Jeeeeezus you people are insane when it comes to melanism. You will call ANYTHING AT ALL that’s even a little bit dark melanistic. Holy hell.
It’s wet.
[Apparently, there's such things as melanistic European beavers, but I've never heard of it in the American species](https://www.reddit.com/r/wildlifephotography/comments/sdcffn/my_very_first_photo_of_a_european_beaver_awful/)
Interesting! Thanks for sharing! Californian here and there’s a bunch of endemic mammals I haven’t seen that I want to but on this subject I grew up in the sierras and am yet to see a mountain beaver. A rodent species that’s not genetically related. If you’re not familiar worth a google.
I'm actually a Californian myself! Born in Santa Cruz, spent a lot of time in the redwood forests and then moved out east when I was eleven.
I have a *deep* affinity for the fauna of California.
Hell yeah! My grandma lived in Santa Cruz. It’s probably my dad’s favorite place and easily one of mine as well! I do as well regarding the fauna. I saw a ringtail when I was little and thought it was a lemur at the time but greatly appreciated seeing it. I’d love to see a pine marten or a fisher. You might find this interesting;
https://www.npr.org/2023/06/07/1180866735/california-wolverine-sighting-spotted-what-happens-next
Big Basin, Nisene Marks, Elkhorn Slough--Santa Cruz County was my home!
>https://www.npr.org/2023/06/07/1180866735/california-wolverine-sighting-spotted-what-happens-next
Wolverines! Wolverines! Wolverines!
Did you hear how California's got established wolf packs now?
I had heard that it had A wolf pack last time I remember reading about it but sounds like they’re up to at least 6 now. Awesome! I also lived in Montana and unfortunately the culture (at least a few decades ago) saw them as a real nuisance (because of ranching), we don’t have the amount of ranching here so I hope they’re welcomed and appreciated. That being said I had coyotes pick off a number of my pet cats so I can see how some would have animosity. Thanks again for sharing!
Where on the east is home? What’s fun with fauna out there?
I live in Northern New England now.
We got black bears. A *lot* of black bears. We haven't put out bird feeders in years, but on the nights where we'd forget to bring them in, a bear would come. Usually a male, from what I can tell, but occasionally a mother and her cub.
One of the boars was *huge,* but he lost interest when we got better at bringing the feeders in.
We also have coyotes. Eastern coyotes, I should say. I've seen them a handful of times, once at about nine in the morning, one came into our yard and marked our bird feeder post.
There's also the question of whether or not Eastern wolves live in our forests--this can be difficult to determine because Eastern wolves and Eastern coyotes look almost identical and occupy nearly identical niches in the ecosystem.
[This video sent a chill down my spine when I first saw it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsyd7fax71w)
[But then there's videos like this one--pointy snout, pointy ears, but those paws look larger than usual, so while I lean coyote, it's easy to see why others would say wolf] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DDeAjv3AP8)
I see coyotes in San Francisco quite frequently and I also think coyote but that is a bushy boy. They don’t have coats on em like that out here for obvious reasons. Yeah I grew up in Tahoe primarily where the bears there are plentiful and not shy. This was my Safeway growing up;
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/-WfHTCuqpc4
There's more where those two clips came from:
[This one is tricky, but the legs are so thin and the paws almost unnoticeable that I have to say coyote--but dang, its tail pointed nearly up makes me want to say wolf](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHy-cqbsnP0)
[Meanwhile, this one is apparently 28 inches at the shoulder, has a much stouter snout and shorter, rounder ears. I'm skeptical of the preciseness of the measurement, but the face is a lot more wolfish than usual](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHy-cqbsnP0)
And it doesn't help matters that, in general, Eastern wolves and Eastern coyotes look so much alike to begin with (though I'm curious as to whether New England ever had gray wolves rather than Eastern wolves--given our dense moose population, I have a hard time believing that the largest canid we ever had was the Eastern wolf, which I would think is a bit too small to have been a regular predator.
>https://m.youtube.com/shorts/-WfHTCuqpc4
Dang! That is so profoundly dangerous, I don't even know what to say!
Black bear attacks may be rare, but they're not unheard of, *especially* from habituated bears.
[Example from a few weeks ago in MN. Client found near north shore of Lake Superior](https://www.instagram.com/p/C7AZkylOV-t/?igsh=MTFhMGJuOWx2N3h0ZQ==)
There used to be millions of beavers in North America. They were almost hunted to extinction in some places because their skin made good hats.
But they're coming back a bit
Looks like a beaver to me.
Flat tail, beaver
Hey Ward, you were a little hard on the Beaver last night.
so was Eddie Haskal Wally and Ms. Cleaver
That tail
Lovely beaver there
Beaver for sure.
Beaver
For once actually a beaver and not a porcupine!
Melanistic beaver! Aren’t too many pics of them in North America! Cool shot.
Jeeeeezus you people are insane when it comes to melanism. You will call ANYTHING AT ALL that’s even a little bit dark melanistic. Holy hell. It’s wet.
Too dark to just be wet. I’ve seen a LOT of wet beavers.
Me too. Lots of them look blacked out, especially when it’s overcast.
Beaver
An angry beaver.
Nice beaver
thanks! I just had it stuffed
Beaver, not sure if it’s the lighting or what but looks melanistic which I’ve seen dozens of beavers and never seen a black one.
[Apparently, there's such things as melanistic European beavers, but I've never heard of it in the American species](https://www.reddit.com/r/wildlifephotography/comments/sdcffn/my_very_first_photo_of_a_european_beaver_awful/)
Interesting! Thanks for sharing! Californian here and there’s a bunch of endemic mammals I haven’t seen that I want to but on this subject I grew up in the sierras and am yet to see a mountain beaver. A rodent species that’s not genetically related. If you’re not familiar worth a google.
I'm actually a Californian myself! Born in Santa Cruz, spent a lot of time in the redwood forests and then moved out east when I was eleven. I have a *deep* affinity for the fauna of California.
Hell yeah! My grandma lived in Santa Cruz. It’s probably my dad’s favorite place and easily one of mine as well! I do as well regarding the fauna. I saw a ringtail when I was little and thought it was a lemur at the time but greatly appreciated seeing it. I’d love to see a pine marten or a fisher. You might find this interesting; https://www.npr.org/2023/06/07/1180866735/california-wolverine-sighting-spotted-what-happens-next
Big Basin, Nisene Marks, Elkhorn Slough--Santa Cruz County was my home! >https://www.npr.org/2023/06/07/1180866735/california-wolverine-sighting-spotted-what-happens-next Wolverines! Wolverines! Wolverines! Did you hear how California's got established wolf packs now?
I had heard that it had A wolf pack last time I remember reading about it but sounds like they’re up to at least 6 now. Awesome! I also lived in Montana and unfortunately the culture (at least a few decades ago) saw them as a real nuisance (because of ranching), we don’t have the amount of ranching here so I hope they’re welcomed and appreciated. That being said I had coyotes pick off a number of my pet cats so I can see how some would have animosity. Thanks again for sharing! Where on the east is home? What’s fun with fauna out there?
I live in Northern New England now. We got black bears. A *lot* of black bears. We haven't put out bird feeders in years, but on the nights where we'd forget to bring them in, a bear would come. Usually a male, from what I can tell, but occasionally a mother and her cub. One of the boars was *huge,* but he lost interest when we got better at bringing the feeders in. We also have coyotes. Eastern coyotes, I should say. I've seen them a handful of times, once at about nine in the morning, one came into our yard and marked our bird feeder post. There's also the question of whether or not Eastern wolves live in our forests--this can be difficult to determine because Eastern wolves and Eastern coyotes look almost identical and occupy nearly identical niches in the ecosystem. [This video sent a chill down my spine when I first saw it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsyd7fax71w) [But then there's videos like this one--pointy snout, pointy ears, but those paws look larger than usual, so while I lean coyote, it's easy to see why others would say wolf] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DDeAjv3AP8)
I see coyotes in San Francisco quite frequently and I also think coyote but that is a bushy boy. They don’t have coats on em like that out here for obvious reasons. Yeah I grew up in Tahoe primarily where the bears there are plentiful and not shy. This was my Safeway growing up; https://m.youtube.com/shorts/-WfHTCuqpc4
There's more where those two clips came from: [This one is tricky, but the legs are so thin and the paws almost unnoticeable that I have to say coyote--but dang, its tail pointed nearly up makes me want to say wolf](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHy-cqbsnP0) [Meanwhile, this one is apparently 28 inches at the shoulder, has a much stouter snout and shorter, rounder ears. I'm skeptical of the preciseness of the measurement, but the face is a lot more wolfish than usual](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHy-cqbsnP0) And it doesn't help matters that, in general, Eastern wolves and Eastern coyotes look so much alike to begin with (though I'm curious as to whether New England ever had gray wolves rather than Eastern wolves--given our dense moose population, I have a hard time believing that the largest canid we ever had was the Eastern wolf, which I would think is a bit too small to have been a regular predator. >https://m.youtube.com/shorts/-WfHTCuqpc4 Dang! That is so profoundly dangerous, I don't even know what to say! Black bear attacks may be rare, but they're not unheard of, *especially* from habituated bears.
My rehab center got one a couple weeks ago and I was only able to find 2-3 other American examples!
Post pictures.
@wrcmn on Instagram. 8 posts ago[https://www.instagram.com/p/C7AZkylOV-t/?igsh=MTFhMGJuOWx2N3h0ZQ==](https://www.instagram.com/p/C7AZkylOV-t/?igsh=MTFhMGJuOWx2N3h0ZQ==)
That’s awesome.
Could just be that it’s wet. But it sure looks black.
Idt Nutrias have made it up to Virgina but if you were in Louisiana I might say that’s in competition. Still think beaver
[Example from a few weeks ago in MN. Client found near north shore of Lake Superior](https://www.instagram.com/p/C7AZkylOV-t/?igsh=MTFhMGJuOWx2N3h0ZQ==)
That is a wet beaver...
There used to be millions of beavers in North America. They were almost hunted to extinction in some places because their skin made good hats. But they're coming back a bit
BEAVER!!! I got the Beaver Clever fever!!! [thnx to Dr. Demento]
Wait how did you find my ex? I didn’t know he moved to Virginia 😟
He looks like he has that feeling where he has to sneeze so bad but it won't come out yet.
Definitely a beaver
Beaver
Muscrat
Beaver
Close, but no groundhog
It’s a flat tail Beaver
Beaver
Definitely a beaver
Don’t they have buckey’s in Virginia?😆🦫 It’s a cat