What is it?

[abalone-girl]

Alright all you Oregonians, Iv'e been told there are no beavers left in this area. I was on the Mad River yesterday and this is what I saw. 3 years ago I saw something similar and they said it was a muskrat. This thing was around 10lbs (about the size of a basketball). It stayed on the other side of the river and just watched me. I DID NOT SEE THE TAIL. I did see the face however and it seems larger than a muskrat. Any help out there?

[Spotted Owl]

Young beaver. Look at the sitck in the back ground. The point is chewed off to be removed from the larger piece of wood, and the bark is stripped to get at the cambium layer. You can see what kinda looks like a rounded tail under the beavs back end and under the grey stick just in front of it.

Looks like to me anyhow.

Owl

[anglingaddict]

Yep! Looks just like the one doing the little dance in "Open Season" !

[MattPark]

That there is a beaver.

[STGRule]

It appears beaveresque to me.

[abalone-girl]

A Professor friend of wildlife bio, at Humboldt State, agrees with everyone, beaver. I guess there are a few strays that inhabit the Mad River.

[latesvak]

Did Anyone Guess A Beaver Yet ??????? Uh Uh Yeah




Luke

[Abalone]

I was going to say " Duck billed platypus " but I couldn't see it's bill.

[Threemuch]

Punji stick maker.

[Fish_N_Russ]

I thought Beavers were everywhere about in North America........? Where there is water you can get Beavers.....Why wouldnt they be in your area too

[Maddie'sDaddy]

I seen some obvious signs of a beaver on the wilson last weekend, chewed tree limbs and even some tracks and drag marks where he had dragged the branches he just chewed away.



MD

[Hell-B]

Takes one to know one. Go Beavs

[12244]

I think thats a nutria, good eatin'! but not for me.

[Troller]

When I first saw it I thought it was a Mountain Beaver
http://dirttime.ws/Notebook/Aplodontia.htm

I think kevinsdriftboat may be right. With out seeing the tail and not be knowledgble enough to identify it otherwise.

Originally Posted by KevinsDriftboat

I think thats a nutria, good eatin'! but not for me.

[CATCH AND EAT]

That there is Chuck Norris in disquise.

[Fish_N_Russ]

Originally Posted by Troller

When I first saw it I thought it was a Mountain Beaver
http://dirttime.ws/Notebook/Aplodontia.htm

I think kevinsdriftboat may be right. With out seeing the tail and not be knowledgble enough to identify it otherwise.

Moutain beavers look nothing like regular Beavers......its definitely a regular one. He is thinking......'now if I just had 1000 more sticks I could dam this baby up!'

[Rainman]

Can't be Chuck Norris, that beaver has real fur on top
I see beaver from time to time, mostly they just swim away, or go down under water before I can get my camera out. That lil guy was pretty trusting, if you ask me.

[12244]

Nutria do look and act tame, unless you get to close. They have very long sharp orange teeth. We had one latch onto a dog once, wouldnt let go. Had to shoot it at close range, the whole time the Pointer just looked at with the expression "I'm holding still, hurry up and shoot it!"

Beavers are very shy and often you only hear the SLAP of the tail as they dive.

[12244]

OK, here is a new mystery. Had an encounter at Marion Lake, my dog was sleeping near me on a rock when one of these appeared and startled us.

[Troller]

really??? I wonder how it got its name. I agree the picture is not one. But I have had one in my hands and it looked awful lot like a genuine Beaver missing its tail. And since he said he couldnt see the tail thats was my first thought. I was having a problem with holes in my yard, and A 4 foot stack of plywood being ruined by some sort of animal. I set up a trap in the hole and caught the bugger then had to shoot it with a .22 to get it out of the hole so I could see what it was. That and the fact I didnt want some unknown thing coming out that hole with me hanging onto the chain attached to the thing stuck on his leg.

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

Originally Posted by Fish_N_Russ

Moutain beavers look nothing like regular Beavers......its definitely a regular one. He is thinking......'now if I just had 1000 more sticks I could dam this baby up!'

[Snakebite]

:lurk:
Now I'm really amazed!

[12244]

The only way I can usually tell the difference between a Beaver and Nutria is that a nutria has a rat tail. And beavers slap tail and dive. Nutria were introduced by Europeans as a food source! Id rather wear one than eat it.

[fishonthebrain]

For the "new mystery" I believe that is a Martin. We used to see a lot of these by Mt. Adams while archery hunting.

[12244]

Wow, that is really close!

For a while I thought it was also a Martin. But it just wasnt right in the habitat of "Lives in the Large rocks Near water, not in it" very few of these around. But Marion Lake has a ton of wildlife, including lots of bears.

Originally Posted by fishonthebrain

For the "new mystery" I believe that is a Martin. We used to see a lot of these by Mt. Adams while archery hunting.

[Spotted Owl]

Originally Posted by KevinsDriftboat

OK, here is a new mystery. Had an encounter at Marion Lake, my dog was sleeping near me on a rock when one of these appeared and startled us.

This to me looks like a Fisher.

The original still looks to me like a beaver.

Nutria have a more pointed snout, their ears are closer together we have monster nutria hide(24#) and the ears are only about an inch and half apart. Nutria are for the most part actually grazers, they like grass, small branch tips, corn and stalks. They don't mess with wood as a general rule, no damn building and such. They live in hole dug into the banks and in some rat huts that they take over.

We have seen alot of beavers and even more nutria. These photos to me just say beaver, the animal, the way it is positioned and the surrounding clues.

So hows the guess on the new mystery animal, is it a Fisher. Fisher is also one of the five animals in Oregon that do not have a season, along with the Ringtail, Sea Otter, Wolverine and Kit Fox. They are also one of the meanest nastiest animals pound for pound on for feet. Though Wolverine aren't acknowledged to live in Oregon there was a stir last year that a full time trapper got one. He was running his martin line up on the flank of Three Finger Jack and found a Wolverine as an accidental catch. I know martin traps generally 110s and 120s are fairly small and weak but stranger things have happened.

It's a Fisher isn't it?

Owl

[12244]

Yes, its a Fisher. One came out from under the large shoreline rocks and wanted to take on my tough Cattle Dog, and me. Thank goodness she was tied up. Mean as a tiny wolverine! It was tired of us fishing near its rock den, we had to move, it wouldn't.

[Tsteelhead]

Ab girl-

I havent gone out to check the Beaver on the Mad yet, but will do. I'll get you that tail shot

Nutria have eyes a little further back and look like they dont belong on North America. Bright orange teeth. They look like a 20 pound Rat. I've always called them R.O.U.S.'s after the "Rodents Of Unusual Size" of the movie "Princess Bride" Usually inhabit Fire Swamps.

It's been my opinion a Mountain Beaver looks a lot like a Lemming or a Vole on Steroids, and if memory serves, they have tiny eyes, and grow to only 2 or 3 pounds max.

Because a Mtn Beaver has a special jaw, and some other primitive characteristics, it is considered a "Living Fossil" They seem to survive only because the forests they live in have very little snow, and warm leaf litter to live in.

Here are some pics-
http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...=Search+Images

And the Wiki-

The Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) is a primitive rodent unrelated to beavers and not usually found in mountainous areas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_beaver

Troller- How big was your Plywood creature? Sounds more like a Nutria. I've found that Mtn Beaver are seriously Shy and dont want anything to do with people.

The "other" Pic posted is a Fisher- here's some info-

Check here for a pic of a Marten
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_%28animal%29

The fisher, Martes pennanti, is a North American marten . Despite its name, this animal seldom eats fish, but is a typical marten; a medium sized mustelid, agile in treesThe fisher, Martes pennanti, is a North American marten . Despite its name, this animal seldom eats fish, but is a typical marten; a medium sized mustelid, agile in trees and slender enough of body to pursue prey into hollow trees or burrows in the ground. and slender enough of body to pursue prey into hollow trees or burrows in the ground.

Fun stuff- Beavers are so low in Population in Coastal CA, that it's kind of exciting to hear of them. As far as I know, they were trapped almost completely out in most of CA early in our history.

I'm on it Ab- girl!

Dean

[abalone-girl]

Dean,
I spoke to a professor of Wildlife Bio at HSU and he says that there is a known population on the river but it rare to see them and even more rare to photograph them. They are very shy (was it the camo-gear and stealth employed for steelhead fishing... ). Either way I am told this area has a history of sightings. I was also told that they do not regularly build dams on this river due to the rapidly changing river depth. They are most often building small dens.

[foxer]

Nutria have a longer snout. Nice Beaver.

[Troller]

We never saw the thing it would leave trails around the yard between a apple tree and the barn. It was probably about 3 to 5 pounds. This was near seattle and about 25 years ago. We checked it out pretty good and were later at a gun shop that had a bunch of mounted animals. One of them looked excatly like it so I asked what it was and they said Mountain Beaver. Thats my story and I am sticking to it.

Originally Posted by Tsteelhead

Ab girl-

I havent gone out to check the Beaver on the Mad yet, but will do. I'll get you that tail shot

Nutria have eyes a little further back and look like they dont belong on North America. Bright orange teeth. They look like a 20 pound Rat. I've always called them R.O.U.S.'s after the "Rodents Of Unusual Size" of the movie "Princess Bride" Usually inhabit Fire Swamps.

It's been my opinion a Mountain Beaver looks a lot like a Lemming or a Vole on Steroids, and if memory serves, they have tiny eyes, and grow to only 2 or 3 pounds max.

Because a Mtn Beaver has a special jaw, and some other primitive characteristics, it is considered a "Living Fossil" They seem to survive only because the forests they live in have very little snow, and warm leaf litter to live in.

Here are some pics-
http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...=Search+Images

And the Wiki-

The Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) is a primitive rodent unrelated to beavers and not usually found in mountainous areas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_beaver

Troller- How big was your Plywood creature? Sounds more like a Nutria. I've found that Mtn Beaver are seriously Shy and dont want anything to do with people.

The "other" Pic posted is a Fisher- here's some info-

Check here for a pic of a Marten
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_%28animal%29

The fisher, Martes pennanti, is a North American marten . Despite its name, this animal seldom eats fish, but is a typical marten; a medium sized mustelid, agile in treesThe fisher, Martes pennanti, is a North American marten . Despite its name, this animal seldom eats fish, but is a typical marten; a medium sized mustelid, agile in trees and slender enough of body to pursue prey into hollow trees or burrows in the ground. and slender enough of body to pursue prey into hollow trees or burrows in the ground.

Fun stuff- Beavers are so low in Population in Coastal CA, that it's kind of exciting to hear of them. As far as I know, they were trapped almost completely out in most of CA early in our history.

I'm on it Ab- girl!

Dean