Aasta loom 2019

Circus artist  Viktor Siltšenko says that a beaver can be persuaded only with hugs! See the TV interview made in 2018 on Youtube where the beaver is in an interview live from the studio with artist Viktor Siltšenko.

Posted by the Team of the Animal of the Year
Estonian text published 30.12.2019 

Two weeks ago  we wrote about the young orphan beaver who was raised by people in a distant Russian village ln Ural in 2011 and we wondered  what had become of  it later and whether any of the readers had any new information about the beaver. In response to the appeal Tatjana wrote to Looduskalender. She had found an article from 2014 on the website of the Live journal in 2014 where journalist Jelena Pomortseva wrote:

In the video from Russia we see a young beavert, few months old, that people rescued from death and that now lives in the care of a woman. It is interesting to listen to the sound of the young beaver – very similar to a human baby. And it is interesting to note how similar the movements of the beaver are to those of human babies .

Posted by the Animal of the Year Team.
Estonian text 14.12.2019

Posted by the Animal of the Year Team.
Estonian text 24.11.2019

These days when man has changed water networks beyond recognition the activities of beavers can well be seen as restorative. We don’t have to pay  big money to restore a wetland –the beaver does all the work, for free.  .

Estonian text posted by Animal of the Year Team 03.11.2019

The beaver can survive in our climate only if it collects winter supplies. The food supply of beavers are branches – mostly willow branches which are fastened in the bottom of the water body in front of burrows or nest mounds.

Estonian text posted by the Animal of the Year Team 01.09.2019

Video: Tarmo Mikussaar

The habitat of the Animal of the Year offers many useful aspects to other species: for some a bridge across waters, for others food, a landmark. a place for hunting.

Posted by the Animal of the Year Team
 

During the drought in July the beaver acted like a true master builder and prepared for even worse to come. The mid-summer dry spells drained smaller creeks and ponds. The earlier flow of water ended and the water level in the beaver habitat started to drop. It was the last minute to check the dams and to seal them.

In the video we see the beaver adjusting the dam and adding more willow branches for more  security.

The water shrew is a enigmatic and shy animal that most people never have even heard about. This small mammal is however definitely present in our nature and moreover quite common!

 I clearly remember my first encounter with a water shrew – it took place behind a beaver dam where I was stalking a kingfisher. The beaver had dammed the water in a small stream. Lying there for hours I noticed that a very small, agile creature was busy in the water. The top of its head touched the water surface only for a moment when it dived again. Who was it? Finally I managed to see the little animal – looking like a shrew but liked to move in water. Getting home with this information I started to search in books and I did find it in the Soricidae family – it was a water shrew!

Estonian text posted by Animal of the Year Team 23.06.2019

The young beaver had a 13-minute lead  on the bear

Estonian text posted by the Animal of the Year Team 18.05.2019 
English translation Liis

The family life of the largest rodent of Europe is largely similar to that of humans.
Photo: Tarmo Mikussaar
Estonian text posted by the Animal of the Year Team 05.05.2019
English translation Liis

The whole beaver family lives in a defined territory. Beavers honour private property.

The centre of the activity of the beaver family is the home – a lodge pile or in case of a high shoreline, nest burrows. The borders of the territory are marked with secretion. All family members leave their message on the tussocks with secretion. They are like border posts. An alien co-specific will find all information about the family group on studying this bulletin board  and understands that the individual who approaches closer will be in danger.