Another Boring Beaver Post

Well, I promise this will be the last post this year on beaver.........unless of course I can get a nice closeup of one......or a shot of scat........or a great shot of a tail:)  Actually, today was a good day in the fact that I found an active beaver den.  Now I'm not sure what the scientific difference is between a den and a lodge, but when I picture a beaver lodge, I am thinking of the giant conical beaver lodges from up north.  This seems more of a den to me in the fact that it doesn't fit the description that I just gave.  Anyway, this is the closest to a lodge on the Hennepin that I have found.  It is by far the biggest.

This is actually a den that I have watched being constructed over the past 3 or 4 years and have gotten nice photos of one of its inhabitants on a couple of occasions.   I remember when I came across it for the first time while biking.  It was just a little crevice in the bank covered with some sticks.  I haven't visited this one since last March.  Since my last post, I have been thinking a lot about the beaver and decided to go to Mineral to see this one since it had been awhile.  It has grown a bit since last year, so they have been busy.

The great thing about this visit is that I could actually hear a beaver in there.  When I first approached, I heard a little bit of water splash and then I could hear the beaver making some vocalizations.  I won't even try to explain what that sounds like, but there are audio clips on the net if you are curious.  I was just really glad to see that there was a or some active beaver left on the canal for me to visit.  It was a rainy, but very good day.