Where Beavers Go, Surprises Follow

Beaver - T. LePrieur
Beaver - T. LePrieur

BY GLYNNIS HOOD

It’s an usually warm day in January and my snowshoes are only partially necessary on the frozen ponds that aid my route through the Ministik Game Bird Sanctuary. As I rest against a beaver lodge to have my tea, I realize that after all these years, there is still so much more to learn about these rodents, which can engineer entire landscapes unlike any other mammal, other than humans.

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A Story of Mammals in Alberta’s Beaver Hills Biosphere Reserve

Fisher in a tree.

BY FRANCES STEWART

I was walking through an aspen forest in the UNESCO Beaver Hills Biosphere Reserve (BHB), 50 km east of Edmonton and south of Elk Island National Park. The first rays of sunlight were peeking through the trees and shining off the fresh snow on this crisp January morning. It was silent, still. I could see my breath shimmering in front of me like the beautiful hoar frost on the surrounding branches. A perfect morning for live-trapping fisher.

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