Beaver Behavior

Explored in Walk

Great Mountain Forest will host a program Saturday at 10AM by Master Wildlife Conservationist Ginny Apple who will lead a walk around Tamarack Pond to discuss and showcase the amazing work of beavers.

The group will meet at the GMF station at 201 Windrow Road and walk the .9-mile pedestrian trail. The terrain is easily traversed.

Cost of event is $15.

Apple will discuss the beaver as a keystone species, beaver biology, behavior and history. Included in the talk will be discussion of the unique role beavers have in shaping North American landscapes. Apple will explain how beaver ponds and wetlands can help fight environmental problems from water pollution to erosion and climate change.

This event will have a virtual option to join the talk. An email will follow registration with the Zoom link.

Once near extinction, the beaver, the world's second largest rodent, is now thriving in Connecticut, creating new habitats with their dams in a surprising comeback story. A 2001 state report estimated that there were around 8,000 individual beavers in Connecticut but it’s unknown how many more there are now as they’re not actively tracked by the state. A University of Connecticut project is seeking to map where beavers are returning, to better understand their growth and recovery.