Beaver Flees Violence...in Canada?

It appears the Detroit River beaver we've come to love may have swam over from the Canadian side of Lake St. Clair where beavers are known to hang out, according to John Hartig, the Detroit River refuge manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Why this beaver made the journey to the Detroit Edison intake canal is a mystery," writes John Gallagher in The Detroit Free Press. "It may have faced danger at its earlier site or simply gone in search of food. There are poplar trees at the Edison site, which happen to be a favorite source of bark for beavers."

Wait a minute. This beaver faced something so dangerous in Canada that he moved to Detroit? Man, there must been some craziness going on at the beaver lodge for this guy to give up free healthcare and the lower drinking age, eh?

Critters Return to Detroit

Photo courtesy of Detroit Edison.

Jobs may be disappearing and the population plummeting, but at least beavers are returning to Detroit.

CBC News reports:

For the first time in perhaps a century, a beaver has been discovered living in Michigan's Detroit River.

Workers at Detroit Edison's Conners Creek power plant on Detroit's east riverfront caught images of the animal in November, using motion-sensitive cameras, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services authorities say it's been between 75 and 100 years since a beaver was last seen in the river.

"It's part of that larger story of ecological recovery," John Hartig, the Detroit River refuge manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, told the paper.