BEAVER in TORONTO?

[Dylanfly]

 I'm 90% sure I saw a BEAVER on Pottery Road in Toronto this morning!  It was not far down from the corner of Broadview and Pottery Rd. (100 metres below the Dairy Queen), hundreds of metres above the Don River.  
    Can anyone confirm beaver sightings in this area?

[Walter Sobchak]

There are beavers in the area.  There's a few on the Islands.

[Kin Lau]

I've seen beavers in many places in the GTA.

Basically, if it's on the river/ravine system, a beaver is possible.

[Dr. John]

There's beavers on the Spit too. Lots of evidence on the trees near the water.

-John

[Marnie]

Here are a couple of blog postings (with pics) about beavers in that area last year:

http://donwatcher.blogspot.com/2006/10/beaver-at-brick-works.html

http://beechwoodwetland.blogspot.com/2006/08/im-afraid-i-dont-have-update-on-our.html

[mike]

I've photographed 2 Beavers in the creek at the Yonge/York Mills golf course this year. Saw them both on the same hike in different parts of the creek.

[Dylanfly]

Well, maybe it was just a muskrat.  A couple of neighbors who are big birders made that suggestion.  I'm new to Canada, so I'm also new to muskrat.  After seeing pics of muskrat, I can see why I was confused.  Even the muskrat tail has beaver-like qualities.  Hopefully, it was a beaver, but I'm not going to bet on it.  :?

[Kin Lau]

If you cannot see the tail, then the size is a good indicator. The beaver is several times larger than a muskrat..

For Mike, those are some really nice pics of the beavers. It's hard to get them nicely in the open like that.

[Axeman]

There are beavers in Mississauga -- I've seen roadkill beaver at the intersection of Mississauga Road and Dundas...and I've seen the telltale tree stumps on the spit located at the mouth of Cooksville Creek.

[Jaedon]

Theres tons of evidence of beavers in Charles Sauriol park which is just upstream from where you think you saw them on Pottery Road.  There are trees that are near to being dropped by beavers all over the place up there.....but I have never seen a live beaver there.  Most likely because when I go down there it is with my very noisy 4 year old who scares away most adults let alone the wildlife lol.

[Axeman]

There are a couple of marshes that I drive by regularly...and they have small rounded cones made of reeds in them...they look like small versions of a beaver lodge but made of reeds instead of sticks / branches...would these have been made by beavers or is it muskrats?

[GStuart]

I've stolen the following from an Alberta "Fish and Wildlife" website.

The muskrat also lives in ponds, but it does not build dams. Muskrat houses are built with mud, pond weeds and cattail stalks. In the winter, muskrats form "push-ups" in the pond ice over their feeding areas. Push-ups are domes of frozen vegetation covering a hole in the ice. The muskrat keeps these holes open throughout the winter by continually chewing away the ice and pulling up underwater vegetation to build an insulated dome over the hole.

Sounds like a muskrat home to me.

[jack.windsor]

I wish I see a beaver especially if it is somewhere near or in the city.
anyway, i find beavers to be exquisite animals.

[mike]

Take a walk along the creek that runs through the golf course at Yonge and the 401. They're in there.

[jack.windsor]

awesome, i will do that