Protective Beaver

I will try to keep this short. A short while ago I was photographing ducks from the edge of a pond at Elk Island National Park when I spotted what I originally thought was a muskrat swimming towards me. It kept getting closer and closer. When it was only a few feet away in the water I realized that it was huge and then figured out it was a beaver. I took a few steps back and it actually climbed out of the water. It was making hissing noises and grunting.

 

I definitely backed up farther and it continued to waddle towards me. That is when my heart started racing and I quickly returned up the ditch to behind my car. It then turned and watched me for a moment still grunting and hissing and finally went back into the water.

 

I had no idea as to why it did what it did and have since done some googling.

 

Although the beaver is not aggressive by nature they have been known to become aggressive or attack wildlife and humans when they have rabies or more likely in this case when their young have been born. So this is likely a male being aggressive in protecting it's young. The nearest beaver lodge was likely more than 100 feet away, but I suppose he saw me as a threat.

 

I definitetly learned that while they appear cute, that they are wild animals and like any parent at this time of year will do whatever they have to protect their young. This was the last image I took before retreating quickly to behind my car. I was more concerned with it's hissing and grunting than my composition. No cropping on this one...full view looks best of course.

 

So in short, at this time of year be especially cautious with wildlife, even if they are not normally aggressive.

Done