Displaced Beaver Returns Home
The folks who discovered a furry creature under their vehicle in an Arroyo Grande RV park didn’t know at first what it was. When it turned out to be an American Beaver, they were perplexed. The beaver was out of her habitat, nowhere near running water. They knew to call PWC.
Rescue/Transport volunteers Morgan Nolan and Kathy Simpson arrived on scene and realized they couldn’t leave the beaver there, in this inappropriate location. But safely capturing and containing a large, strong, heavy animal for transport to PWC was a challenge. When they finally achieved this, the intake exam at the PWC clinic revealed the beaver to have no health issues. She was a plump, alert, female adult. It was a case of wrong place, wrong time. She needed to be released back to the wild ASAP. The question was – where, exactly?
Sharon and Bob Blakely, PWC volunteers also with the SLO Beaver Brigade, consulted Cooper Lienhart, of Nature’s Engineers. The consensus was that this beaver was likely displaced by a storm. Of the several viable populations of beavers in SLO County, those in Templeton have built a lodge in a pond, but those along Pismo Creek and Arroyo Grande Creek have dug dens in riverbanks. The fast-moving water from the storm appeared to have washed out this beaver’s den, forcing her to travel uphill and inland.
This beaver needed to be returned to her territory. Flood waters having receded, a safe location was found on Oceano Lagoon. One day later, four volunteers – Nolan, Simpson, and the Blakelys – carried her to the release spot. When the carrier was opened, the beaver knew exactly where to go and what to do.
For more information about beavers in this area (and sign up for a monthly walk to a beaver dam), go to www.slobeaverbrigade.com. To find out about Cooper Lienhart’s mission to restore rivers and creeks by mimicking the work of beavers, go to https://www.naturesengineers.com.
