So, here we go, my first blog....
I thought I to my favourite animal : Mrs Bob
She was the first beaver I saw at the river. People always ask 'Why the name Mrs Bob?'
Well, my friend who had been watching her for some time before, thought it is a male , judging by its size . So he called it Bob, the beaver.
After the Devon Wildlife Trust had caught, tested, tagged and released the beavers again, our 'Bob' was wearing a fetching pink ear tag.
Speaking to the Devon Wildlife Trust I found out that 'Bob' was indeed though the female beaver. With beavers the females are usually the slightly bigger ones.
So we could not call her Bob anymore and I decided it's gonna be Mrs Bob from now on. She is an amazing animal and a fabulous mother to her kits. Over the last years she has given birth to 6 kits each year, which is over the average of 4-5. While the other beavers are quite shy and will give you a good, noisy tail splash when they see or hear you ,she will just give you a look and either give you a little growl if you are considered a threat or ignore you. I had many encounters when she just came out off the water next to me to gnaw a branch or sit and groom her coat. Guess she knows that 'weird looking bush' by smell now, haha. It's goosebumps every time she does it and always a bit scary too, knowing that these big teeth could easily cut your fingers off.
Last night I found out that she and the rest of the family have moved their lodge again. Sitting quietly at my little hiding spot I expected them to come out and swim downstream but instead she appeared from downstream, followed shortly after by one of her kits.
And just a few minutes an otter came past me from the other direction! This is still happening in the cover of darkness, but now that the days are getting longer we will be able to see them in daylight soon again.
Until then I got you another of my YouTube videos from last July when the kits were still little furry fluffs:
https://youtu.be/kk6Te-FnBe8
Comments