Walking across the paved trail over Orchard Creek Walking along Oak Valley Drive I noticed some cattails being shaken. It wasn't the wind because it was just one single clump of cattails amongst the other cattails. I paused and watched for about 7 minutes. Every minute or so the cattails would shake and sometimes the water would ripple. Once there was a swirl in the water in the stream near the cattails and a large board shot to the surface in the stream - no idea what this was from but it must have been being carried by something underwater. At another time the water in the stream seemed to foam and there was a fair amount of ripples. Once I heard a small splash, like a fish, further in the cattails. I never saw anything on the surface. After doing a little research I learn that beaver can hold their breath for up to 15 minutes, so it is highly probable that this was a beaver.

I went back and took a couple of photos and added them to the observation. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/223092452

Posted on June 16, 2024 03:14 PM by joerich