Beavers Return to Detroit

**Lowell** · March-14-23, 07:58 AM

First turkeys return, now beavers. Bears next? Interesting read about beavers on Belle Isle and Connors Creek. Good? Bad? Or just amusing? Anyone seen them?

Why are they returning to the area?

According to Robert Burns, Detroit River Keeper with the Friends of Detroit River group, populations are increasing because areas are more habitable to the species.
“We've noticed in the last 10 to 15 years that there are more beavers starting to move to the area,” Burns said. “From a habitat perspective and an indicator perspective, it shows that things are changing in the river that are conducive for various populations to start to reform and increase.”

https://lbus6do-cdn.newsmemory.com?p...ff451f_134aace

**jcole** · March-14-23, 10:23 AM

I remember LeDuff doing a story on the Rouge a few years back and IIRC they found at least one beaver dam.

**MikeM** · March-14-23, 10:34 AM

I've seen one a couple of times on Belle Isle, swimming across the water intake bypass channel. There's been one creating havoc on the Fox Creek this winter.

**Gistok** · March-14-23, 01:42 PM

They could have used a good beaver dam at the Livingston Light House a few years ago before high water levels came into the lagoons of Belle Isle and killed all the trees at the swampy east end of the island.

**Jimaz** · March-14-23, 02:27 PM

A good way to gauge beaver presence is to look for half-gnawed trees. They're pretty easy to spot.

**Richard** · March-14-23, 04:21 PM

Detroit should be able too on return to its roots and get a good fur trade going again at this rate.

**Johnnny5** · March-15-23, 10:13 PM

I haven't seen one in Detroit proper yet, but I have seen them on Erie and near the mouth of the Detroit River. We've also had at least one in Milford for the last few years. This past Fall it started turning a pedestrian bridge I use over a small creek into a dam and flooded out the hiking trail.

**Honky Tonk** · March-16-23, 04:21 AM

Originally Posted by Johnnny5

I haven't seen one in Detroit proper yet, but I have seen them on Erie and near the mouth of the Detroit River. We've also had at least one in Milford for the last few years. This past Fall it started turning a pedestrian bridge I use over a small creek into a dam and flooded out the hiking trail.

Leave it to beaver.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · March-16-23, 05:25 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

First turkeys return, now beavers. Bears next? Interesting read about beavers on Belle Isle and Connors Creek. Good? Bad? Or just amusing? Anyone seen them?

https://lbus6do-cdn.newsmemory.com?p...ff451f_134aace

Broken link.

**Canadian Visitor** · March-16-23, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

First turkeys return, now beavers. Bears next? Interesting read about beavers on Belle Isle and Connors Creek. Good? Bad? Or just amusing? Anyone seen them?

https://lbus6do-cdn.newsmemory.com?p...ff451f_134aace

In general, good. Toronto has literally hundreds of beavers. I was out hiking the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto earlier in winter, and saw more than 1/2 a dozen of them, in one walk.

That said, they will absolutely cut down trees of their preferred variety, particularly Poplar, and Aspen.

You really need them to be in a natural area where there is rapid re-growth of trees and lots of mature ones of types that don't interest beavers; or you have to protect some trees with guards/cages. Toronto does this. [[as do many other places).

There can be a risk of flooding as well from dams, but it really depends on the location. Beavers are not going to dam the Detroit River. There, if present, they would likely just building a den in the embankment somewhere. But in smaller river/creek/stream, that is a material risk.

**Canadian Visitor** · March-16-23, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by Cincinnati_Kid

Broken link.

Here's a link to a Freep story from 2 days ago:

https://www.freep.com/story/news/loc...t/69968638007/

**Jimaz** · March-16-23, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by Canadian Visitor

...Beavers are not going to dam the Detroit River....

That made me chuckle. They'd have to be pretty damn large to do that.

It might make a good cheesy sci-fi movie though. Beware the radioactive beavers!

**Cincinnati_Kid** · March-18-23, 10:59 AM

Originally Posted by Jimaz

That made me chuckle. They'd have to be pretty damn large to do that.

It might make a good cheesy sci-fi movie though. Beware the radioactive beavers!

Not only would they have to be large, it would have to be thousands of them and the Detroit River is too big and too deep.

**gnome** · March-22-23, 11:01 PM

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taken today on Hines Drive as in within 50 feet of the road surface

edit: tried to rotate the images and completely failed

**canuck** · March-24-23, 08:56 AM

Originally Posted by gnome

taken today on Hines Drive as in within 50 feet of the road surface

edit: tried to rotate the images and completely failed

No problem, no fail, you just felled the tree for him. The job is complete.

**MikeM** · March-24-23, 09:09 AM

Belle Isle last week:

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**Jimaz** · March-24-23, 10:42 AM

I searched for some trail cam footage of a beaver gnawing a tree but came up empty. Not surprising though. I guess you'd have to know an advance which tree he'd select or else get really lucky.

They're lucky no one wears hats anymore.

**Lowell** · March-24-23, 11:00 AM

Great pictures Gnome and MikeM! Impressive what they can do. Thanks.

No wonder there is the phrase "Busy as a beaver".

**Jimaz** · March-24-23, 11:45 AM

They make it look easy.

Beaver chews through tree limb: close up footage: See how beavers do it!

{EDITOR'S NOTE: If you want to see what happened just before this video; and see how the tree ended up on its side; watch this video link:

• Beaver chews down... }. I was in the right place at the right time to film this wild beaver chewing a chunk off of a fallen tree trunk. I tried to get in very close to provide a real up-close look at how they do this.

**jcole** · March-25-23, 09:11 AM

I didn't know Beavers wore gloves

**MikeM** · March-25-23, 11:45 AM

Glove for scale.

They obviously couldn't drag the felled trees and I've never seen a lodge anywhere. I suspect they were and chewed the trees for food. Maybe they'll come back later for the branches.

**jcole** · March-25-23, 01:36 PM

Thought maybe they were suffering from that winter cracked skin...

Originally Posted by MikeM

Glove for scale.

They obviously couldn't drag the felled trees and I've never seen a lodge anywhere. I suspect they were and chewed the trees for food. Maybe they'll come back later for the branches.