Moose and Beaver

[Shortsighted]

Napper, when I read your comments in light of the trend toward remembrances of years past, I started to recall a Monty Python skit where each aging member of a group was recounting the trials and tribulations of their youth, in particular how tough it was growing up in poverty. "We lived in a shack" / "Well, at least you had a roof cuz we lived in a burned-out shell of a shack" / Well, we lived in a cardboard box" / "At least you had a box". While remaining peripherally metaphorical to this thread about trips up north, seeing moose, travelling long distances, etc ... the trend seems to be headed into one-upmanship, which is great and definitely entertaining. I can't wait for the next sensational instalment.

Back in the 1860's, no, wait, it only seems that long ago, it was actually in the early to mid 1960's that my father, a friend of his and your truly were headed up north in one of those massive 8-cylinder cars that floats like a boat in search of a border to cross when we barrelled down the highway at dusk and managed to identify a black bear in the middle of the lane. It didn't appear that relocating off the roadway was its primary objective so we notified Houston and did a controlled retro burn to brake the ship to a crawl. The bear eventually did move so it wasn't taking a dump. It sidled upside the ship and tried to look into the window. We slowly throttled away at a crawl and reduced our speed for a while. But only for a while. The throttle and the metal were magnetic, or so I was told. That occurred on the first day of the trip. We started early in the morning from Toronto and by day's end we stopped just outside Kenora ... 1,056 miles in one day. If you do the math it sounds impossible and yet it happened. Admittedly it was a long day and travelling at 85 mph (136 kph) can translate one across a good chunk of territory. There may have been moose nearby but were blurred into insignificance. How did we manage to make it through the 60's with such a weight of stupidity onboard? Maybe it wasn't stupidity, but desperation. There was no drinking involved. We were not that stupid and I would have been underage anyway. It's just that we had to make it Vancouver and two and a half days. We made it! End of day two was Golden, B.C. Then half a day to Vancouver. We got there and the store was closed. Houston, we have another problem.

[Dr. John]

We had a Wolf and a Black Bear cross the road in front of us on Hwy 11 North of North Bay during the early morning.


We were pushing the limits of night safety on the way home  North of NB on Hwy 11 in Aug 2016 when the wifey said "MOOSE"I saw 2 sets of Red eyes taller than the truck. (SUV) they crossed the road behind us and the vehicles  that were behind us vanished.


I will not drive at night North of North Bay on 11 or 17 or Parry Sound on 69, it is just to dangerous.
Napper:)

It is precisely Highway 11 heading north from North Bay that I drive on.  I have done it at night over many years.  There was one close call where I was blinded by oncoming headlights and saw a moose sauntering towards me on the shoulder at the last second (given that I was going 100 km/h).  Fortunately it stayed on the shoulder.


Never saw a wolf on this stretch of highway, despite nearly 25 years of driving it.

[Charline]

It's fairly easy to spot beavers. I saw them in High Park, CSSP and Tommy Thompson Park.

[Bird Brain]

It's fairly easy to spot beavers. I saw them in High Park, CSSP and Tommy Thompson Park.

Yes.    I've seen them in parks in Toronto, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Rockwood, Hamilton and even got to hold one at Science North in Sudbury!  That was a really thrilling experience!

[Bird Brain]

We had a Wolf and a Black Bear cross the road in front of us on Hwy 11 North of North Bay during the early morning.


We were pushing the limits of night safety on the way home  North of NB on Hwy 11 in Aug 2016 when the wifey said "MOOSE"I saw 2 sets of Red eyes taller than the truck. (SUV) they crossed the road behind us and the vehicles  that were behind us vanished.


I will not drive at night North of North Bay on 11 or 17 or Parry Sound on 69, it is just to dangerous.
Napper:)

It is precisely Highway 11 heading north from North Bay that I drive on.  I have done it at night over many years.  There was one close call where I was blinded by oncoming headlights and saw a moose sauntering towards me on the shoulder at the last second (given that I was going 100 km/h).  Fortunately it stayed on the shoulder.

Dr. John - that's a really scary and dangerous situation.  Thank Goodness the moose stayed on the shoulder!

Many years ago driving through New York State on way to Brooklyn for cousin's wedding, dozens of dead deer everywhere!   

[Bird Brain]

Monty Python

I first watched Monty Python when I was 9 years old.  My favourite was Eric Idle. Didn't realize how brilliant John Cleese is until watching Fawlty Towers especially episode The Germans - moose head from Canada! A friend of mine was on a flight with Michael Palin - apparently he is very friendly, talkative and was joking around making all the passengers laugh!  My favourite Monty Python skit Upper Class Twit of the Year!   

taking a dump.

  Do black bears 💩 in the woods?  Ha Ha!

Golden, B.C.

I was on a Greyhound bus which stopped at Dairy Queen in Golden, B,C.  I was really happy the Oreo Blizzard was only $2. Back in Etobicoke it was $3.

[Shortsighted]

Agreed then, moose are hard to find except in Newfoundland where they congregate in numbers large enough to require traffic control measures. Beavers are near ubiquitous near water nearly all the time. If an moose and a beaver walk into a bar you can immediately tell them apart. The moose is splayed-out on the floor and the beaver has a bar stool leg in its mouth, no problem.

Let's say your in one of our golden parks where the glow of the late-day sky is reflected in the pond and you see a rodent unzipping the still water's surface. Is it a beaver, or is it a muskrat? How do you distinguish a beaver from a muskrat while they are swimming? Bear with me, I hate to see this thread end. No, there is not a bear with me right now, I'm completely without escort at the moment. A recalcitrant bear in the middle of a highway was quite enough for me, for life.

[Bird Brain]

moose are hard to find except in Newfoundland where they congregate in numbers large enough to require traffic control measures.

Sort of like Square One Shopping Mall at Christmas time with police directing traffic from the streets and by the parking lots.

Speaking of which, guess where the first case of parking lot rage ever happened in Canada?  Yep, right here at this crazy mall in downtown "Misery"sauga! 

Does this happen in Pickering and other cities?  Does this happen at West Edmonton Mall?

you see a rodent unzipping the still water's surface. Is it a beaver, or is it a muskrat? How do you distinguish a beaver from a muskrat while they are swimming?

Look for the tail!  Sometimes can't really tell for sure until the critter exits the water.

A recalcitrant bear in the middle of a highway was quite enough for me, for life.

You certainly had an up close and personal experience with that black bear!

I'm happy that I created this thread.  Lots of responses and trips down memory lane!   

[Shortsighted]

The way I see it, after a certain age memory lane extends backwards in and out of the sun, around and under the trees, occasionally flirts with littoral boundaries ... in other words, there was a lot going on there. When you continue walking along memory lane you can see the end just ahead littered with garbage cans and medical refuse. The clouds are low and dark as if a storm was brewing and you are thinking I'm not sure I should any farther down this lane but your feet just keep going as if propelled by some unseen force. Sort of like if you were driving a modern car with online connectivity that suddenly gets hacked and hijacked and you are no longer in control of the wheel, the brakes, the accelerator, the radio (what, a radio, how did that get here). The door are locked too! OMG, I can't remember what I was texting about. Couldn't have been important.

You are quite right Joanne, a beaver's tail is unique and a muskrats tail is ... well, it rat-like.  The thing is, if they are swimming can you really see the tail. It's been my experience that beyond the shear size difference ( beaver weighs ten times as much as a muskrat) there are a few other differences that might be visible when these rodents are seen swimming.


The beaver swims with nothing much below its head visible above water level. The nuchal area (back of the head) and cervical part of the back is generally all you will see, the rest of the beaver and its tail are submerged. A much lighter-weight muskrat swims with a substantial amount of its back visible above the water. Even that rat-like tail may appear all snake-like from side to side. Also, if a muskrat is swimming in a pond and it sees you standing on the bank with your hands on your hips like aunt Clara, or uncle Fester it will steer away from you and rethink its route of navigation. A beaver, on the other hand, will not alter its course. It will quite likely ignore you and perhaps give you a submerged finger.


Swimming muskrat with back and tail visible


Swimming muskrat with rump visible


Muskrat with good portion of back visible


Beaver with head and neck above water


Muskrat with notable white snout


Beaver with bullish head and no real off-white snout

[Bird Brain]

after a certain age memory lane extends backwards ... in other words, there was a lot going on

At the moment, I'm Older Than Dirt (aka 50-something). Cripes! 

The radio (what, a radio, how did that get here).

How about an 8-track?  Ha Ha  Now that's going way back! I can still remember the sound it made when the songs would change.

a beaver's tail is unique and a muskrats tail is ... well, it rat-like.
Even that rat-like tail may appear all snake-like from side to side.

I saw this at Rattray Marsh here in Mississauga way back in the mid-90's.  Standing on the wooden boardwalk looking down at the creek - water was fairly low and clear, along comes a Muskrat with that exact same tail behavior you described!

A beaver, on the other hand, will not alter its course. It will quite likely ignore you and perhaps give you a submerged finger.

Yes - and give you the "side eye"!  Saw this at the Rockwood Conservation Area in the late 90's, critter climbed out of the Eramosa River, was a Beaver and I got "the look"!

Great photos, the critters are very cute!    Interesting and educational write-ups below each photo as well.  Thank You!


Swimming muskrat with back and tail visible


Swimming muskrat with rump visible


Muskrat with good portion of back visible


Beaver with head and neck above water


Muskrat with notable white snout


Beaver with bullish head and no real off-white snout

[Napper]

Every seen an Otter?  No, not the airplane!  A real river Otter.
Mid 2000's we were at the Outlaws lake house at Niobe lake and had two Otters run across the water's edge late July.
This place is very close to the French Lake entry to Quetico by road but also had water access thru the lakes and and creeks.
We did a lot of fishing in the area.
Napper
No they were not Mink....

[Shortsighted]

Maybe it was two mink in an otter suit. Maybe it was a device, an RC otter made by the guys that designed and built one of the sharks used in the late sequel Jaws films that was never released. I think they were brothers. One was Samuel, who was the animatronics salesman. The otter brother was the designer.

Yes, I've seen two otters here in the city, although that was way back in 2013. I had just been gifted my DSLR and therefore only had the 18mm-135mm kit lens. I wasn't yet that familiar with the camera but felt compelled to visit a local backwater. No, not that one, the otter one. I scrolled through the menu and discovered a red button labelled 'otter' so I pushed it even though it had a warning on it. Within minutes there was a swell travelling quickly across the water that left a trailing wake. The music turned ominous. The bow wave of the rapidly moving swell meandered around the pond heading straight toward me. The violins were really strident now! I checked the menu in haste just to make sure I didn't push the alligator button by mistake. No, I didn't, that button was blue. Almost immediately a head emerged and broke the surface swell just as I broke wind. Nerves, I guess. It had a slick head, well-rounded with tiny ears and whiskers. It looked a little like my neighbour but she wears glasses. Then a second swell appeared and broke the surface ... a second head, like the first but in second place ... you know, silver metal. They were meters apart so I knew the heads were not connected. It was like a dream ... two otters ... one Canon ... me ... shortsighted at 135mm ... I felt reborn. You know the rest. 

[Dr. John]

We saw an otter in the Don River a couple of years ago, a little north of the pedestrian bridge to Riverdale Park.  It was on a rock and then we followed it swimming for a while.  My friends have video of one at the Brickworks.


Near Parry Sound, we were out canoeing and one kept bobbing around us, curious about what we were doing.  I once saw two in a small waterway just off Hwy 11 near Temagami.  My best experience was on the French River.  The mosquitoes were brutal where our tent was and I escaped to a windswept rock for much of the night.  There I watched two otters play on a slide on the opposite bank for what seemed like hours.