Posted on 02/23/2007 7:23:50 AM PST by Abathar
NEW YORK - Beavers grace New York City's official seal. But the industrious rodents have not been seen in the flesh here for as many as 200 years until this week.
Biologists videotaped a beaver swimming up the Bronx River on Wednesday. Its twig-and-mud lodge had been spotted earlier on the river bank, but the tape confirmed the presence of the animal itself.
"It had to happen because beaver populations are expanding, and their habitats are shrinking," said Dietland Muller-Schwarze, a beaver expert at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. "We're probably going to see more of them in the future."
Beavers gnawed out a prominent place in the city's early days as a European settlement, attracting fur traders to a nascent Manhattan. The animal appears in the city seal to symbolize a Dutch trading company that factored in the city's colonial beginnings, according to the city's Web site.
But amid heavy trapping, beavers disappeared from the city in the early 1800s, according to the city Parks & Recreation Department.
The beaver that has made its way to the Bronx appears to be a male, several feet (a meter) long and two or three years old, said Patrick Thomas, the mammals curator at the nearby Bronx Zoo.
Biologists have nicknamed the animal "Jose," as a tribute to U.S. Rep. Jose Serrano (news, bio, voting record)'s work to revive the river. The Bronx Democrat lined up federal money for a cleanup.
"But I don't know to what extent I imagined things living in it again," he said.
Wow. Finanly, something out of USC worth commenting on.
The first time I get on FR today and I get pinged to this! And how did you know I had a stuned beeber!!!
All people on that ping list have stuned beebers.
Hey gorgeousness! How ya doing?
Thank goodness!!!! I thought I was the only one.
Howdy, sweetie. Been very, very busy. Taking a five minute breather. How have you been?
Like you - busy busy busy, but hanging in there.
Just counting down the minutes (180) until I get my hands around a cold beer.
Florida looks a little funny without beaver.
Actually, beaver sightings in the western panhandle around Pensacola. Must be after those Aviation Officer Candidates at the Naval Air Station.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1789784/posts?page=23#23
A 93-year-old man was in the doctor's office for a physical.
"You know, Doc, I've never felt younger. I'm in great shape. And my 30-year-old wife is pregnant! What do you think of that??!!"
The doctor said, "I have a patient who loves to hunt. One trip he was in a hurry to get out to the camp. When he got there he discovered he had brought his umbrella instead of his rifle, but he went out the next morning anyway. On the bank of the river he saw a beaver so he picked up his umbrella, pointed it at the beaver, and yelled 'BANG!' The beaver fell over dead. What do you think of that?"
"I'd say somebody else shot the beaver," said the old man.
"My point exactly," was the doctor's reply.
Thank you. This ends my contribution to today's beaver thread.
I don't know about ya'll, but I know for a fact I did!
Do you really want a response from me??? |
On second thought, it could be Feiny. |
No Beaver Hats needed today.
Thank you!
KFCs in da Bronk have bullet proof glass guarding the employees from the locals.
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