Walking by a marsh in Port Washington this spring, I found a log which tapered to a sharp tip with convex tooth markings, surrounded by aromatic wood clippings on the ground. “Beavers: Wetlands and Wildlife,” a non-for-profit organization that studies beavers, confirmed that the photograph of the evidence showed that this was indeed the work of a beaver (see the picture below, taken in August 2012, several months after the chewing was fresh). This chew is the herald of a heroic odyssey and amazing recovery of the beaver (Castor canadensis).
Beavers are quite adaptable and each spring the two-year-olds set off on a quest for territory. Beavers may travel over tens of miles to find good habitat. They prefer to travel waterways, probably for safety as well as speed, but may venture across land too.
The closest known breeding beaver population is in Westchester, across the Long Island Sound. The beaver that made its way here to Port Washington probably swam from main-land New York, over seven miles away. What is more amazing, based on evidence from my Biodiversity Assessment of Port Washington, is that after making its way to the Port Washington Peninsula, the beaver climbed up hills, crossed a major road, and found a large fresh-water wetland complex where I observed the clippings. There are very few potential beaver habitats like this one because over 90% of the peninsula is developed.
300 million beavers once inhabited a greater portion of North America. Called a “keystone species,” they transformed much of the East and Mid-West into a gigantic wetland habitat complex, a unique ecosystem that provided abundant food for a diversity of animals and for Native Americans (From Water, by Alice Outwater, 1997). The habitat was lost in the 18th century due to trapping, fur trading, and deforestation. The great demand for beaver furs in Europe helped to establish an economic base for the building of Manhattan. By the end of the 18th century, beavers were extirpated from most of North America to the remote reaches of Canada. Since then, beavers have made a comeback and have settled in wetlands throughout the rural areas of the north-east.
The habitation of beavers in the vicinity of New York City is new, occurring within the last five years. In 2007, beavers were found for the first time in New York City, in the Bronx River, by the Bronx Zoo. In 2007, beavers were found in East Hampton, probably after their having crossed the Long Island Sound from Connecticut.
Is there only one beaver thus far in this habitat or are there more? Is there population viable for breeding? Can the habitat support beavers over successive populations? Are there any steps that we can take to protect, support, or enhance the habitat for these creatures?
As a direct result of our shared history with beavers, many of them have become nocturnal and live in remote, protected places outside of human reach. The beaver evidence I found was at the edge of one of the most remote and inaccessible places in the region. I have written a grant to the Explorer’s Club to fund expeditions to discover more about the beavers of Port Washington.