower elevations in forests and dense vegetation near waterways. Sewellels dig long burrows that are close to the surface which serve as shelter and a place to store food. It eats almost any plant material and drink large amounts of water.

They live alone or in loose colonies. It has a single yearly litter of 2-6 young.

They are found on the W coast of North America from SW British Columbia (Canada) to N California (USA), 27-1 isolated populations in N and C California, extending into W Nevada.

Description of the brain

vegetation near waterways. Sewellels dig long burrows that are close to the surface which serve as shelter and a place to store food. It eats almost any plant material and drink large amounts of water.

They live alone or in loose colonies. It has a single yearly litter of 2-6 young.

They are found on the W coast of North America from SW British Columbia (Canada) to N California (USA), isolated populations in N and C California, extending into W Nevada.

Description of the brain

Animal source and preparation All specimens collected followed the same preparation and histological procedure.

Other Related Resources (websites and publications)

List of Specimens | Explore Collections | Brain Sections | Brain Evolution | Brain Development | Brain Circuitry | Brain Functions | Location and Use | Related Web Sites | Contact Us | Search MSU Database | Personnel | Home

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Pending Work & Communications To Dos ..................................................................................................................................................................................29 Recent Email .........................................................................................................................................................................30 Video Email ...........................................................................................................................................................................31 California Email .....................................................................................................................................................................32 Oregon Email ........................................................................................................................................................................33 Washington Email .................................................................................................................................................................34 British Columbia Email ..........................................................................................................................................................35

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29 Due

1/24/09 2/10/09 2/2/09 1/31/09 1/17/09

4/30/09 4/30/09 4/30/09 2/12/09 3/6/09 2/6/09

3/20/09 3/20/09 4/10/09 1/31/09

To Dos Computer Tasks Web Site Work update with new information from email & reports Create a Google Earth Mapping Feature for photos and observations Create online space for visitors to leave comments, notes, questions. Checking with NoteBook. Could create iDisk space in my public folder too. re-establish mountain beaver web site using NoteBook ver. 3.

Created an iPhoto Gallery for Mt. Beaver photos & link to Journal

Contacts to Make Follow up with Nick's Weird Creatures staff about video project British Columbia Mt. Beaver search results? Contact Andrew Balmford Permission requested for photo use. Contact Andrea Dailey for update.

Contacted Seattle Times writer about getting a copy of the article published 2/8/09. (received a copy 2/15/09) Contact Wendy Arjo about her mt. beaver experiences (wendya@ageiss.com (360) 628-8748) Check with Julia Turney about hydrology project

Office Tasks Review Redwood Sciences Lab PAMB Status report, permit request & funding proposal Review "Fossils from Northern California Reveal Mammalian Response to Climate Change" presentation Review Articles: Review Laliberte papers on Lewis & Clark Wildlife Observations Controlling Forest Damage by Dispersive Beaver Populations: Centralized Optimal Management Strategy Mahadev G. Bhat, Ray G. Huffaker, and Suzanne M. Lenhart

1/31/09 5/16/09

(Assisted Migration, what could this mean for Mt.Beaver?) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/science/ 23migrate.html Review Jessica's Mammalian Climate Change paper with mt. beaver example. (more work to do with this paper).

3/29/09

Mahadev G. Bhat, Ray G. Huffaker, Suzanne M. Lenhart (1993) Controlling Forest Damage by Dispersive Beaver Populations: Centralized Optimal Management Strategy. Ecological Applications: Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 518-530 doi: 10.2307/1941920 Around the House Tasks Prioritize materials that need to be scanned Wendy offered a mt. beaver specimen to mount & need to find a taxidermist and get costs etc.

1/31/09

Errands Wemmer requested an Ingles slide

1/31/09

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Recent Email Hi, I saw this mountain beaver in Mill Creek, yesterday...May 5, 2009. It was at the north parking area of North Creek County Park.

It walked under my car then proceeded to go to the edge of the gravel parking spot and eat grass! It was funny..he/she didn't seem to pay attention that I was there. The wind blew my car door shut and then he kind of spooked.

It appears to be a young one? It has blue eyes or blue rimmed eyes....

This is the second one I have seen around Mill Creek. The first one was in the Mill Creek (Snohomish Co) Nature Trail area.

I love them!

Janis Young May 6, 2009 Mill Creek, WA (Note: Janis sent 3 great photos which have been uploaded to my mountain beaver gallery now.

Dale,

I live on a bank overlooking the Wenatchee River in Wenatchee, WA. The other day I spotted this little guy waddling across the road in front of our house to a vacant field. I approached carefully in order to get a good picture, but stopped 20 feet away. However, it started approaching me.

When the picture was taken we were 5 feet apart. This is a very arid area. Prior to my house being built two years ago, this was an orchard.

I've been to your site. The animal is similar to some of the images you have on-line, but not so much to others. Can you determine from the photo and information that I've given you what it is? I've only seen marmots in the Olympic Mountains, and some say that mountains beavers and marmots are the same thing. From what I've read, that isn't necessarily the case. I anxiously await your input.

Karl, May 6, 2009 (Note: This turned out to be a very nice photo of a marmot. I suspect there is some overlap between the two species in areas like this).

DaleI will forward a CD of the video files, and you are welcome to post to your site (which I have visited several times since my first encounter with the mountain beaver).

I will send it to your office soon- thanks for the reply.

Michael Northrop 4/30/09 (Note: I have the CD now which has some nice close up night clips of a mt. beaver. I'll post them later. I added a photo from him in my gallery too) ----- Original Message ----Sent: Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:22:41 +0000 (UTC) Subject: Re: mountain beaver video footage Michael, Thanks for sharing. That is quite a "close encounter" video. I would be interested in seeing more if you are OK with sharing. I suspect you've seen the website "journal ( http://homepage.mac.com/dtsteele/Mountain_Beaver_Work/pages/34.html )" I try to keep up on this species. Would you be OK with me linking to some of your video there? I can set something up for that later. I do get lots of questions from folks about this unique species and find it helpful to have good information like this available.

Thanks again, Dale p.s. you can mail a disk to my work address below or I can give you my home address. I'm happy to cover mailing costs.

DaleWriting from Seattle, I have some closeup video which might interest you.

I came home last night to encounter a raccoon and mountain beaver having a standoff in my drivewaywhile the raccoon dashed away, the m.b. ambled around for a while and I got some close up video, complete with audio. When last seen, he was headed for my rhodies.

Our back yard is ideal territory and I have had a few daytime sightings over the last few years, but nothing like this.

I am attaching a short clip, and would be happy to send down a CD if you are interested.

Michael Northrop

2/28/09 Dale: I would be happy to discuss my many years researching mt. beaver with you sometime (both in captivity and in the field). You may be most interested in my recent sabbatical to California. Yes… those were stuffed mt. beaver.

Although the gray one was slightly tamed, having been raised in captivity since he was born, I am not sure I could get him to hold still that long! He was always very inquisitive!

Wendy Wendy Arjo, Ph.D Environmental Scientist AGEISS Inc.

Celebrating 20 years!

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I would be happy to discuss my many years researching mt. beaver with you sometime (both in captivity and in the field). You may be most interested in my recent sabbatical to California. Yes… those were stuffed mt. beaver.

Although the gray one was slightly tamed, having been raised in captivity since he was born, I am not sure I could get him to hold still that long! He was always very inquisitive!

Wendy Wendy Arjo, Ph.D Environmental Scientist AGEISS Inc.

Celebrating 20 years!

wendya@ageiss.com (360)628-8748

1/31/09 7:14 PM Thanks so much for responding. As a project for my biology class, im thinking about studying them and the parasitic flea that lives only on them. The reason I asked about the orphans is that I also work for a wildlife park and give educational presentations about native wildlife and we're always on the lookout for a young mountain beaver. Thanks again for the reply and I will continue to browse you great website for new information.

Dallas Hi Dallas, I would say the range for mt. beaver is throughout the puget sound & olympic peninsula area including where you are. I believe I have heard of records or observations of they around Evergreen but don't have any details handy. They can be overlooked pretty easily though. One of the ways that they get documented in an area is when the young animals are dispersing and looking for new territory to occupy later in the year.

Orphaned animals also turn up when a dog or other animal gets into the nest area of a burrow system or the adult is trapped outside. I generally don't recommend keeping animals that are found like this. They don't make for very good pets and while they may seem to do OK in captivity for a period of time, it's not uncommon for them to die suddenly perhaps due to diet, disease, or stress issues.

I hope you are able to locate an area close to you where you can observe them and their natural habitat. They are quite interesting and can be a good challenge for photography, natural history observations, and just a good excuse to enjoy the outdoors. I'll look forward to hearing if you make any discoveries. I'm planning to add a map and record feature to my website so we can collect and share this type of information. Any other thoughts or ideas you have would be welcome too.

Thanks and good luck.

Dale On Jan 31, 2009, at 12:01 AM, Dallas LaDucer wrote:

Hi there Dale, I was wonering if you knew the range of mountain beavers in the puget sound area. I have seen them out near Eatonville, but I'm going to school in Olympia and I was wondering if they could be found down there. The Evergreen State College sits on a huge pice of wooded land, but I have yet to see evidence there. I really havent looked hard yet though. Also, I was wondering if you ever come across any orphaned youngsters in your studies?

Hope to hear from you soon.

Dallas

Pending Emails Hi there, I am a high school student doing a report on Mountain Beavers. I wasn't really sure what exactly I was writing about as the choices we had to choose from were just names on a list. I decided to pick this one because I thought it was a beaver. Turns out it wasn't, though I did; however, seem to find these nocturnal rodents extremely interesting.

I noticed online that there was a good selection of information, and when I came across your site I found even more. I did not, though, seem to find any information on the following, and I was wondering if you could help me out: 1. I read that these mammals were not very sociable. Why is this?

2. Do Mountain Beavers look after their young? What skills or lessons do they teach them?

3. How does one Mountain Beaver initiate mating?

Your knowledge and expertise is very much appreciated.

Thank you, Kacie.K

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1. I read that these mammals were not very sociable. Why is this?

2. Do Mountain Beavers look after their young? What skills or lessons do they teach them?

3. How does one Mountain Beaver initiate mating?

Your knowledge and expertise is very much appreciated.

Thank you, Kacie.K

Hello Laura: I have had a request for information from Dale Steele, Program Manager, Wildlife Game & Nongame Programs, California Department of Fish & Game, about Mountain Beavers (Aplodontia rufa) and their distribution in British Columbia.

As far as I know, I have never seen a Mountain Beaver. I also understand they are actually not beavers, but more of a semi-fossorial rodent. Apparently, they are are known by many other common names too.

Dale has a website on the Mountain Beaver: www.infowright.com/mtbeaver I would appreciate if you would let your network of wildlife people know that Dale is looking information about Mountain Beavers in British Columbia.

Dale can be reached at: Dale Steele, Program Manager Wildlife Game & Nongame Programs Calif. Dept. Fish & Game 1812 Ninth St Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 445-0803 office Email: DSteele@dfg.ca.gov Thanks, Len Leonard Sielecki Environmental Issues Analyst BC Ministry of Transportation Hi, Dale, I'm writing about the Mountain Beaver for our Sunday mag, Pacific. I was very interested in your website, esp the "Mountain Beaver Close Encounters." I wonder if you'd be willing to contact or forward contact info for a couple of the local people who had those encounters? Randy and Peggy (Skykomish), Susan (Redmond), Jeff Hancock (Redmond), Peter (Brier) were the ones I was hoping for. I think I've already located Dan Plute. Anyway, hope this gets to you and you'll help me out.

Thanks much, Carol Carol M. Ostrom Staff reporter The Seattle Times Hi Dale~

Your website on the Mountain Beaver was REALLY helpful! Thanks!

We were on a hike today on the Iron Goat trail at Steven's Pass (WA) and saw a very strange looking animal. We were able to get up on it very close because it's back legs were paralyzed. My husband assumed it was a species that dragged it's hind legs but I didn't agree. It clearly had been paralyzed somehow. Anyway, we sure didn't know what it was. I was recalling my conservation studies as a child and thought it closely resembled a mountain vole or pika. But I just wasn't convinced -- my husband thought it was a muskrat. We googled Northwestern mountain rodent and your website came up. Super! Mystery solved.

But sadly, I couldn't help Mr. Beaver, though he seemed to get around quite well dragging his hind end. He may have even been born that way. But I surmised that he'd had a run in with an eagle who might have dropped him from a height or maybe been swatted on the back by a coyote or mountain lion. In any case, he likely can't live very long like that. If you are interested, he was along the trail going up to the snowshed wall by just a handful of yards in the ditch off to the left.

Anyway, thanks again for the help. He was quite a handsome guy and very personable, even injured.

Take care, Andrea Harris & Family Des Moines, WA

Hi Dale, I just looked at your website and that prompted this email.

I'm in the Geology Department at Sac State and along with several graduate students are working on mountain meadow research in the Sierra 30-3 Nevada. Specifically we are quantifying the potential groundwater storage capabilities of these meadows. We've been working in a small meadow up int he Last Chance watershed (Upper Feather) and have seen some amazing beaver activity over the last two years. From no observable beaver activity to evidence of several beaver colonies in this relatively small meadow (about 1 square mile in area). We're thinking that beaver activity might be one of the many reasons that mountain meadows exist (damming small tributary streams, trapping sediment, and producing meadow environments) and are curious about their potential role in restoring previously damaged meadows. Damaged meadows occur when changes to stream channels occur (cattle grazing, road construction, off road vehicles, early railroad work, etc.). The meadow channels often incise their channels and drain the surrounding wetlands rapidly. This induces a change in the water budget in the meadow ultimately affecting vegetation and wildlife.

I guess my questions at this point are:

Hi Dale, I just looked at your website and that prompted this email.

I'm in the Geology Department at Sac State and along with several graduate students are working on mountain meadow research in the Sierra Nevada. Specifically we are quantifying the potential groundwater storage capabilities of these meadows. We've been working in a small meadow up int he Last Chance watershed (Upper Feather) and have seen some amazing beaver activity over the last two years. From no observable beaver activity to evidence of several beaver colonies in this relatively small meadow (about 1 square mile in area). We're thinking that beaver activity might be one of the many reasons that mountain meadows exist (damming small tributary streams, trapping sediment, and producing meadow environments) and are curious about their potential role in restoring previously damaged meadows. Damaged meadows occur when changes to stream channels occur (cattle grazing, road construction, off road vehicles, early railroad work, etc.). The meadow channels often incise their channels and drain the surrounding wetlands rapidly. This induces a change in the water budget in the meadow ultimately affecting vegetation and wildlife.

I guess my questions at this point are: 1) how have beaver populations changed over the last century or so in the Sierra Nevada/ 2) are they currently resurging or have populations remained relatively stable?

3) is there any literature out there about beavers "restoring" meadows that they operate in?

We're searching literature sources to get at these questions as well, but we're geologists and aren't as familiar with the biological understandings of such things. thanks, Kevin Kevin Cornwell, Professor Department of Geology Hi Dale ! I am still working on an article about the mountain beaver,and seem to have more questions each time I visit it.I check your website,and am amazed at your computer abilities.Have you done further research on our fearless fossil? Two questions keep tickling my brain.First is the composition of the fluid they secrete when disturbed.Has it been tested?What is it ?Also am curious about their ability to detect changes in air pressure.Would that be like having a built-in barometer?

Also, when in captivity,do they ever become 'tame' or show any sign of tolerating their foodgiver?And my next question is on the personal note.I'm finding that because I lack credibility(ie not an expert in the field),my chances of getting this published are not good.It would help hugely if I could interview you,or someone else directly involved in research.I have rewritten the article,and still want to focus on getting kids excited and enthused with a strong orientation towards learning from such a survivor.Thanks for your time.It's a gift I don't take lightly.Sincerely,Maureen p.s.I can send you my latest revision if you 're interested.M Mr. Steele I was reading your work on the internet- and decided to contact you regarding some pesky little fellows destroying a hillside here in Seattle. All the neighborhood is now in fear of the destruction by a colony of Mountain Beavers.

I have seen them several times- they are black and white, or brown and white with a few all brown.

What can I do to remove them? We all would like to have them trapped but no one knows a lick about how to go about it.

Bait, traps, how many to use etc etc?

We also wonder how soon another colony would replace them?

What other details would I need to know about them- ie they eat roots?

Are you ever in the Seattle area- and would like to see them?

Any information yould could provide is appreciated.

Thank you Seán O'Leary

Dale- I happened to get a very close look at one of these today but I was so intrigued by seeing something I couldn't recognize that I forgot to grab my camera until it was too late. I was returning up the road-wide path from Vinkingshome on Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe about 3/4 of the way to the top when on the right side when I saw it. It was a charcoal color, that is near but not quite black. It clipped off two plants of one of the local Apiaceae (a common plant around that area but I don't its name off hand) at the base (and I assume was going to run off to its burrow network which I did not observe) when I moved to get my camera it ran into a dry drain system leaving the plants behind (sorry little critter!). No one I ran into there knew what I was describing so I stopped at the information place which is near the SW corner of Lake Tahoe to ask they knew what it was. One ranger said there have been some reports of sightings from Fallen Leaf Lake. I was not quite sure when I was there but when I just checked on the internet the little white spots by the ears made it definite that that is what I saw. Also one of the internet photos shows the pelt with some lighter hairs which is exactly what I remember. I am not sure of the exact size of the one I saw but it seems a bit smaller than some description I saw so it may have been a juvenile.

Hope this info is some use. I haven't had time to read your site about it, but I shall try to get to it! Thanks, Al Hill

Older Email to Follow-up Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:02:36 -0800 From: "SicaQ" Subject: mountain beaver question To: <dsteele Hi there,

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I read your article in the Sierra Wave (http://esaudubon.org/wv19_4.htm) and am hoping that maybe you can help me. I recently moved into a mobile home that apparently has a mountain beaver in residence as well. We have not been able to spot it (though we have seen some very strange tracks) but we were told by the previous owners that they had seen it. They also said that they had tried to trap it on several occasions but to no avail. I don't have much issue with the shared occupancy except for it's very loud chewing noises around 3 am-ish--it actually sounds like it is chewing thru the floor. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I have done some limited research and haven't found anything quite like my situation, if you have any ideas on how to deal with this I would be most appreciative.

Thank you

Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:02:36 -0800 From: "SicaQ" Subject: mountain beaver question To: <dsteele Hi there, I read your article in the Sierra Wave (http://esaudubon.org/wv19_4.htm) and am hoping that maybe you can help me. I recently moved into a mobile home that apparently has a mountain beaver in residence as well. We have not been able to spot it (though we have seen some very strange tracks) but we were told by the previous owners that they had seen it. They also said that they had tried to trap it on several occasions but to no avail. I don't have much issue with the shared occupancy except for it's very loud chewing noises around 3 am-ish--it actually sounds like it is chewing thru the floor. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I have done some limited research and haven't found anything quite like my situation, if you have any ideas on how to deal with this I would be most appreciative.

Thank you

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Video Email Wed, 25 Oct 2006 18:14:18 -0700 From: "Steven Miller" To: Subject: Mountain Beaver Video Hi Dale, I wanted to let you know that I have posted video of the juvenile Mt. Beaver that was trapped in our below grade patio on our website, <http:// www.themillersplace.net>www.themillersplace.net in the video section. A direct link is <http://home.earthlink.net/~thekenney/sitebuildercontent/ sitebuilderfiles/mtbeaver.wmv>http://home.earthlink.net/~thekenney/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/mtbeaver.wmv. You are welcome to link to the video if you update your website. I have no plans to remove the video any time soon. If you don't think the music is appropriate, I will silence the audio track. I also understand that the video might make some persons feel too comfortable about handling Mountain Beavers and not be appropriate for that reason. Any wild animal could be dangerous if feeling cornered.

Fortunately, we have not seen "Baldric" since the fateful evening. I say fortunately only because we worry about his safety after falling into our patio.

We now have just one elderly weiner dog, so at least he would no longer be in any danger of being chewed up.

Sincerely, Steven Miller

Steve, Very nice work! I got a kick out of it and think the music is fine for the situation. I appreciate your offer and will plan on linking to this soon. I'll probably add a little note about not trying to handle or corner wild animals. I agree that an elderly weiner dog and a mtn beaver would likely be a mismatch but could lead to a comical sequel to your video...

Let me know if you find out whether or not "baldric" is still around there.

Thanks a lot for sharing.

Dale Hi Dale, I uploaded a draft version of Aplodontia page: http://hotcity.com/~vladimir/arufa.htm Some pictures are still missing, and video files will only be uploaded tonight.

Vladimir Hi Dale, Thanks to your tip, I finally managed to see up close and videotape A. rufa at Lolo Pass near Mt. Hood.

At the road over the summit, most colonies are located at points where the road is crossed by small streams. I spent 12 hours sitting in front of a 40-hole colony with a video camera. One minute after my arrival (at 9 am), there was a spectacular 10-seconds fight between two animals, with chasing and screaming. But my camera was still in the car. Then I had to wait for 7 hours without seeing anything. Two hours before sunset, they started showing up, but never more than for a few seconds.

Finally, all activity ceased at sunset, and there was nothing until 9 pm, when I got too cold to continue.

There were at least 3 animals in the colony, some of them blackish.

In 12 hours, they were visible for about 1 minute altogether, and I got 15-20 seconds of video. But it was worth it.

It was my 6-th attempt to see this species, not counting general-purpose trips to its range with a lot of nighttime hiking.

I'll post some video stills on my website in a few days, and send you the link.

Vladimir Dinets P.S. Burrow entrances at Mt.Hood were much larger than at Pt. 31-1 Reyes and Pt. Arena. Is it a larger subspecies, or may be it's because of soil difference?

September 22, 2002 4:47:15 PM PDT

pm, when I got too cold to continue.

There were at least 3 animals in the colony, some of them blackish.

In 12 hours, they were visible for about 1 minute altogether, and I got 15-20 seconds of video. But it was worth it.

It was my 6-th attempt to see this species, not counting general-purpose trips to its range with a lot of nighttime hiking.

I'll post some video stills on my website in a few days, and send you the link.

Vladimir Dinets P.S. Burrow entrances at Mt.Hood were much larger than at Pt. Reyes and Pt. Arena. Is it a larger subspecies, or may be it's because of soil difference?

September 22, 2002 4:47:15 PM PDT

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California Email Re: draft protocol for sign surveys (mt beaver) Hello Dale, long time since we corresponded...I have been so busy with the bat portion of this pilot study that I haven't had time to think of much else. Ten days camping then four days off makes for a hectic schedule I'm realizing! I'm also realizing that the summer is slipping by fast! I appreciate all the homework you've been doing regarding mt beavers in this area, and know from trying to get data from museum records they are sometimes spotty at best. The reality of my being able to spend much time hunting known sites is near impossible - I often have 20 hrs OT as it is each pay period....but I still would love to join you in the field, if just for a day, to look at some some of these critters. I have been involved in the protocol we call 'vertebrate area search' but we are just starting to get to our high elevation sites where mt beavers are more likely. This plot we search in riparian areas is 30m x 300m - I wonder what you think of 30m from the creek, do you think beavers would be in that close or potentially further out?

So, the bottom line is I'd like to meet for a day in the field (how's August looking for you?), and it would be best spent looking at an active or recently active site to just get the search image down so that I can pass the information on to my coworkers. How about either contacting Paul Beier for a potential site on the Tahoe, or meeting to check out the Donner summit site? I can contact Beier if you prefer (forward an email/phone if so). I had hoped to find a site on our study area that mt beavers may be so that we could note specific habitat characteristics, but that just doesn't seem necessary at this point. One day, looking at where they live anywhere in the Sierra would be the most help. Your thoughts on a potential day in August or September (we'll cover your hotel if its a long drive for you), and whether you think its worth calling Beier for suggestions on a currently used site, or risk going to Donner (I can call the State park you mentioned if you tell me the name). Hope you're enjoying the summer, I'm back in the field tomorrow, the bat work has been tremendous. Thanks again -- we'll pull this off someday I'm sure!!!

Michelle July 4, 2001 11:28:47 AM

To: Michelle McKenzie/PSW/USDAFS

05/28/2001 Subject: Re: draft protocol for sign 12:01 PM surveys (mt beaver) Michelle: I haven't heard from you for a while and thought I should check back in.

I'm using this three day weekend to do some catch up on things around the house and even do a little mt. beaver "house cleaning" too.

I sent you a few comments and some general collection information earlier this month. If you didn't get it, please let me know and I'll send it again. Since then, I have managed to sort out some additional museum records and have them in a database. I've also tracked down a map of Tahoe National Forest with some known and suspected mt. beaver populations. I believe that I collected this information by contacting several FS biologists quite some time ago.

Hopefully this additional information will be of some use for your survey project. I haven't reviewed many of these sites for a very long time and is often the case with museum records, there isn't enough location detail for easy relocation. The Tahoe map should be more helpful in that regard.

Let me know how things are going and if you would like to discuss this information in more detail.

Meanwhile, I hope all is well and that you are enjoying this much needed long weekend!

Dale

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for easy relocation. The Tahoe map should be more helpful in that regard.

Let me know how things are going and if you would like to discuss this information in more detail.

Meanwhile, I hope all is well and that you are enjoying this much needed long weekend!

Dale Dale, Sorry I didn't respond promptly to the email I was cc'd by Michelle.

Regarding Mountain beaver detections in the Lake Tahoe Region. We conducted Sherman long trapping at 40 locations in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

We did not detect mountain beaver just to the west of Hwy 28 at Spooner lake adjacent to the State park (one of the known populations on the Nevada side of the lake) or at any other location using Sherman long traps. Our survey location near spooner was mostly an upland habitat that was surveyed. Additionally our primary trapping protocol this summer used Sherman long traps which are likely too small for anything but a very small juvenile individual to fit in them.

We did conduct trapping surveys with Tomahawk traps at 3 locations in California at the southern end of the Lake Tahoe Basin. We had conducted these surveys in summer 2001 and were gathering some repeat survey information at these locations to get an idea of annual variation in trap data. Ideally we would like to continue developing a protocol using Tomahawk traps, but as for now the low trap success requires so many traps to be deployed that it is extremely time and labor intensive to conduct.

Anyhow, we did capture a single mountain beaver in a Tomahawk trap in the Showers Lake area (South Upper Truckee drainage) south west of South Lake Tahoe. It was captured in a very wet willow meadow and scurried off quickly upon being released. Hope this helps.

Cheers, Julie Roth Wildlife Biologist USDA Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

Re: Mono Basin Mtn Beaver?

Hi Dale, I just spent a few hours down at Mono Lake looking for MT. Beaver habitat. this is probably not the best time but, there was no snow and I thought I might see the remnants of last years activity. Anyway, we searched in the County Park area, the tufa near the cinder mine at Black Point, (Ever seen the Fountain of youth?), some sections of the west shore near the marina, and at the mouth of Lee Vining Creek. If you get the time, could you give me a call or e- mail me regarding where I might look a little closer? I also check a seep area above the Shrimp Plant. Only at the seep and at the tufa near the cinder mine did I see what might have been real vague signs. I would love to hear from you on this as I am doing an Aplodintia survey across all our park units, and I am specially interested in the Mono population.

Thanks Dale!

Stewart McMorrow Truckee Mt. Beaver?

Dale: Maps showing beaver and aplodontia locations are being mailed tomorrow to you.

As near as I can tell, I indicated aplodontia occurrences with polygons filled with cross-hatches. The indication BB and PC apparently refer to Castor, and probably mean "bank burrow" and "population center"? Â The letters on the map are end points of stream reaches (e.g., the stream between map points L and M was one of my sample reaches). I nailed a flexible aluminum tag to a tree at the location of each letter stating the date I was there. By the way, I took 2 photos (slides) from each point (one upstream, one downstream) and Reg Barrett doubtless still has these in his office at UC Berkeley, identified by stream name and map letter. It was strange looking at these old maps, recognizing my own writing, and trying to figure out what I had written! Most maps are photocopies, but one is an old field map for which the data had been copied to a new map, so you can keep them all. I hope they come in handy.

Paul Paul Beier August 11, 2001 5:50:01 PM Dale: Good to hear from you again. I've been traveling for 6 weeks, and am digging out of a mountain of requests. I'll make a brief reply now, and will respond faster to your next request.

I've searched and found a spreadsheet of data, which unfortunately has the habitat data but does not have a column for the stream name32-2 (duh!). By crosswalking to my beaver data sheets (I can't find the Apodlodontia data sheets) it seems that I did survey Martis creek from its headwaters to below the reservoir and did not find any sign of Aplodontia there. I could similarly dig up info on other streams if you need, but it would take a bit of work. I should have maps, too, on which the locations of Aplodontia are marked, and I could copy these and send them to you.

I'll be in LA next week with Cal Parks, TNC, USFS, CDFG, and others, trying to develop a strategy to conserve connective habitats between major wildlands

Paul Beier August 11, 2001 5:50:01 PM Dale: Good to hear from you again. I've been traveling for 6 weeks, and am digging out of a mountain of requests. I'll make a brief reply now, and will respond faster to your next request.

I've searched and found a spreadsheet of data, which unfortunately has the habitat data but does not have a column for the stream name (duh!). By crosswalking to my beaver data sheets (I can't find the Apodlodontia data sheets) it seems that I did survey Martis creek from its headwaters to below the reservoir and did not find any sign of Aplodontia there. I could similarly dig up info on other streams if you need, but it would take a bit of work. I should have maps, too, on which the locations of Aplodontia are marked, and I could copy these and send them to you.

I'll be in LA next week with Cal Parks, TNC, USFS, CDFG, and others, trying to develop a strategy to conserve connective habitats between major wildlands there, should be most exciting. I'm sure we'll need all the help we can find.

All best, Paul Beier *** Please Note: NEW area code 928 starting June 2001*** Associate Professor, Wildlife Ecology School of Forestry Northern Arizona University

Hi Dale, Thank you very much for your quick response. I did indeed see your webpage, which is probably the most information easily available on mountain beaver out there.

I am currently working on the HCP for Mendocino Redwood Company that will cover PAMB in their document. It is quiet difficult to work on the species as not much is known. Most information around is on the other mountain beavers and it seems that they are mostly treated as unwanted rodents. All the PAMB observation information I got at this point are from the USFWS recovery plan - very vague data for that matter. We try to determine if the growing pig populations could be a threat to burrows and/or foraging habitat to a degree that the beavers are significantly affected. I am somewhat focusing on the riparian areas or riparian vegetation among coniferous trees as the information I have at this point indicates that most of MRC's PAMB population might be found there.

Gisela

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Oregon Email Sat, 23 Sep 2006 23:14:11 -0700 From: "Scott Dinsmore" To: Subject: Mountain Beaver I’m currently trying to figure out if I have a Mountain Beaver in my garden or if my dog is being very naughty. I live on a lush acre in Woodinville, WA and planted a garden of blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and pumpkins next to an overgrown hedge that borders our yard. We started with one hole in the nearby grass and now have a jumbled mess of a garden with holes and little valleys all over the place. My strawberries have been dug up and my raspberries and blueberries have been chewed off a couple branches at a time. I find the branches lying in piles a few feet away from the holes. I even have one boxwood that has been completely chewed down to stubs. As soon as I replace my strawberries they are dug up again. I thought my retriever/lab mix was being naughty, but could this be the work of a Mountain Beaver??? My neighbor said that he caught one a few years back when he saw it chewing off his sword ferns and taking them back to its burrow. If you get the chance I would love your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Krista Dinsmore

Hi Krista, Well I don't know your dog but that certainly sounds like the work of a mountain beaver. This time of year they often "haystack" vegetation just outside the burrow before taking it underground. I have to say that sounds like a pretty tasty garden you've got there. You might be able to get some live traps big enough for a rabbit and bait them with fresh apple slices or similar goodies and see what happens. If you do catch it, be careful, don't try to handle it and take it to an area (not a garden!) that looks like good habitat. You can get more information from my website on this too.

Best of luck and let me know how things go.

Dale p.s. Tell your dog to it's off the hook as far as I'm concerned....

Scott, that sounds like a good approach and I wish you the best of luck.

Dale Thanks so much Dale. I think I’ll try the rabbit traps. I hate to kill something who probably lived here before I did J but also don’t want to endanger my kids playing in the garden. Maybe I’ll take it to our family cabin in Snoqualmie and let it go in the woods and field. It would have lots of space and nobody can build on it b/c it’s shared by all the neighbors who live on that gravel road. Wish me luck!

Krista Dinsmore From: "KAYLEEN PETERSON" To: Subject: mountain beavers Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 17:45:11 -0700 I receintly came accross your e-mail when I was looking for info on mountain beavers. Here is my delima The other day my boyfriend went into our bathroom and there in front of the toilet was this creature looking up at him from trying to match up pictures I assume that its a mountain beaver. Heres the thing he grabbed it with a towel and to say the least its still in a cage what do we do with it? its a baby I think because its not mean can you help me out? here are some photos

MVC-024S.JPG Kayleen,

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Yes that certainly is a mt. beaver and I'm guessing it's a young one like you said. This time of year the young leave their nest burrow and move off to find a new space for themselves. This one seems to have got lost or chased along the way. Is there a hole in the floor or how do you think it got inside?

They don't move real far so there is probably some habitat near where you live. I would recommend you take it to a place that has good cover, soft soil for burrowing, and fresh water. There are no guarantees that the animal will make it as this is a time that many get caught by predators or run over or something.

Subject: mountain beavers Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 17:45:11 -0700 I receintly came accross your e-mail when I was looking for info on mountain beavers. Here is my delima The other day my boyfriend went into our bathroom and there in front of the toilet was this creature looking up at him from trying to match up pictures I assume that its a mountain beaver. Heres the thing he grabbed it with a towel and to say the least its still in a cage what do we do with it? its a baby I think because its not mean can you help me out? here are some photos

MVC-024S.JPG Kayleen,

Yes that certainly is a mt. beaver and I'm guessing it's a young one like you said. This time of year the young leave their nest burrow and move off to find a new space for themselves. This one seems to have got lost or chased along the way. Is there a hole in the floor or how do you think it got inside?

They don't move real far so there is probably some habitat near where you live. I would recommend you take it to a place that has good cover, soft soil for burrowing, and fresh water. There are no guarantees that the animal will make it as this is a time that many get caught by predators or run over or something.

I'm glad no one was hurt when it was handled as they can give quite a bite. Be careful releasing it. I'll be interested to hear how things go.

Good luck.

Dale p.s. nice picture.

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Washington Email 8/10/06 Hi Duff, Good question. I don't have any specific information on this but suspect it the plant is easily obtainable, mt. beaver would eat it. I don't know if that would change any if it has been treated. There could be some secondary exposure by coming in contact with the treated plants. You could design a study to get some information on that.

There was a mt. beaver thesis in the late 60s from Oregon, Voth I think, that was the most in depth food habits study I've ever seen. I have a copy buried in boxes somewhere. Can probably get from a university library. I know I have the reference in my reports.

I agree with you regarding ivy. I've seen some signs of ice plant and other strange items too.

Hope this helps a little. Keep me posted on what you come up with. I'll keep my eye out for more information too.

Good luck, Dale Hi, Dale, Your mountain beaver website appears as one the most comprehensive I've viewed.

Do you know if mountain beavers are reported to eat knotweed?

I belong to a Seattle environmental group, Heron Habitat Helpers, which is planning, next week (8/14), to inject herbicide to kill knotweed in an area where we have observed active mountain beaver tunnels. Our concern is accidentally poisoning the beavers if they should eat the treated knotweed.

The websites I have visited all state the mountain beavers' appetite is 'voracious'. I have personally observed English Ivy sprigs in tunnel entrances, indicating they eat this plant. Naturalists I have talked to in this area previously assured me that 'nothing eats English Ivy'.

If you don't know whether knotweed appears on their menus, could you refer me to someone who might?

Time is of the essence.

Many thanks.

"Duff Badgley" Heron Habitat Helpers Board Member 206-283-0621 Date: Tue, 4 Jul 2006 10:11:04 -0700 (PDT) From: Jarret Gleason Subject: mountain beaver observations To: X-ELNK-Info: spv=0; X-ELNK-AV: 0 X-ELNK-Info: sbv=0; sbrc=.0; sbf=0b; sbw=000; Last week when I came home I found an injured mountain beaver in my driveway with our curious cats circling, but keeping their distance. I thought it was a gopher, but after some time on the Internet I am convinced it was a mountain beaver.

Location: Off Oregon state Hwy 104 (spur of US 101) in Warrenton, Oregon Map it: http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?addr=91969+hwy+104&csz=97146&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=

Jarret Gleason

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British Columbia Email

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I got this email while on vacation in Portland and responded that night with several photos. DTS (4/2/07)Hi Dale, In the course of my research I am in need of a good (i.e. large) picture of a mountain beaver. I need one for an article that might be going out tomorrow in the Vancouver Sun, based of course in Vancouver, BC. I working on combining measures of genetic uniqueness and threat, and of course mountain beavers came up as important species. Do you by any chance have a large (and preferably cute) picture that I could use, for this chance to increase public awareness of this species?

A large version of this one may do: http://www.infowright.com/mtbeaver/baby3mb.jpg Apologies for the urgency but I need it by tomorrow (Wednesday) if possible.

Thanks for your help with this, Dave Redding Here's what resulted: Mountain beaver tops list of B.C.'s endangered animals email this article Chances are, if you're like most British Columbians, you've never heard of the mountain beaver. There are good reasons for this. First, it's one of the most endangered animals in the province, though exactly how endangered it is is not known. And second, because it's so rare and secretive, it's extremely difficult to see one. (04/05/07) Vancouver Sun

35-2 http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=a9d6ecdf-9217-404a-9bb8-24678e8571f0&k=55952 Hello Laura: I have had a request for information from Dale Steele, Program Manager, Wildlife Game & Nongame Programs, California Department of Fish & Game, about Mountain Beavers (Aplodontia rufa) and their distribution in British Columbia.

Dave Redding Here's what resulted: Mountain beaver tops list of B.C.'s endangered animals email this article Chances are, if you're like most British Columbians, you've never heard of the mountain beaver. There are good reasons for this. First, it's one of the most endangered animals in the province, though exactly how endangered it is is not known. And second, because it's so rare and secretive, it's extremely difficult to see one. (04/05/07) Vancouver Sun http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=a9d6ecdf-9217-404a-9bb8-24678e8571f0&k=55952 Hello Laura: I have had a request for information from Dale Steele, Program Manager, Wildlife Game & Nongame Programs, California Department of Fish & Game, about Mountain Beavers (Aplodontia rufa) and their distribution in British Columbia.

As far as I know, I have never seen a Mountain Beaver. Â I also understand they are actually not beavers, but more of a semi-fossorial rodent. Apparently, they are are known by many other common names too.

Dale has a website on the Mountain Beaver: www.infowright.com/mtbeaver I would appreciate if you would let your network of wildlife people know that Dale is looking information about Mountain Beavers in British Columbia.

Dale can be reached at: Dale Steele, Program Manager Wildlife Game & Nongame Programs Calif. Dept. Fish & Game 1812 Ninth St Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 445-0803 office Email: DSteele@dfg.ca.gov Thanks, Len Leonard Sielecki Environmental Issues Analyst BC Ministry of Transportation Hello Laura: I have had a request for information from Dale Steele, Program Manager, Wildlife Game & Nongame Programs, California Department of Fish & Game, about Mountain Beavers (Aplodontia rufa) and their distribution in British Columbia.

As far as I know, I have never seen a Mountain Beaver. Â I also understand they are actually not beavers, but more of a semi-fossorial rodent. Apparently, they are are known by many other common names too.

Dale has a website on the Mountain Beaver: www.infowright.com/mtbeaver I would appreciate if you would let your network of wildlife people know that Dale is looking information about Mountain Beavers in British Columbia.

Dale can be reached at: Dale Steele, Program Manager Wildlife Game & Nongame Programs Calif. Dept. Fish & Game 1812 Ninth St Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 445-0803 office Email: DSteele@dfg.ca.gov Thanks, Len Leonard Sielecki Environmental Issues Analyst

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Dale can be reached at: Dale Steele, Program Manager Wildlife Game & Nongame Programs Calif. Dept. Fish & Game 1812 Ninth St Sacramento, CA 95811 (916) 445-0803 office Email: DSteele@dfg.ca.gov Thanks, Len Leonard Sielecki Environmental Issues Analyst BC Ministry of Transportation Management Guidelines for Mtn Beaver in BC Hi Dale: I got your name from Les Gyug who works with Mountain Beavers here in BC. I am currently working on developing management Guidelines for Mountain Beavers for rural and urbanizing areas in southwestern BC. Would it be possible to use a photo or two of mountain beavers that you have on your really great website for use in the guidelines document I'm working on?

The management document is about conservation, NOT ways to kill them off. The document will be part of our larger "Urban, Rural Land Development Guidelines" for the Ministry of Environment, British Columbia. Here's a link to that document http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/bmp/urban_ebmp/urban_ebmp.html.

It's currently undergoing revision and that's why we've got the opportunity to produce something for Mountain Beavers...

Also, the Mountain Beaver Management Guidelines will be posted on our South Coast Conservation Program ( www.sccp.ca ) website also.

Again, what we're doing here is trying to get people to first recognize that Mountain Beavers are an important component of our natural heritage and biological diversity, and also to get protection of their habitat areas through sensitive land use planning and development.

I was hoping to use the photo of the baby mountain beaver, and maybe one or two more?

Sylvia Letay, March 2, 2006 9:19:03 AM PST Ecosystems Officer Environmental Stewardship Division Ministry of Water, Land & Air Protection BC Mtn. Beaver Proposal Thanks Dale for the excellent information.

I am going to re-think the live-trapping aspect. I'll have to do some (if the proposal is successful) since some of the supporters are very interested in DNA analysis to determine the distribution of the two subspecies we have.

I am use to night-time work with flyers, so checking the live traps through the night will not be a problem. Most of the information I have effectively states that we do not have enough info on these guys to even guess at their current status (increasing, decreasing, stable). From your information a monitoring system based on sign would be easier and better for the animals.

I agree with this since I am not confident that people monitoring their

35-4 populations in the future would be as dedicated as I to keep mortalities minimal. We're still fighting an up-hill battle to convince government biologists that live trapping is worth the extra effort. Many still prefer kill trapping (cheaper and easier to fit into an 8am to 5 pm work day). We recently submitted a manuscript to J. Wildl. Manage. comparing the two methods to help our battle.

Thanks for the offer to provide references. I think I have most of the

the proposal is successful) since some of the supporters are very interested in DNA analysis to determine the distribution of the two subspecies we have.

I am use to night-time work with flyers, so checking the live traps through the night will not be a problem. Most of the information I have effectively states that we do not have enough info on these guys to even guess at their current status (increasing, decreasing, stable). From your information a monitoring system based on sign would be easier and better for the animals.

I agree with this since I am not confident that people monitoring their populations in the future would be as dedicated as I to keep mortalities minimal. We're still fighting an up-hill battle to convince government biologists that live trapping is worth the extra effort. Many still prefer kill trapping (cheaper and easier to fit into an 8am to 5 pm work day). We recently submitted a manuscript to J. Wildl. Manage. comparing the two methods to help our battle.

Thanks for the offer to provide references. I think I have most of the mainstream papers (mostly about damage) and journal articles. In the future I may request (if you have copies) some of the articles published by various US Agencies, if my proposal is funded. For now, I'll use the "as cited in.." since I expect the 'call for proposals' to be issued any day now - if at all.

Once again, thanks for your time and help. I'll let you know if I am successful with the proposal. I sure hope it goes through since these critters are such unique animals. I am really looking forward to working with them.

Thanks again.

Doug. May 24, 2002 8:15:41 AM

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Articles & References Seattle Times Article "The Pacific Northwest's elusive mountain beaver" ..............................................................................37 ...............................................................................................38 USDA National Wildlife Research Center - Staff Publications Lewis & Clark Research Discussion ......................................................................................................................................39 Lewis and Clark Notes ..........................................................................................................................................................40 Latest Edition of Walker's Mammals of the World etc ...........................................................................................................41 NWF "Creatures that Time Forgot" article June 2002 ...........................................................................................................42

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37 Seattle Times Article "The Pacific Northwest's elusive mountain beaver" Pacific NW Cover Story Originally published Sunday, February 8, 2009 at 12:00 AM The Pacific Northwest's elusive mountain beaver Aplodontia rufa, commonly known as the mountain beaver, is the world's most primitive rodent: elusive, destructive and often mean. But it just loves living in the damp Pacific Northwest.

By Carol M. Ostrom PREV 1 of 9 NEXT Elusive, destructive, and often mean, the mountain beaver is our neighbor nonetheless.

Enlarge this photo SUSAN JOUFLAS / THE SEATTLE TIMES Elusive, destructive, and often mean, the mountain beaver is our neighbor nonetheless.

Biologist Wendy Arjo holds the radio collar she attaches to football-shaped mountain beavers. Her models include Sherman, right, who was born in captivity and was well fed. His name refers to his larger-than-average size (think "tank"), of 3 ½ pounds. The rare blond mountain beaver is more typical at about 2 to 2 ½ pounds.

Enlarge this photo STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Biologist Wendy Arjo holds the radio collar she attaches to football-shaped mountain beavers. Her models include Sherman, right, who was born in captivity and was well fed. His name refers to his larger-than-average size (think "tank"), of 3 ½ pounds. The rare blond mountain beaver is more typical at about 2 to 2 ½ pounds.

A mountain beaver's hind tracks are about 1 ¾ inches long and ¾ inch wide. Front tracks are slightly shorter.

Enlarge this photo "ANIMAL TRACKS OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST," COURTESY OF MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS A mountain beaver's hind tracks are about 1 ¾ inches long and ¾ inch wide. Front tracks are slightly shorter.

Mountain beavers often leave freshly cut vegetation near or just inside the entrances to their burrows.

Enlarge this photo JENNIFER REES, "LIVING WITH WILDLIFE," COURTESY OF RUSSELL LINK Mountain beavers often leave freshly cut vegetation near or just inside the entrances to their burrows.

Photos taken with a digital infrared camera, triggered by heat or motion, show mountain beavers feeding in the Satsop area of Grays Harbor County. Researchers discovered they were eating some plants — for example, oxalis — not found in their stashes outside feeder holes.

Enlarge this photo COURTESY WENDY M. ARJO Photos taken with a digital infrared camera, triggered by heat or motion, show mountain beavers feeding in the Satsop area of Grays Harbor County. Researchers discovered they were eating some plants — for example, oxalis — not found in their stashes outside feeder holes.

The pugnacious little mountain beaver, also known 37-1 as a boomer, is the mascot of Toledo High School in Oregon.

Enlarge this photo COURTESY OF INFOWRIGHT The pugnacious little mountain beaver, also known as a boomer, is the mascot of Toledo High School in Oregon.

Eric Meister, a contract forester, holds a large female mountain beaver caught at Mount Rainier National Park in 2008 while Arjo prepares to take a genetic sample from an ear tip. Arjo hopes to show whether the mountain beavers that live in that

Enlarge this photo COURTESY WENDY M. ARJO Photos taken with a digital infrared camera, triggered by heat or motion, show mountain beavers feeding in the Satsop area of Grays Harbor County. Researchers discovered they were eating some plants — for example, oxalis — not found in their stashes outside feeder holes.

The pugnacious little mountain beaver, also known as a boomer, is the mascot of Toledo High School in Oregon.

Enlarge this photo COURTESY OF INFOWRIGHT The pugnacious little mountain beaver, also known as a boomer, is the mascot of Toledo High School in Oregon.

Eric Meister, a contract forester, holds a large female mountain beaver caught at Mount Rainier National Park in 2008 while Arjo prepares to take a genetic sample from an ear tip. Arjo hopes to show whether the mountain beavers that live in that area are a separate sub-species or just one with an extra layer of insulation.

Enlarge this photo COURTESY WENDY M. ARJO Eric Meister, a contract forester, holds a large female mountain beaver caught at Mount Rainier National Park in 2008 while Arjo prepares to take a genetic sample from an ear tip. Arjo hopes to show whether the mountain beavers that live in that area are a separate sub-species or just one with an extra layer of insulation.

This captive male mountain beaver, participating in a foraging study, liked sword fern, salal and salmonberry best. Wendy Arjo, research wildlife biologist heading the study for the National Wildlife Research Center in Olympia, said mountain beavers soaked dried sword fern in their water bowls, apparently for rehydration. Arjo didn't offer rhododendron, anecdotally another mountain beaver favorite.

Enlarge this photo DEBORAH STALMAN / NATIONAL WILDLIFE RESEARCH CEN This captive male mountain beaver, participating in a foraging study, liked sword fern, salal and salmonberry best. Wendy Arjo, research wildlife biologist heading the study for the National Wildlife Research Center in Olympia, said mountain beavers soaked dried sword fern in their water bowls, apparently for rehydration. Arjo didn't offer rhododendron, anecdotally another mountain beaver favorite.

Mountain beaver skins, skeletons and tissue samples preserved at the University of Washington's Burke Museum help scientists study the primitive rodent. The 180 mountain-beaver specimens, dating back to 1911, are among more than 54,000 specimens in the Burke's mammalogy collection.

Enlarge this photo KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES Mountain beaver skins, skeletons and tissue samples preserved at the University of Washington's Burke Museum help scientists study the primitive rodent. The 180 mountain-beaver specimens, dating back to 1911, are among more than 54,000 specimens in the Burke's mammalogy collection.

Related * Pacific NW Magazine | Tell us what you think More on mountain beavers • "Living with Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest" by Russell Link (University of Washington Press, $28.95). Gives tips for "preventing conflicts" (i.e., making them go away) but notes that even if you make some go away, if you have suitable conditions, others likely will move in.

• "The Natural History of Puget Sound Country" by Arthur R. Kruckeberg (University of Washington Press, $40).

When I tell people that the Northwest is the favorite haunt of the mountain beaver, most people scoff, convinced I'm putting them on.

Further description does not help matters.

The mountain beaver is not a beaver.

37-2

It most often doesn't live in the mountains.

It's extremely basic physically, but has outlasted all its ancestors and is now the lone member of its biological family.

It's native to the Pacific Northwest and thrives in this area, but very likely you have never seen it, and, like most people, doubt its existence.

• "The Natural History of Puget Sound Country" by Arthur R. Kruckeberg (University of Washington Press, $40).

When I tell people that the Northwest is the favorite haunt of the mountain beaver, most people scoff, convinced I'm putting them on.

Further description does not help matters.

The mountain beaver is not a beaver.

It most often doesn't live in the mountains.

It's extremely basic physically, but has outlasted all its ancestors and is now the lone member of its biological family.

It's native to the Pacific Northwest and thrives in this area, but very likely you have never seen it, and, like most people, doubt its existence.

Until the trees on the hill above your house fall down.

Then you, like many who came before, will learn that you have been outwitted by Aplodontia rufa, the world's most primitive rodent.

AT FIRST, MOST people who hear about the mountain beaver think it's a myth or a joke, like the jackalope or the sea monkey, animals clearly not found in nature.

In fact, the mountain beaver is very much found in nature — but only on the rainy Pacific Coast. Although it ranges from southern British Columbia into California, it's found most often in Washington and Oregon.

It likes brushy slopes and ravines, particularly those that have been logged or disturbed. And it likes dampness, perhaps because its primitive kidneys don't work so well and it needs to drink a lot — two-thirds of its body weight daily.

By any count — not that anyone's actually counted the elusive animals — thousands of mountain beavers are scuttling around Western Washington, as many as two per acre in some areas, biologists say.

But for such a ubiquitous animal, name — or furry face — recognition is near zip.

For fun, try this with friends. Mention of mountain beavers can quickly begin to resemble a Smothers Brothers routine.

"Hey, I think I have mountain beavers."

"What?"

"Mountain beavers."

"What kinda beavers?"

"They're not beavers."

"So what are they?

"Mountain beavers."

"They live in the mountains?"

"No, in the lowlands."

"Where?

"In holes."

"In mole holes?"

"No, in mountain beaver holes."

"What are they again?"

THE STOUT, STOLID mountain beaver, having survived relatively unchanged for the past 40,000 years or so, is often called 37-3 a "living fossil." Every dug-up ancestral bone and skull comes from this narrow coastal strip.

The first mention of this odd little animal, the sole survivor of the most primitive family of rodents, appears to have come in Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Capt. William Clark's journal of their adventures down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean in 1805. At Fort Clatsop, now Astoria, Ore., Clark wrote that the Indians sold him two robes of the skins of "a small animal about the size of a cat."

"The ears are short, thin and pointed, and covered with a fine short hair, of a uniform reddish brown," they wrote.

"In mole holes?"

"No, in mountain beaver holes."

"What are they again?"

THE STOUT, STOLID mountain beaver, having survived relatively unchanged for the past 40,000 years or so, is often called a "living fossil." Every dug-up ancestral bone and skull comes from this narrow coastal strip.

The first mention of this odd little animal, the sole survivor of the most primitive family of rodents, appears to have come in Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Capt. William Clark's journal of their adventures down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean in 1805. At Fort Clatsop, now Astoria, Ore., Clark wrote that the Indians sold him two robes of the skins of "a small animal about the size of a cat."

"The ears are short, thin and pointed, and covered with a fine short hair, of a uniform reddish brown," they wrote.

Lewis and Clark had never seen such an animal and questioned the Chinooks about the skins. Told they were "She-wal-lal," Clark transcribed that as "Sewellel," and it became one of the animal's names, along with another Indian name: "Showt'l."

Later, others determined that Clark mistakenly believed "Sewellel" was the name of the animal, when it was actually the native name for the robe.

Whatever its name, the explorers weren't going to get rich from its fur. "Captain Lewis offered considerable rewards to the Indians, but was never able to procure one of these animals alive," the journal concludes.

For years, naturalists went back and forth about what this creature was, exactly: Some kind of beaver? Squirrel? Rabbit?

Prairie dog? Muskrat?

Over the years, it's often been mistaken for other animals. In Oregon, likely because someone thought it was the animal making a particular sound, it was labeled a "boomer." Others call it a "whistler." Animal researchers say it chatters, hisses and coughs, but doesn't boom or whistle.

In the early 1800s, eclectic naturalist Constantine Rafinesque gave the "queer animal" its "rufa" name, Latin for "red-haired."

In "Animals of the World," originally published in 1917, H.E. Anthony of the American Museum of Natural History wrote: "On account of certain well-defined peculiarities, the Sewellel, or Showt'l has been placed in a family by itself. It has no close relations in America, but seems to be the sole survivor of an earlier type of rodent."

ABOUT 13 INCHES long, weighing from two to three pounds, the mountain beaver, with its thick neck and stub for a tail, looks a bit like a fuzzy football with claws.

Perhaps the secret to its success and longevity is that it's stuck to what works: damp climate, soft ground, nearby water sources and abundant underbrush.

It loves to eat the stuff that grows well here: sword and bracken ferns, rhododendrons, and — this habit earned it the label of "pest" — seedling fir trees. They're a huge problem for commercial operations, says Georg Ziegltrum, spokesman for the Washington Forest Protection Association. Mountain beavers can kill half the seedlings in areas near burrows, says Weyerhaeuser spokeswoman Shannon Hughes.

The mountain beaver also likes to nibble tree roots, tunnel under trees and roots on slopes, gnaw off small limbs and chew off bark layers all around small adult trees, what biologists call "girdling."

None of that is good for the trees, or for you, if you need the trees to stay put to stabilize a slope or to make a living or just to look at because you like them.

On the other hand, if you have no precious seedlings, rhododendrons or trees on slopes, but lots of ferns you're willing to part with, and you like having a little "pet" that lives outdoors, is self-sufficient, determinedly vegetarian and requires little care, a mountain beaver might be just the ticket.

It's probably better to let it do its own thing, though, because it doesn't survive well in captivity without special care, and its musky odor and crabby attitude when caught discourage up-close bonding.

Plus, it eats its own soft scat, much like rabbits.

And then there's the flea.

37-4 A. rufa is host to what may be the world's largest and most primitive flea: Hystrichopsylla schefferi, named — go figure — for local naturalist Theo Scheffer, who, in the early 1900s, measured one clinging to a mountain beaver from Puyallup at .31 inches. Scheffer, in 1929, wrote a detailed monograph on our little friend, the host organism.

Even if none of that is off-putting, A. rufa is hard to find. This is, as one biographer put it, a "little-known animal keeping so closely in its burrow as to be but rarely seen."

ALWAYS UP FOR a challenge, we took to the woods with a live trap, tramping through blackberries, fallen trees and heavy

It's probably better to let it do its own thing, though, because it doesn't survive well in captivity without special care, and its musky odor and crabby attitude when caught discourage up-close bonding.

Plus, it eats its own soft scat, much like rabbits.

And then there's the flea.

A. rufa is host to what may be the world's largest and most primitive flea: Hystrichopsylla schefferi, named — go figure — for local naturalist Theo Scheffer, who, in the early 1900s, measured one clinging to a mountain beaver from Puyallup at .31 inches. Scheffer, in 1929, wrote a detailed monograph on our little friend, the host organism.

Even if none of that is off-putting, A. rufa is hard to find. This is, as one biographer put it, a "little-known animal keeping so closely in its burrow as to be but rarely seen."

ALWAYS UP FOR a challenge, we took to the woods with a live trap, tramping through blackberries, fallen trees and heavy ground cover.

Mountain beaver burrows are large — 6 to 8 inches across, compared to much smaller mole holes, and clear of dirt. The critter's tracks are distinctive, closely spaced with long, skinny toes.

In a sloping area thick with sopping-wet underbrush, we located what appeared to be an active burrow, and carefully placed the rectangular cage outside the opening, setting it so that any nibble on the bait (a nice organic apple) would slam shut its doors.

The next day, we returned.

No apple. No mountain beaver.

We repeated the steps for five days.

No apple. No mountain beaver.

We decided that we should keep our day jobs, even though they're in journalism. Trapping probably pays better, but then, so do lots of things for which we lack the requisite talent.

Turns out there are — no surprise here — tricks to this trapping business.

Without trapping, it's rare to see a mountain beaver. It is very sensitive to vibration, so walking nearby nearly guarantees it will scurry back into its burrow.

Most man-versus-mountain beaver interactions go something like this: You're walking along in the woods. All of a sudden, your foot plunges into a hole. You bend down to look. There are many holes. A honeycomb of holes, actually.

Maybe you see some sword ferns piled up outside, or twigs with stripped bark, or some horizontal tooth and claw marks on nearby trees. But, most likely, you'll never see the actual mountain beaver.

Dan Plute was one of the "lucky" ones. He was cleaning his garage in Redmond one summer evening a few years ago when he noticed a strange, furry lump about 15 feet away on his gravel driveway.

"Whoa, critter!" he said. "What the heck are you?"

Though Plute, 55, grew up in Tukwila, he'd always suspected people were joshing him about mountain beavers. And for sure, he'd never seen this animal.

"He just kept his head down and waddled his way right for me," recalled Plute, who detailed his experience on a Web site featuring "Mountain Beaver Close Encounters" (www.infowright.com/mtbeaver/closeencounter.html).

When Plute leaned down to look at him, "he looked up, hissed, and lunged at me as well as his tiny legs could," he recalled.

"He was not intimidated by my presence at all."

Plute snapped some photos, which he later used to discover the identity of "this brave little guy."

WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST Wendy Arjo, in seven years of studying Aplodontia rufa, has chanced upon one only twice. But working near Montesano with Eric Meister, a contract forester and experienced trapper, she's acquired enough of them to enroll more than 40 in research studies.

37-5 National Wildlife Research Center for a while to study their eating She kept some at the Olympia field station of the USDA's habits. Most, she released to track their movements and range with radio transmitters on tiny collars.

Collaring a mountain beaver is a two-person job. Meister picks it up — very carefully, because its tiny beaver-like teeth can deliver a worthy chomp — and Arjo tightens its plastic collar.

Fitting a collar around the neck of a football-shaped furball so it will stay put for a year is a fine art. "Not too tight, not too loose," Arjo says.

"He was not intimidated by my presence at all."

Plute snapped some photos, which he later used to discover the identity of "this brave little guy."

WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST Wendy Arjo, in seven years of studying Aplodontia rufa, has chanced upon one only twice. But working near Montesano with Eric Meister, a contract forester and experienced trapper, she's acquired enough of them to enroll more than 40 in research studies.

She kept some at the Olympia field station of the USDA's National Wildlife Research Center for a while to study their eating habits. Most, she released to track their movements and range with radio transmitters on tiny collars.

Collaring a mountain beaver is a two-person job. Meister picks it up — very carefully, because its tiny beaver-like teeth can deliver a worthy chomp — and Arjo tightens its plastic collar.

Fitting a collar around the neck of a football-shaped furball so it will stay put for a year is a fine art. "Not too tight, not too loose," Arjo says.

When she's got it just right, they let the critter go.

With the beeps, each transmitting on a different frequency, Arjo tracks each mountain beaver's comings and goings.

Frequently, that required an all-night stakeout to tune in every hour. Then she plotted locations to get an idea of their movements and range.

When a transmitter finally dies, Arjo relocates the animal and uncollars it.

Arjo has gleaned much new information about A. rufa, some of it contradicting long-held lore. For example, she's learned they can cover two to three acres in a day.

And they're not strictly nocturnal, as previously thought, but work around the clock, foraging and feeding for an hour or two, then power napping for a couple of hours deep in their tunnels. In that state of torpor, they're vulnerable to predators, including coyotes, skunks, minks and weasels. "It's a rough world," Arjo says.

Perhaps it's for that reason that the mountain beaver has developed a fiercely territorial and aggressive attitude when cornered.

John Consolini, a professional in the "nuisance wildlife control" business who calculates he's trapped close to 4,000 mountain beavers over 20 years, recalls catching two young ones. He figured they were siblings, so he put them into the same cage.

"They fought to the death, like two pit bulls," he recalls.

Arjo says mountain beavers are not social at all. Even the male and female don't get along for any length of time. A quick tryst, and he's gone for good.

Arjo, who is now working for an environmental consulting firm, is finishing some genetic studies she hopes will settle controversy over the number of mountain beaver sub-species and other genetic-diversity issues.

For a former carnivore biologist who worked with coyotes, studying the mountain beaver has been rewarding. "You're kind of blazing new territory, which is always fun as a biologist."

She's impressed by mountain beavers' ability to cache food and to deal with their water deficit problem. She's even impressed with their personal grooming. "I've never seen a muddy mountain beaver," Arjo says.

Each one she's met has a distinct personality, she notes. "Some are very nice and passive. Some are angry and bite your hand off." Some, when released, will turn around, defiant, and lunge for her boots, says Arjo, who, like Plute, is clearly amused by such pint-sized pugnaciousness.

Crabby, maybe, but Arjo disagrees with one naturalist's assertion that the mountain beaver "lacks the intelligence and cunning" of other rodents.

"They've survived a long time without having to change," she says, "so they did something right."

Carol M. Ostrom is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff writer. Steve Ringman is a Seattle Times staff photographer.

Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company More Pacific NW headlines...

E-mail article Print view Share: Digg Newsvine 37-6 Latest comments When I lived in Bonney Lake, my german shepard would kill about one a year. We would find it mutilated in the yard. They look vicious. Big teeth... Posted on February 8, 2009 at 2:20 AM by clive dexx. Jump to comment My parents own a cabin on Huricane Ridge which has Mountain Beavers all over the property. My Grandfather built the cabin back in the late... Posted on February 8, 2009 at 9:30 AM by jhudon. Jump to comment Read all comments / Share your thoughts

Carol M. Ostrom is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff writer. Steve Ringman is a Seattle Times staff photographer.

Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company More Pacific NW headlines...

E-mail article Print view Share: Digg Newsvine Latest comments When I lived in Bonney Lake, my german shepard would kill about one a year. We would find it mutilated in the yard. They look vicious. Big teeth... Posted on February 8, 2009 at 2:20 AM by clive dexx. Jump to comment My parents own a cabin on Huricane Ridge which has Mountain Beavers all over the property. My Grandfather built the cabin back in the late... Posted on February 8, 2009 at 9:30 AM by jhudon. Jump to comment Read all comments / Share your thoughts

The Pacific Northwest's elusive mountain beaver Aplodontia rufa, commonly known as the mountain beaver, is the world's most primitive rodent: elusive, destructive and often mean. But it just loves living in the damp Pacific Northwest.

By Carol M. Ostrom

PREV 1 of 9 NEXT

SUSAN JOUFLAS / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Elusive, destructive, and often mean, the mountain beaver is our neighbor nonetheless.

Related Pacific NW Magazine | Tell us what you think More on mountain beavers • "Living with Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest" by Russell Link (University of Washington Press, $28.95). Gives tips for "preventing conflicts" (i.e., making them go away) but notes that even if you make some go away, if you have suitable conditions, others likely will move in.

• "The Natural History of Puget Sound Country" by Arthur R. Kruckeberg (University of Washington Press, $40).

When I tell people that the Northwest is the favorite haunt of the mountain beaver, most people scoff, convinced I'm putting them on.

Further description does not help matters.

The mountain beaver is not a beaver.

It most often doesn't live in the mountains.

It's extremely basic physically, but has outlasted all its ancestors and is now the lone member of its biological family.

It's native to the Pacific Northwest and thrives in this area, but very likely you have never seen it, and, like most people, doubt its existence.

Until the trees on the hill above your house fall down.

Then you, like many who came before, will learn that you37-7 have been outwitted by Aplodontia rufa, the world's most primitive rodent.

AT FIRST, MOST people who hear about the mountain beaver think it's a myth or a joke, like the jackalope or the sea monkey, animals clearly not found in nature.

In fact, the mountain beaver is very much found in nature — but only on the rainy Pacific Coast. Although it ranges from southern British Columbia into California, it's found most often in Washington and Oregon.

It's extremely basic physically, but has outlasted all its ancestors and is now the lone member of its biological family.

It's native to the Pacific Northwest and thrives in this area, but very likely you have never seen it, and, like most people, doubt its existence.

Until the trees on the hill above your house fall down.

Then you, like many who came before, will learn that you have been outwitted by Aplodontia rufa, the world's most primitive rodent.

AT FIRST, MOST people who hear about the mountain beaver think it's a myth or a joke, like the jackalope or the sea monkey, animals clearly not found in nature.

In fact, the mountain beaver is very much found in nature — but only on the rainy Pacific Coast. Although it ranges from southern British Columbia into California, it's found most often in Washington and Oregon.

It likes brushy slopes and ravines, particularly those that have been logged or disturbed. And it likes dampness, perhaps because its primitive kidneys don't work so well and it needs to drink a lot — two-thirds of its body weight daily.

By any count — not that anyone's actually counted the elusive animals — thousands of mountain beavers are scuttling around Western Washington, as many as two per acre in some areas, biologists say.

But for such a ubiquitous animal, name — or furry face — recognition is near zip.

For fun, try this with friends. Mention of mountain beavers can quickly begin to resemble a Smothers Brothers routine.

"Hey, I think I have mountain beavers."

"What?"

"Mountain beavers."

"What kinda beavers?"

"They're not beavers."

"So what are they?

"Mountain beavers."

"They live in the mountains?"

"No, in the lowlands."

"Where?

"In holes."

"In mole holes?"

"No, in mountain beaver holes."

"What are they again?"

THE STOUT, STOLID mountain beaver, having survived relatively unchanged for the past 40,000 years or so, is often called a "living fossil." Every dug-up ancestral bone and skull comes from this narrow coastal strip.

The first mention of this odd little animal, the sole survivor of the most primitive family of rodents, appears to have come in Capt.

Meriwether Lewis and Capt. William Clark's journal of their adventures down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean in 1805. At Fort Clatsop, now Astoria, Ore., Clark wrote that the Indians sold him two robes of the skins of "a small animal about the size of a cat."

"The ears are short, thin and pointed, and covered with a fine short hair, of a uniform reddish brown," they wrote.

Lewis and Clark had never seen such an animal and questioned the Chinooks about the skins. Told they were "She-wal-lal," Clark transcribed that as "Sewellel," and it became one of the animal's names, along with another Indian name: "Showt'l."

Later, others determined that Clark mistakenly believed "Sewellel" was the name of the animal, when it was actually the native name for the robe.

37-8 Whatever its name, the explorers weren't going to get rich from its fur. "Captain Lewis offered considerable rewards to the Indians, but was never able to procure one of these animals alive," the journal concludes.

For years, naturalists went back and forth about what this creature was, exactly: Some kind of beaver? Squirrel? Rabbit? Prairie dog?

Muskrat?

Over the years, it's often been mistaken for other animals. In Oregon, likely because someone thought it was the animal making a

"The ears are short, thin and pointed, and covered with a fine short hair, of a uniform reddish brown," they wrote.

Lewis and Clark had never seen such an animal and questioned the Chinooks about the skins. Told they were "She-wal-lal," Clark transcribed that as "Sewellel," and it became one of the animal's names, along with another Indian name: "Showt'l."

Later, others determined that Clark mistakenly believed "Sewellel" was the name of the animal, when it was actually the native name for the robe.

Whatever its name, the explorers weren't going to get rich from its fur. "Captain Lewis offered considerable rewards to the Indians, but was never able to procure one of these animals alive," the journal concludes.

For years, naturalists went back and forth about what this creature was, exactly: Some kind of beaver? Squirrel? Rabbit? Prairie dog?

Muskrat?

Over the years, it's often been mistaken for other animals. In Oregon, likely because someone thought it was the animal making a particular sound, it was labeled a "boomer." Others call it a "whistler." Animal researchers say it chatters, hisses and coughs, but doesn't boom or whistle.

In the early 1800s, eclectic naturalist Constantine Rafinesque gave the "queer animal" its "rufa" name, Latin for "red-haired."

In "Animals of the World," originally published in 1917, H.E. Anthony of the American Museum of Natural History wrote: "On account of certain well-defined peculiarities, the Sewellel, or Showt'l has been placed in a family by itself. It has no close relations in America, but seems to be the sole survivor of an earlier type of rodent."

ABOUT 13 INCHES long, weighing from two to three pounds, the mountain beaver, with its thick neck and stub for a tail, looks a bit like a fuzzy football with claws.

Perhaps the secret to its success and longevity is that it's stuck to what works: damp climate, soft ground, nearby water sources and abundant underbrush.

It loves to eat the stuff that grows well here: sword and bracken ferns, rhododendrons, and — this habit earned it the label of "pest" — seedling fir trees. They're a huge problem for commercial operations, says Georg Ziegltrum, spokesman for the Washington Forest Protection Association. Mountain beavers can kill half the seedlings in areas near burrows, says Weyerhaeuser spokeswoman Shannon Hughes.

The mountain beaver also likes to nibble tree roots, tunnel under trees and roots on slopes, gnaw off small limbs and chew off bark layers all around small adult trees, what biologists call "girdling."

None of that is good for the trees, or for you, if you need the trees to stay put to stabilize a slope or to make a living or just to look at because you like them.

On the other hand, if you have no precious seedlings, rhododendrons or trees on slopes, but lots of ferns you're willing to part with, and you like having a little "pet" that lives outdoors, is self-sufficient, determinedly vegetarian and requires little care, a mountain beaver might be just the ticket.

It's probably better to let it do its own thing, though, because it doesn't survive well in captivity without special care, and its musky odor and crabby attitude when caught discourage up-close bonding.

Plus, it eats its own soft scat, much like rabbits.

And then there's the flea.

A. rufa is host to what may be the world's largest and most primitive flea: Hystrichopsylla schefferi, named — go figure — for local naturalist Theo Scheffer, who, in the early 1900s, measured one clinging to a mountain beaver from Puyallup at .31 inches. Scheffer, in 1929, wrote a detailed monograph on our little friend, the host organism.

Even if none of that is off-putting, A. rufa is hard to find. This is, as one biographer put it, a "little-known animal keeping so closely in its burrow as to be but rarely seen."

ALWAYS UP FOR a challenge, we took to the woods with a live trap, tramping through blackberries, fallen trees and heavy ground cover.

Mountain beaver burrows are large — 6 to 8 inches across, compared to much smaller mole holes, and clear of dirt. The critter's tracks are distinctive, closely spaced with long, skinny toes.

In a sloping area thick with sopping-wet underbrush, we located what appeared to be an active burrow, and carefully placed the

37-9 rectangular cage outside the opening, setting it so that any nibble on the bait (a nice organic apple) would slam shut its doors.

The next day, we returned.

No apple. No mountain beaver.

We repeated the steps for five days.

ALWAYS UP FOR a challenge, we took to the woods with a live trap, tramping through blackberries, fallen trees and heavy ground cover.

Mountain beaver burrows are large — 6 to 8 inches across, compared to much smaller mole holes, and clear of dirt. The critter's tracks are distinctive, closely spaced with long, skinny toes.

In a sloping area thick with sopping-wet underbrush, we located what appeared to be an active burrow, and carefully placed the rectangular cage outside the opening, setting it so that any nibble on the bait (a nice organic apple) would slam shut its doors.

The next day, we returned.

No apple. No mountain beaver.

We repeated the steps for five days.

No apple. No mountain beaver.

We decided that we should keep our day jobs, even though they're in journalism. Trapping probably pays better, but then, so do lots of things for which we lack the requisite talent.

Turns out there are — no surprise here — tricks to this trapping business.

Without trapping, it's rare to see a mountain beaver. It is very sensitive to vibration, so walking nearby nearly guarantees it will scurry back into its burrow.

Most man-versus-mountain beaver interactions go something like this: You're walking along in the woods. All of a sudden, your foot plunges into a hole. You bend down to look. There are many holes. A honeycomb of holes, actually.

Maybe you see some sword ferns piled up outside, or twigs with stripped bark, or some horizontal tooth and claw marks on nearby trees.

But, most likely, you'll never see the actual mountain beaver.

Dan Plute was one of the "lucky" ones. He was cleaning his garage in Redmond one summer evening a few years ago when he noticed a strange, furry lump about 15 feet away on his gravel driveway.

"Whoa, critter!" he said. "What the heck are you?"

Though Plute, 55, grew up in Tukwila, he'd always suspected people were joshing him about mountain beavers. And for sure, he'd never seen this animal.

"He just kept his head down and waddled his way right for me," recalled Plute, who detailed his experience on a Web site featuring "Mountain Beaver Close Encounters" (www.infowright.com/mtbeaver/closeencounter.html).

When Plute leaned down to look at him, "he looked up, hissed, and lunged at me as well as his tiny legs could," he recalled. "He was not intimidated by my presence at all."

Plute snapped some photos, which he later used to discover the identity of "this brave little guy."

WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST Wendy Arjo, in seven years of studying Aplodontia rufa, has chanced upon one only twice. But working near Montesano with Eric Meister, a contract forester and experienced trapper, she's acquired enough of them to enroll more than 40 in research studies.

She kept some at the Olympia field station of the USDA's National Wildlife Research Center for a while to study their eating habits. Most, she released to track their movements and range with radio transmitters on tiny collars.

Collaring a mountain beaver is a two-person job. Meister picks it up — very carefully, because its tiny beaver-like teeth can deliver a worthy chomp — and Arjo tightens its plastic collar.

Fitting a collar around the neck of a football-shaped furball so it will stay put for a year is a fine art. "Not too tight, not too loose," Arjo says.

When she's got it just right, they let the critter go.

With the beeps, each transmitting on a different frequency, Arjo tracks each mountain beaver's comings and goings. Frequently, that required an all-night stakeout to tune in every hour. Then she plotted locations to get an idea of their movements and range.

When a transmitter finally dies, Arjo relocates the animal and uncollars it.

37-10 Arjo has gleaned much new information about A. rufa, some of it contradicting long-held lore. For example, she's learned they can cover two to three acres in a day.

And they're not strictly nocturnal, as previously thought, but work around the clock, foraging and feeding for an hour or two, then power napping for a couple of hours deep in their tunnels. In that state of torpor, they're vulnerable to predators, including coyotes, skunks, minks and weasels. "It's a rough world," Arjo says.

says.

When she's got it just right, they let the critter go.

With the beeps, each transmitting on a different frequency, Arjo tracks each mountain beaver's comings and goings. Frequently, that required an all-night stakeout to tune in every hour. Then she plotted locations to get an idea of their movements and range.

When a transmitter finally dies, Arjo relocates the animal and uncollars it.

Arjo has gleaned much new information about A. rufa, some of it contradicting long-held lore. For example, she's learned they can cover two to three acres in a day.

And they're not strictly nocturnal, as previously thought, but work around the clock, foraging and feeding for an hour or two, then power napping for a couple of hours deep in their tunnels. In that state of torpor, they're vulnerable to predators, including coyotes, skunks, minks and weasels. "It's a rough world," Arjo says.

Perhaps it's for that reason that the mountain beaver has developed a fiercely territorial and aggressive attitude when cornered.

John Consolini, a professional in the "nuisance wildlife control" business who calculates he's trapped close to 4,000 mountain beavers over 20 years, recalls catching two young ones. He figured they were siblings, so he put them into the same cage. "They fought to the death, like two pit bulls," he recalls.

Arjo says mountain beavers are not social at all. Even the male and female don't get along for any length of time. A quick tryst, and he's gone for good.

Arjo, who is now working for an environmental consulting firm, is finishing some genetic studies she hopes will settle controversy over the number of mountain beaver sub-species and other genetic-diversity issues.

For a former carnivore biologist who worked with coyotes, studying the mountain beaver has been rewarding. "You're kind of blazing new territory, which is always fun as a biologist."

She's impressed by mountain beavers' ability to cache food and to deal with their water deficit problem. She's even impressed with their personal grooming. "I've never seen a muddy mountain beaver," Arjo says.

Each one she's met has a distinct personality, she notes. "Some are very nice and passive. Some are angry and bite your hand off."

Some, when released, will turn around, defiant, and lunge for her boots, says Arjo, who, like Plute, is clearly amused by such pint-sized pugnaciousness.

Crabby, maybe, but Arjo disagrees with one naturalist's assertion that the mountain beaver "lacks the intelligence and cunning" of other rodents.

"They've survived a long time without having to change," she says, "so they did something right."

Carol M. Ostrom is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff writer. Steve Ringman is a Seattle Times staff photographer.

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When I lived in Bonney Lake, my german shepard would kill about one a year. We would find it mutilated in the yard. They look vicious. Big teeth...

Posted on February 8, 2009 at 2:20 AM by clive dexx. Jump to comment

My parents own a cabin on Huricane Ridge which has Mountain Beavers all over the property. My Grandfather built the cabin back in the late...

Posted on February 8, 2009 at 9:30 AM by jhudon. Jump to comment

As a kid in Lynnwod in the late 60's me and my buddies would trap them in the woods. We would try to keep them in cages we built out of wood...

Posted on February 8, 2009 at 10:00 AM by mcdawg#1. Jump to 37-12 comment

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My parents own a cabin on Huricane Ridge which has Mountain Beavers all over the property. My Grandfather built the cabin back in the late...

Posted on February 8, 2009 at 9:30 AM by jhudon. Jump to comment

As a kid in Lynnwod in the late 60's me and my buddies would trap them in the woods. We would try to keep them in cages we built out of wood...

Posted on February 8, 2009 at 10:00 AM by mcdawg#1. Jump to comment

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USDA National Wildlife Research Center - Staff Publications REDUCING NON-TARGET HAZARDS OF RODENTICIDES IN FOREST SETTINGS Wendy M. Arjo, USDA, APHIS, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center David T. Bryson, Advanced Telemetry Systems, Isanti, MN, USA

Document Type Article

Date of this Version January 2007

Comments Published in the Proceedings of the 12th Wildlife Damage Management Conference (D.L. Nolte, W.M. Arjo, D.H. Stalman, Eds). 2007.

Mammalian damage to forest resources is widespread and causes annual economic loss. Wildlife damage control is very important to the intensified land use practices and the economics of reforestation using seedlings. Reforestation areas provide ideal habitat for many wildlife species. However, animals negatively impact trees more severely during stand establishment than at any other time. While numerous non-lethal and lethal tools are available for large and medium-sized mammals, fewer tools are available for small mammals. The damage caused by these rodent species has in some cases warranted the use of rodenticides to control populations. Rodenticides are effective tools for reducing damage to trees by three of the more problematic rodent genera, voles (Microtus spp), pocket gophers (Thomomys spp), and recently, mountain beavers (Aplodontia rufa), when economic damage justifies this approach in a reforestation system. All of these rodents impede forest regeneration by impacting seedling establishment. Pocket gophers, mountain beavers and pine voles can also damage saplings and more mature timber through girdling of roots and stems. For the subterranean rodents, primary non-target hazards are reduced from bait placement within the burrow systems during the fall and winter. The timing of bait placement limits exposure of baits to adults and not na誰ve juveniles who may be more susceptible to predators. Secondary hazards are reduced in that the majority of animals that succumb to bait are recovered below ground in their nests. Above ground application for certain vole species can be more of a challenge due to costs, tools available and potential primary and secondary hazards.

Wildlife species are integral to forest health, yet forest management practices can alter available habitat and influence rodent populations. When possible, managers should use rodenticides in an Integrated Pest Management approach to maximize efficacy and minimize secondary hazards.

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Mountain beaver home ranges, habitat use, and population dynamics in Washington, W. M. Arjo, R. E. Huenefeld, and D. L. Nolte

Mountain Beaver: A Primitive Fossorial Rodent, Wendy M. Arjo

Mountain beaver home ranges, habitat use, and population dynamics in Washington W. M. Arjo, R. E. Huenefeld, and D. L. Nolte

Assessing the Efficacy of Chlorophacinone for Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) Control

Wendy M. Arjo, Dale L. Nolte, Thomas M. Primus, and

Dennis J. Kohler

The Effects of Lactation on Seedling Damage by Mountain Beaver Wendy M. Arjo, Dale L. Nolte, Julie L. Harper, and Bruce A. Kimball

Assessing the efficacy of registered underground baiting products for mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa) control Wendy M. Arjo and Dale L. Nolte

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Lewis & Clark Research Discussion Discussion about research on Wildlife Encounters by Lewis & Clark (doesn't separate mt. beaver/beaver observations) Hello Dale, I have attached the paper as a pdf. You can also check out our website with an interactive map of Lewis & Clark's wildlife observations http://www.cof.orst.edu/lewis&clark/ As to the mountain beaver, I did not map it separately from the beaver.

As you will read in the paper, I also could not map whitetail deer separate from muledeer, because the journals were not always specific about this. It was the same with beaver vs. mountain beaver, so all I could do was map where Lewis & Clark reported "beaver", which in most cases would be Castor canadensis, but there are probably some Mountain beaver in there as well.

Your website dedicated to the mountain beaver is great, there is not much information out there about this species.

Since you are interested in wildlife, you might be interested in another paper I wrote that has been just accepted by BioScience as well: Range contractions of North American carnivores and ungulates, it is a spatial analysis of changing species ranges from historic to current times and it examines the human influence on those range contractions as well. I will send it to you in a separate email, because it is a large file.

Please let me know if I can answer any more questions.

Andrea Laliberte November 26, 2003 6:11:04 AM PST (She forwarded the second paper too which is summarized below)

Range contractions of North American carnivores and ungulates (Laliberte & Ripple) Abstract We compared historic and current geographical ranges of 43 North American carnivores and ungulates to identify large-scale patterns in range contractions and/or expansions.

Seventeen of the species experienced range contractions over >20% of their historic range.

In areas of higher human influence, species were more likely to contract and less likely to persist. Species richness also declined considerably since historic times. The temperate grasslands and temperate broadleaf/mixed forest biomes lost the highest average number of species, while the boreal forest and tundra showed fewer numbers of species lost. Species contractions were a result of Euro-American settlement and post-settlement development in North America. These effects have been widespread and indicate a rapid collapse of species distributions over the course of only 1-2 centuries. The results of this study can be used to improve our knowledge of historical reference conditions and to provide input for the creation of wildlife reserves and for wildlife re-introductions.

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Lewis and Clark Notes

Mountain Beaver - Aplodontia

"...one of the most remarkable animals discovered by Lewis and Clark" --Elliott Coues

hat "small animal about the size of a squirrel" with the fur of which Lewis wished his "Tiger Cat" capote to be lined, may have been the one that he soon learned was locally called sewelel. At Fort Clatsop on February 26, 1806, he wrote the following comments on this "new"--that is, new to science--species of mammal:

Sewelel [suh-WELL-ul] is the Chinnook and Clatsop name for a small animal found in the timbered country on this coast. the natives make great use of the skins of this animal in forming their robes, which they dress with the fur on them and attatch together with sinews of the Elk or deer. I have never seen the animal and can therefore discribe it only from the skin and a slight view which some of our hunters have obtained of the living animal. the skin when dressed is from 14 to 18 inches in length and from 7 to 9 in width; the tail is always severed from the skin in forming their robes I cannot therefore say what form or length it is. one of the men informed me that he thought it reather short and flat. that he saw one of them run up a tree like a squirrel and that it returned and ran into a hole in the ground. the ears are short thin pointed and covered with short fine hair. they are of a uniform colour, a redish brown; tho' the base of the long hairs, which exceed the fur but little in length, as well as the fur itself is of a dark colour for at least two thirds of it's length next to the skin. the fur and hair are very fine, short, thickly set and silky. the ends of the fur and tips of the hair being of the redish brown40-1 that colour predominates in the ordinary appearance of the animal.I take this animal to be about the size of the barking squirrel of the Missouri.1 and beleive most probably that it is of the Mustela genus,2 or perhaps the brown mungo itself.3 I have indeavoured in many instances to

uniform colour, a redish brown; tho' the base of the long hairs, which exceed the fur but little in length, as well as the fur itself is of a dark colour for at least two thirds of it's length next to the skin. the fur and hair are very fine, short, thickly set and silky. the ends of the fur and tips of the hair being of the redish brown that colour predominates in the ordinary appearance of the animal.I take this animal to be about the size of the barking squirrel of the Missouri.1 and beleive most probably that it is of the Mustela genus,2 or perhaps the brown mungo itself.3 I have indeavoured in many instances to make the indians sensible how anxious I was to obtain one of these animals entire, without being skined, and offered them considerable rewards to furnish me with one, but have not been able to make them comprehend me. I have purchased several of the robes made of these skins to line a coat which I have had made of the skins of the tiger cat. they make a very pleasant light lining.

Mountain Beaver Hand-colored lithograph by John James Audubon from Quadrapeds of North America (1845-48), Vol. III, Plate CXXXII, No. 25

ur human impulse to name everything has made an imposter of the "mountain beaver," for it is not a beaver, and it does not confine itself to mountain habitats. It does not build dams on streams to create ponds, either, or dwell in lodges made of sticks. In dry areas it favors the proximity of small streams, but it is strictly a land animal, living in communal underground burrows much like a prairie dog's. In rainy climes it shelters the entrances to its burrows with little tents of sticks covered with leaves. The mountain beaver is so attached to an underground existence that it is rarely to be seen in the light of day, and consequently is hard to capture--which might explain why the Indians seemed not to understand Lewis's request. The only place on earth where it can ever be seen is in the 40-2 Pacific Northwest of North America.

This rare, primitive little rodent, which somewhat resembles the woodchuck and the muskrat, belongs to the same mammalian order, Rodentia (ro-DEN-tee-uh), as the more familiar flat-tailed beaver, Castor canadensis. The order consists of 39 families, 389 genera, and 1,702 species. The so-called mountain beaver is the only species, rufa (ROO-fuh; reddish), in the only genus, Aplodontia (ap-lo-DON-ti-uh), in the family Aplodontiidae (AP-lo-don-TEE-i-dee). Aplo is a Latin word for simple, dontia means teeth.

That means the aplodontia must keep chewing its entire 5- to 10-year life--fleshy and woody plants, principally--in order to keep its teeth under control. It also grooms its teeth

ur human impulse to name everything has made an imposter of the "mountain beaver," for it is not a beaver, and it does not confine itself to mountain habitats. It does not build dams on streams to create ponds, either, or dwell in lodges made of sticks. In dry areas it favors the proximity of small streams, but it is strictly a land animal, living in communal underground burrows much like a prairie dog's. In rainy climes it shelters the entrances to its burrows with little tents of sticks covered with leaves. The mountain beaver is so attached to an underground existence that it is rarely to be seen in the light of day, and consequently is hard to capture--which might explain why the Indians seemed not to understand Lewis's request. The only place on earth where it can ever be seen is in the Pacific Northwest of North America.

This rare, primitive little rodent, which somewhat resembles the woodchuck and the muskrat, belongs to the same mammalian order, Rodentia (ro-DEN-tee-uh), as the more familiar flat-tailed beaver, Castor canadensis. The order consists of 39 families, 389 genera, and 1,702 species. The so-called mountain beaver is the only species, rufa (ROO-fuh; reddish), in the only genus, Aplodontia (ap-lo-DON-ti-uh), in the family Aplodontiidae (AP-lo-don-TEE-i-dee). Aplo is a Latin word for simple, dontia means teeth.

That means the aplodontia must keep chewing its entire 5- to 10-year life--fleshy and woody plants, principally--in order to keep its teeth under control. It also grooms its teeth on "beaver baseballs," chunks of stone or clay of about that size which it encounters in digging its dens. Its Indian name, sewellel, is said to have come from the Chinookan word swalรกl, which refers to a robe made of this animal's skins.4 The mountain beaver is less of a show-off than its larger and more notorious cousin the genuine beaver, partly because it doesn't have a flat tail with which to spread its alarms.

In fact, it has only a vestigal tail, which may account for Lewis's misunderstanding.

Perhaps its best attribute has been that despite the old appeal of its pelt in Indian wearing apparel, no one else has found it to have any merchantable value.

--Joseph Mussulman, 07/04

1. Lewis's standard for his comparison of the sewellel with the "barking squirrel of the Missouri" or prairie dog, which he had first seen on September 7, 1804, was close; the latter averages one or two inches longer than the mountain beaver.

2. The genus Mustela belongs to the the family Mustelidae, which includes weasels, ferrets, minks, otters, and badgers.

3. Mungo was a name for the mongoose, a native of Nigeria and the Congo.

4. Couse's detailed annotation on the history of the sewellel's common and Latin names illustrates the progress of the scientific discipline of classification and nomenclature between 1806 and 1892: Fortunately [Lewis and Clark] gave it a name by which it could be called, and which has passed into our language....It seems by the later researches of George Gibbs into the unspellable jargon of the Columbia River Indians, that "sewellel" is their name for the robes, mistaken by Captain Lewis for the name of the animal which furnishes the skin, and that the latter is "show'tl" in Nisqually....It was first technically named Anisonyx rufa by Rafinesque (Amer. Monthly Mag. II. 1817, p. 45). In 1829 Sir John Richardson renamed it Aplodontia leporina in the Zoรถlogical Journal, IV, p. 335; and this naturalist described and figured it fully in the Fauna BorealiAmericana, 1829, p. 211, pl. 18 C, figs. 7 to 14. Correcting the faulty orthography of this generic name, and coupling it with the prior specific name given by Rafinesque, I called the animal Haplodon rufus, in the Monographs of N. Am. Rodentia, 1877, p. 557, where its anatomy, as well as external character is, is given at length, with all that was then known of its history. This name is the one by which it has since been known to naturalists. I understand that the whites on the Columbia call it the "mountain boomer"--a queer name, which I hear applied to the red squirrel (Sciurus hudsonius) by the natives of the mountains of North Carolina, where I happen to be penning this note (Aug. 9th, 1892). There is a second species of sewellel in California, Haplodon major.

Coues (1842-99; pronounced cowz), the most prominent naturalist of the later 19th century added copious annotations to Nicholas Biddle's paraphrase (1814) of the journals of Lewis and Clark, and published it as History of the Expedition Under the Command of Lewis and Clark (4 vols, 1893; reprint, 3 vols.; New York: Dover, 1965), 847.

References 40-3 The Encyclopedia of Mammals. Edited by David Macdonald.

New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1984.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals. Edited by John O. Whitaker, Jr. Rev. ed., New York: Knopf, 1996.

(Sciurus hudsonius) by the natives of the mountains of North Carolina, where I happen to be penning this note (Aug. 9th, 1892). There is a second species of sewellel in California, Haplodon major.

Coues (1842-99; pronounced cowz), the most prominent naturalist of the later 19th century added copious annotations to Nicholas Biddle's paraphrase (1814) of the journals of Lewis and Clark, and published it as History of the Expedition Under the Command of Lewis and Clark (4 vols, 1893; reprint, 3 vols.; New York: Dover, 1965), 847.

References The Encyclopedia of Mammals. Edited by David Macdonald. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1984.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals. Edited by John O. Whitaker, Jr. Rev. ed., New York: Knopf, 1996.

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Latest Edition of Walker's Mammals of the World etc Dale---I AM ABOUT TO CLOSE DOWN MY MACHINE PRELIMINARY TO LEAVING ON A SERIES OF TRIPS, BUT I DID WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR KINDNESS IN AGAIN GIVING ME CREDIT FOR HELPING WITH THE MOUNTAIN BEAVER. IT IS CERTAINLY GOOD TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE STILL THERE AND WORKING ON THIS PROJECT. ALSO, IT WAS GOOD TO HEAR ABOUT THE NEW IUCN RODENT REPORT AND I DEFINITELY WILL GET A COPY. TOO BAD IT WAS NOT OUT IN TIME FOR INCLUSION IN MY NEW EDITION OF WALKER'S MAMMALS OF THE WORLD (TO BE PUBLISHED IN APRIL). BUT AT LEAST I WAS ABLE TO INCLUDE EVERYTHING FROM THE 1996 REDBOOK. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR KINDNESS AND SUPPORT. RON NOWAK, 2 FEBRUARY 1999 P.S. ITS GROUNDHOG DAY -- THATS SOMETHING LIKE A MT BEAVER, ISN'T IT? (Note: Ron was still working with FWS and played a large role when the PAMB subspecies was finally listed in 1992. DTS)

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NWF "Creatures that Time Forgot" article June 2002 I enjoyed contributing to this article about living fossils including the mountain beaver.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE MAGAZINE Jun/Jul 2002, vol. 40 no. 4

Creatures That Time Forgot

By Lisa W. Drew From a handful of bugs and birds to mountain beavers, species that have changed little after tens to hundreds of millions of years both fascinate and puzzle biologists who study “living fossils” 4/12/09 2:30 PM

Creatures That Time Forgot - National Wildlife Magazine Creatures That Time Forgot - National Wildlife Magazine

4/12/09 2:26 PM

NATIONAL WILDLIFE MAGAZINE Jun/Jul 2002, vol. 40 no. 4

Creatures That Time Forgot

By Lisa W. Drew

From a handful of bugs and birds to mountain beavers, species that have changed little after tens to hundreds of millions of years both fascinate and puzzle biologists who study “living fossils”

A MOUNTAIN BEAVER’S reaction to overheating is hardly what you’d expect from a species that ranks among the animal kingdom’s great success stories.

Unable to sweat or pant, this muskrat-sized resident of the Pacific Northwest spends most of its time in a cool, moist burrow system. When the creature ventures out to forage, it can get too hot—and at that point all it can do is sprawl, utterly vulnerable to predators, until it cools off.

Yet fossil records indicate that at 40 million years old, the erroneously named species—which is not a beaver at all—is a survivor against all odds. Scientists generally agree that 99.9 percent of all species that have inhabited the planet are now extinct. Most species survive only between 1 and 10 million years. (Homo sapiens has existed for about 200,000 years.) Every single life-form, the statistics say, is eventually doomed.

The mountain beaver, however, has persisted longer than all existing squirrels, rats, chipmunks, mice, true beavers and other living rodents. And although such longevity is rare, it is not unique. Consider, for example, what fossils say about the ages of the sandhill crane (10 million years old), the Gila monster (30 million years old) or the tailed frog (150 million years old). Now consider that these examples are all land animals, relative newcomers compared to aquatic creatures or plants. The oldest living organism on the planet is a 3.5-billion-year-old bacterium that forms mounds called stromatolites in otherwise lifeless briny pools, most notably in Australia.

No wonder Charles Darwin digressed in his conclusion of The Origin of Species in 1859 to point out that some ancient life-forms “may fancifully be called living fossils.” The term has stuck. “The living fossils are exactly what the name presupposes,” says Cornell University ecologist Thomas Eisner. He has long studied millipedes—the first class of animals to dwell successfully on land 420 million years ago—some of which appear to be identical to their most ancient fossils. “They are fossils in some ways, but of course not entirely,” he adds.

In other words, living fossils may look just like their ancient remains, but scientists cannot say how the animals functioned a million years ago. “I’m not sure I believe in the living fossil idea,” says ecologist Steven Austad of the University of Idaho, who specializes in research on aging and has studied wild opossums. “You might have something like the millipede that has the same fundamental body form as the fossil but might not in detail be anything like that.”

Agrees evolutionary biologist David Wake of the University

http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/printerFriendly.cfm?issueID=43&articleID=500

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Multidex Text .......................................................................................................................................................................................44 Capitalized Words .................................................................................................................................................................45 Numbers ...............................................................................................................................................................................46 Internet Addresses ................................................................................................................................................................47 Highlighting ...........................................................................................................................................................................48 Keywords ..............................................................................................................................................................................49 Stickers .................................................................................................................................................................................50 To Do Items ..........................................................................................................................................................................51 Attachments ..........................................................................................................................................................................52 Discarded Attachments .........................................................................................................................................................53 Creation Dates ......................................................................................................................................................................54 Change Dates .......................................................................................................................................................................55 Due Dates .............................................................................................................................................................................56 Super-Find Results ...............................................................................................................................................................57

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Text A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z A a9d6ecdf (1) abilities (1) ability (5) able (18) about (71) above (9) absorbed (1) abstract (1) abundance (1) abundant (5) academy (4) accepted (2) access (1) accident (1) accidentally (1) account (4) accross (1) accumulated (1) accurately (1) acknowledge (1) acquired (2) acre (5) acreage (1) acres (5) acronin (1) across (16) act (1) acting (1) action (4) activated (1) active (9) activities (8) activity (7) actual (2) actually (12) adapt (3) adaptations (1) adapted (2) adaptive (1) add (13) added (8) adding (5) additional (3) additionally (1) addled (1) addr (1) address (1) adds (1) adequate (2) adjacent (3) 44-1

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...e another tool that can give good results. If you don't believe me, check out Chris Wemmer's Camera Codger site!...

Talked to Chris Wemmer about his upcoming efforts to capture a mt. beaver up a tree with his trusty camera trap g...

Wemmer requested an Ingles slide wenatchee (1) wendy (7) wendya (2) went (10) were (35) we're (5) weren't (2) west (10) western (4) wet (8) wetlands (1) we've (2) weyerhaeuser (2) what (47) whatever (2) when (37) whenever (1) where (24) whether (5) which (29) while (19) whip (1) whistle (4) whistler (2) whistlers (1) whistles (1) whistling (1) whitaker (1) white (5) whites (1) whitetail (1) who (26) whoa (3) whole (7) whose (2) why (6) wide (5) widening (1) widespread (2) width (1) wields (1) wife (2) wild (3) 44-75

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Capitalized Words A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z A ABLE (1) ABOUT (3) About (4) Above (1) Abstract (1) Academy (4) Action (1) Add (3) Additionally (1) Administrative (1) Advanced (1) After (3) Again (1) AGAIN (1) AGEISS (1) Agencies (1) Air (2) Al (2) Alive (1) All (11) Alpine (1) ALSO (1) Also (5) Alternatively (1) Although (4) ALWAYS (2) Am (1) AM (13) Amer (1) America (5) American (9) Americana (1) Among (2) An (4) Analysis (1) Analyst (2) And (6) AND (1) Andrea (4) Andrew (1) Andy (2) Angeles (2) ANIMAL (1) Animal (3) Animals (3) Anisonyx (1) Ann (1) Anne (1) Annual (1) Another (2) 45-1

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D Dailey (2) Dale (37) DaleI (1) Dallas (1) Damage (5) Damaged (1) Dan (5) Danes (1) Database (1) Databases (1) Date (5) Dave (5) David (3) Davis (1) DAY (1) Day (1) Daybreak (1) Dear (1) Debbie (1) DEBORAH (1) Dec (1) Deck (1) Defence (1) DEFINITELY (1) Definition (1) DEN (1) Dennis (2) Department (7) Dept (3) Des (1) Description (1) Development (2) Diamond (1) DID (1) Digg (2) Digital (1) Dinets (2) Dinsmore (1) Dirt (1) Disasters (1) Discovery (3) Discussion (2) Dispersive (2) Distribution (2) Division (2) DNA (1) DO (1) Do (7) Document (1) Dog (1) DON (1) Donner (1) Dos (1) Doug (1) Douglas (1) Dover (1) DOWN (1) 45-6

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Inc (2) INCHES (2) INCLUDE (1) INCLUSION (1) Indian (5) Indiana (1) Indians (4) Info (1) INFORMATION (1) Information (2) INFOWRIGHT (1) Ingles (6) Inside (1) INSIDE (1) Instead (1) Integrated (1) Interesting (1) Interim (1) Internet (1) Intro (1) Inventory (1) Investigations (1) Iron (1) Is (5) IS (1) Isanti (1) ISN'T (1) Issues (3) It (38) IT (1) Its (1) ITS (1) IUCN (2) IV (2) I've (28) Ivy (1) J James (1) Jan (2) Janis (1) January (1) Jarret (1) Jeff (3) JENNIFER (1) Jessica (3) Jim (1) Job (1) John (3) Joseph (1) JOUFLAS (2) Journal (5) JPG (1) Jr (2) Juanita (1) Jul (4) Julia (1) Julie (2) July (3) 45-11

Jump (2) Jun (2) June (4) Just (1) K Kacie (2) Kalama (1) Kansas (1) Karen (1) Karl (1) Kayleen (1) KAYLEEN (1) Keep (1) KEN (1) Kennewick (1) Kent (1) Kevin (2) Key (1) Killer (1) Kimball (1) Kind (1) KINDNESS (1) King (1) Kirk (1) Kirkland (2) Kitsap (1) Knopf (1) KNOW (1) Kohler (1) Krista (1) Kruckeberg (2) Kushniruk (1) L LA (1) La (1) Lab (1) Lactation (1) LaDucer (1) Lake (16) Laliberte (3) LAMBERT (1) Land (2) Larson (1) Last (3) Later (4) Latest (3) Latin (4) Latrine (1) Laura (2) Leaf (1) LEAST (1) LEAVING (1) Lee (3) Legal (1) Len (2) Lenhart (2) Leonard (2) 45-12

Les (1) Let (6) Letay (1) Letter (1) Lewis (11) Library (1) Like (1) LIKE (1) Lincoln (1) Linda (1) LINK (1) Link (2) LINKS (1) Links (2) Lisa (1) List (4) Litman (2) Little (2) Live (2) LIVING (1) Living (6) Lloyd (4) LMcG (1) Location (2) Locke (1) Lodgepole (1) Lois (1) Lolo (1) Looking (2) Looks (1) Loops (1) Lucia (1) Lundy (1) Lynnwod (2) M Mac (1) Macdonald (1) MACHINE (1) Mag (1) Magazine (6) MAGAZINE (1) Magnuson (1) Mahadev (2) Make (1) Mammalian (5) Mammals (3) MAMMALS (1) Manage (1) Management (7) MANAGEMENT (1) Manager (2) Many (3) Map (2) Mapping (1) Maps (1) Mar (1) March (3) Marmots (1) 45-13

Martis (1) Mary (2) Master (1) Masters (1) Mathews (1) Maureen (1) Max (1) May (4) Maybe (6) McGraw (1) McKenzie (1) McMorrow (1) ME (1) Meadows (1) Meanwhile (2) Measures (1) Medical (1) Meister (2) Member (1) Mendocino (2) Mention (2) Meriwether (2) Merriam (1) Message (1) Michael (1) Michelle (2) Microsoft (1) Microtus (1) Middle (1) Midwestern (1) Migration (1) Mill (2) Miller (2) Ministry (2) Miocene (1) Missouri (1) MN (1) Moines (1) Mojave (1) Mon (1) Monday (1) Monitoring (1) Mono (6) Monographs (1) Monroe (1) Montesano (2) Monthly (1) More (13) Morrell (1) Most (13) MOST (2) Mount (4) Mountain (95) MOUNTAIN (1) Mountainand (1) MOUNTAINEERS (1) Mountains (1) Movie (2) Mr (3) 45-14

MRC (1) MSU (1) MT (2) Mt (25) Mtn (2) Much (3) Mud (1) Mungo (1) Museum (4) Muskrat (2) Mussulman (1) Mustela (1) Mustelidae (1) MVC (1) MY (1) My (19) Mystery (2) MYTH (1) N National (10) NATIONAL (2) Native (2) Nat'l (1) NATURAL (1) Natural (3) Naturalists (1) Nature (3) Naval (1) NE (1) Neahkahnie (1) Need (2) NeedMoreVitaminD (1) Needs (1) Neotsu (1) Nest (1) Nevada (4) Nevadas (1) NEW (2) New (5) Newcastle (1) News (4) Newsvine (2) NEXT (2) Nice (2) Nicholas (1) Nick (2) Nigeria (1) Ninth (2) Nisqually (1) No (9) Nolte (2) Non (1) NON (1) None (2) Nonetheless (1) Nongame (2) Nordstrom (1) North (8) 45-15

Northern (5) Northrop (1) NORTHWEST (1) Northwest (14) Northwestern (1) Norwegian (1) Not (5) NOT (3) Note (9) NoteBook (3) Notes (2) Nothing (1) November (2) Now (1) NOWAK (1) Nutria (1) NW (6) NWF (1) O Observations (1) Ocean (2) Oct (2) Of (2) OF (3) Off (1) Office (3) Officer (1) OFWD (1) OK (4) Olalla (1) Older (1) O'Leary (1) Olympia (3) Olympic (5) Olympics (2) On (8) ON (1) Once (2) One (13) Only (1) ONP (2) Optimal (2) OR (5) Or (2) Ore (2) Oregon (12) Original (1) Originally (1) Orphaned (1) Ostrom (6) OSU (1) OT (1) Other (5) Others (2) Our (7) OUT (1) Over (2) Overall (1) 45-16

P Pacific (16) PACIFIC (1) Pack (1) Paleontology (1) PAMB (4) Park (9) Parks (1) Pass (2) Paul (2) Pay (1) PC (1) PDT (4) Peggy (2) Pehling (3) Pending (1) Peninsula (1) Penn (1) Perhaps (7) Permission (2) Personnel (1) Pest (1) Peter (3) PETERSON (1) Ph (1) PHONE (1) Photo (2) Photos (6) Physical (1) Picture (3) Pictures (6) Piebald (1) PIER (1) Pig (1) Plan (6) Planetary (1) Plant (1) Plantations (1) Plants (1) Plate (1) Please (5) Pleistocene (1) Plus (2) Plute (5) PM (12) Pneuman (1) Pocket (1) Poem (1) Point (21) Population (1) Populations (2) Port (2) Portland (4) Posted (4) Prairie (3) Predicted (1) PRELIMINARY (1) Preserve (1) 45-17

Press (3) Preston (1) PREV (2) Primitive (1) Primus (1) Print (2) Prior (1) Prioritize (1) Proceedings (1) Professor (2) Program (2) Programs (2) PROJECT (1) Projects (2) Proposal (1) Protecting (1) Protection (3) PST (2) PSW (1) Pt (1) Publications (4) PUBLISHED (1) Published (1) Pudgy (1) Puget (3) Pussy (1) Puyallup (2) Q Quadrapeds (1) Quest (1) Questions (2) Quilcene (2) Quite (1) R Rabbit (2) Rafinesque (4) Railroad (1) Rain (1) Rainer (1) Rainier (1) Randy (2) Range (5) Ranger (1) Ray (2) Re (8) Read (3) REALLY (1) Recent (1) Recovery (5) Red (4) REDBOOK (1) Redding (1) Redmond (6) Redo (2) REDUCING (1) Redwood (2) REES (1) 45-18

References (2) Reforestation (1) Reg (1) Regarding (1) Regards (1) Region (3) Related (3) Relocating (1) Reluctantly (1) Remember (1) Reminded (1) Repellents (1) Report (4) REPORT (1) Requested (1) Research (5) RESEARCH (1) Researchers (2) Resources (1) Response (3) Rev (1) Reveal (3) Review (7) Reviewed (1) Reyes (8) Rice (1) Richardson (1) Ridge (5) RINGMAN (1) Ringman (2) Ripple (1) Risk (1) River (5) Rob (1) Robin (2) RODENT (1) Rodent (1) Rodentia (1) RODENTICIDES (1) Rodenticides (2) Rodents (1) Rollback (1) Ron (1) RON (1) ROO (1) Roosevelt (1) Root (1) Rotating (1) Roth (1) Rural (1) Russell (2) RUSSELL (1) RV (1) S Sac (1) Sacramento (6) Salinas (1) Sammamish (2) 45-19

Samwel (1) Sand (1) Santa (1) Saskia (1) Sat (1) Satsop (1) Saturday (1) Saw (1) Scheffer (2) School (4) Schooner (1) Science (1) Sciences (3) Scientist (1) Sciurus (1) Scott (1) Scout (1) Scouter (1) Scratching (1) Scriber (1) SE (1) Seรกn (2) Search (2) SeaTimesFan (1) SEATTLE (2) Seattle (25) Secondary (1) Section (1) Sections (1) See (2) Seedling (1) Seeking (1) Sent (2) Sep (1) Sept (1) September (4) Sequim (1) SERIES (1) Service (7) Services (1) SETTINGS (1) Seventeen (1) Several (3) Sewelel (1) Sewellel (3) Sewellels (1) SF (1) Shannon (2) Share (2) Shasta (1) Shawn (1) She (5) Sherman (2) Should (1) Showers (1) Showing (1) Showt'l (2) Shrimp (1) SicaQ (2) 45-20

Sielecki (2) Sierra (12) Since (6) Sincerely (4) Sir (1) Site (3) Sites (1) Skeletons (1) Skulls (1) Skunks (1) Skykomish (2) Slate (1) Smaller (1) Smothers (2) SNOHOMISH (1) Snohomish (3) Snoqualmie (2) Snow (1) So (6) Society (1) Some (7) Somehow (1) Something (2) SOMETHING (1) Sometimes (1) Sorry (1) Sound (3) Sounds (2) South (3) Southern (1) Special (1) Species (5) Specifically (1) Specimens (1) Spending (1) Spirit (1) Spooner (1) Spruce (1) Squirrel (2) SSC (1) St (4) ST (1) Staff (2) Stalman (1) STALMAN (1) Standard (1) Stanford (3) Star (1) Starship (1) State (9) States (3) Station (1) Status (8) Staying (1) Steele (18) Steve (3) STEVE (1) Steven (3) Stewardship (1) 45-21

Stewart (1) STILL (2) STOLID (2) Story (3) STOUT (2) Stovall (1) Strategy (2) Studies (2) Subject (9) Subspecies (1) Summit (1) Sun (1) Sunday (4) Super (1) SUPPORT (1) Sure (1) Survey (3) Survivor (1) Susan (2) SUSAN (2) Suzanne (2) SW (2) Sylvia (1) System (2) Systems (1) T Table (1) Tacoma (1) Tahoe (3) Take (3) Talk (1) Talked (1) TARGET (1) Tasks (3) Tedd (1) Teddy (1) TEE (1) Telemetry (1) Tell (3) Ten (1) Terrier (1) Teva (1) Thank (5) THANK (1) Thanks (24) That (9) THAT (1) THATS (1) The (53) THE (4) Then (5) Theo (2) There (18) THERE (1) These (7) Thesis (1) They (16) THEY (1) 45-22

They're (2) They've (2) Thinking (1) Thiram (1) THIS (1) This (28) Thomas (1) Thomomys (1) Though (2) Threatens (1) Through (1) Thu (2) Tiger (1) Till (1) Tim (2) Time (5) TIME (1) TIMES (2) Times (14) TNC (1) TO (1) To (10) Toansket (1) Today (1) Told (2) Toledo (2) Tomahawk (1) TOO (1) Totem (1) Tracks (1) TRACKS (1) Tracy (1) Trail (2) Transportation (2) Trapping (2) TRIPS (1) Truckee (2) Trying (1) Tue (3) Tukwila (3) Tuolomne (1) Turney (1) Turns (3) Twin (1) Two (4) Type (1) Typical (1) U UC (1) UCB (1) Uncommon (1) Uncopyrighted (1) Under (3) Underneath (1) UNEP (1) Unit (1) United (3) Univ (1) 45-23

University (8) Unpublished (2) Until (3) Unusual (1) Up (1) UP (2) Update (2) Updates (2) Upon (1) Upper (2) Urban (1) US (3) Us (1) USA (2) USDA (5) USDAFS (1) Use (3) USFS (1) USFWS (1) USGS (1) Using (1) UTC (1) V Valley (2) Vancouver (1) Vasa (1) Verlot (1) Version (1) VERTEBRATE (1) Very (4) Video (5) View (1) Vining (2) Vinkingshome (1) Virtual (1) Vladimir (2) Vol (3) Voth (1) W Wa (3) WA (14) Wagner (1) Walker (1) WALKER'S (1) WANT (1) Warrenton (1) WAS (1) Wash (1) Washington (21) Washingtonian (1) Water (1) Wave (1) We (28) Web (7) Webster (2) Wed (2) Wednesday (1) 45-24

Weird (2) Well (2) We'll (3) WELL (1) Wemmer (3) Wenatchee (1) WENDY (1) Wendy (7) Went (1) We're (3) WEST (1) West (1) Western (4) We've (1) Weyerhaeuser (2) What (14) Whatever (2) When (17) Where (2) Which (2) While (6) Whistling (1) Whitaker (1) White (1) Whoa (3) Whole (1) Why (3) Wildl (1) WILDLIFE (4) Wildlife (23) Wildnerness (1) WILL (1) William (2) Wily (1) Winter (2) Wish (1) Wishkah (1) WITH (2) With (3) Within (1) Without (2) Wittemeyer (1) Wolf (1) Woodinville (1) Woody (1) Woolford (1) Work (4) WORKING (1) World (4) WORLD (1) Would (6) Writing (1) Y Yahoo (1) Years (1) Yensen (1) Yes (3) Yesterday (1) 45-25

Yokohama (1) York (1) Yosemite (2) YOU (1) You (18) Young (1) YOUR (1) Your (8) You're (2) Z Ziegltrum (2) Zoรถlogical (1)

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12/10/08 (1) 12 (8) 12/08/08 (1) 13 (3) 14 (4) 15 (7) 16 (2) 16.1 (1) 17 (1) 18 (4) 19 (6) 100 (1) 101 (2) 103 (1) 104 (1) 110 (1) 128 (1) 150 (1) 180 (1) 1000 (1) 1144 (1) 1146 (1) 1800 (2) 1804 (2) 1805 (3) 1806 (2) 1812 (2) 1814 (1) 1817 (1) 1829 (1) 1842 (1) 1845 (1) 1877 (1) 1892 (1) 1893 (1) 1900 (2) 1911 (1) 1917 (2) 1921 (2) 1926 (1) 1929 (2) 1957 (1) 1965 (1) 1966 (1) 1970 (1) 1979 (1) 1982 (1) 1984 (1) 1986 (2) 1989 (1) 1990 (1) 1991 (1) 1992 (1) 1993 (2) 1994 (1) 1996 (2) 1998 (2) 1999 (1) 10188 (1) 46-2

12000 (1) 18000 (1) 2 2/3/09 (1) 2/2/09 (1) 2/6/09 (1) 2/15/09 (1) 2 (22) 2/28/09 (1) 2/9/09 (2) 2/27/09 (1) 2/8/09 (7) 2.27.09 (1) 20 (12) 21 (2) 22 (4) 23 (3) 24 (3) 25 (4) 26 (2) 27 (1) 28 (5) 28.95 (2) 29 (2) 200 (2) 203 (1) 206 (1) 211 (1) 283 (1) 2000 (2) 2001 (4) 2002 (5) 2003 (3) 2006 (6) 2007 (3) 2007/01/23 (1) 2008 (2) 2009 (14) 2011 (1) 2400 (1) 2622 (1) 2666 (1) 2667 (1) 2689 (1) 2719 (1) 21000 (1) 24678 (1) 3 3/28/09 (1) 3 (19) 3/4 (1) 30 (8) 31 (4) 32 (1) 33 (2) 34 (1) 35 (1) 46-3

36 (3) 37 (1) 39 (2) 300 (1) 335 (1) 360 (1) 389 (1) 3477 (1) 3778 (1) 3994 (1) 4 4 (12) 4,000 (2) 4/05/07 (1) 4/12/09 (1) 4/2/07 (1) 4/28/09 (1) 4/30/09 (1) 4.3 (1) 40,000 (2) 40 (7) 41 (3) 43 (1) 45 (5) 46 (1) 47 (3) 48 (1) 49 (1) 404 (1) 445 (2) 5 5/16/09 (1) 5 (10) 5/28/2001 (1) 50 (6) 51 (2) 52 (1) 53 (1) 54,000 (1) 55 (2) 56 (1) 57 (1) 59 (1) 518 (1) 530 (1) 557 (1) 566 (1) 5671 (1) 5900 (1) 55952 (1) 6 6 (17) 6/12/09 (1) 6/2/09 (1) 6/25/02 (1) 6/28 (1) 46-4

6/28/09 (1) 6/29/02 (1) 6/30/02 (2) 6/4/09 (1) 6/7/08 (1) 60 (3) 63 (1) 64 (1) 65 (1) 67 (1) 600 (1) 621 (1) 628 (1) 698 (1) 7 7 (8) 7/11/09 (1) 7/15/09 (1) 7/18/02 (1) 7/2/02 (1) 7/04 (1) 7/1/02 (1) 70 (1) 71 (1) 78 (1) 700 (5) 8 8 (8) 8/10/06 (1) 8/14 (1) 8/17/02 (1) 8/6/09 (1) 80 (1) 83 (1) 89 (1) 800 (1) 803 (2) 847 (1) 8571 (1) 8748 (2) 9 9 (14) 93 (1) 97 (1) 99 (1) 916 (3) 928 (1) 9217 (1) 91969 (1) 95811 (2) 97146 (1) 98208 (1)

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Internet Addresses URLs (181) http (180) yahoo.com (1) wsu.edu (2) wordpress.com (2) wildlifedamagecontrol.com (1) wildearthguardians.org (1) wihumane.org (1) washington.edu (2) wa.gov (2) usgs.gov (1) unr.edu (1) unl.edu (8) unep-wcmc.org (1) ubc.ca (1) travel.ru (1) themillersplace.net (2) skullsunlimited.com (1) siskiyous.edu (1) sierralegal.org (1) sfsu.edu (1) sccp.ca (2) pscs.org (1) orst.edu (3) nytimes.com (1) nwsource.com (12) nwf.org (2) newsvine.com (1) myballard.com (1) msu.edu (1) montereybay.com (1) monolake.org (1) mojavemax.com (1) metrokc.gov (1) me.com (3) mac.com (4) livejournal.com (1) lewis-clark.org (10) infowright.com (53) hotcity.com (1) groundhog.org (1) google.com (1) gc.ca (1) fws.gov (3) flickr.com (1) fed.us (1) esaudubon.org (1) esajournals.org (2) earthlink.net (1) dirttime.ws (1) digg.com (1) cymbiont.ca (3) circusponies.com (1) 47-1

canada.com (1) calacademy.org (1) ca.gov (2) brainmuseum.org (18) blogspot.com (1) http://cameratrapcodger.blogspot.com/ (1)

Mountain beaver are not easy to photograph to say the least. I have spent many hours in the field and only see the animal on rare occasions. Most of the time, there isn't a chance to get your camera out in time much less take a picture. Most photos of mt. beaver have been taken of animals caught in live traps or held in captivity. Some of the pictures below were taken by one of the many people that have contacted me over the last few years to learn more about this unusual animal. Several other pictures here were taken by the late mammalogist, Lloyd Ingles, who shared them with me. These pictures are rather unusual for several reasons which may be more obvious once you've had a chance to look at them! More recently, the use of remote controlled camera "traps" has proven to be another tool that can give good results. If you don't believe me, check out Chris Wemmer's Camera Codger site!

berkeley.edu (1) bc.ca (2) answers.com (5) p (1) E-mail (22)

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