1st Beaver spotted in NYC in 200 years 1 hour, 39 minutes ago
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.
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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.
Posted by jordanreed on :
animals migrate north 30 feet per day...cuz of global warming??...
thats what i heard...but i'm not trying to start an arguement...so lay offa me!... Posted by cottonjim on :
HI Jordan, you guys expecting to get any of that storm that is steaming our way? I'm in S.W. MN and they are saying that we could get any where from 8" to 1' by the time the weekends over.
Posted by jordanreed on :
thats what they say...3-4 in sat. and up to a foot sunday...we've been lucky so far this winter,huh?...didnt fire up the blower once!!..only shoveled 4- times!...but...hang on.
doesnt look good out there today..feels like a storm comin, for sure. really windy and cold..
Posted by cottonjim on :
Yeah, we have had it really easy all winter. I had to shovel the deck once and use some ice melt a time or two but other than that, nothing. Sounds like we may pay for it this weekend huh!
Posted by jordanreed on :
its here! and it sucks!! had a foot . now i gotta see if the blower starts up. if i dont return, call the paramedics...ive had a heart attack
Posted by cottonjim on :
We had a foot plus, got the snowmobile out for the first time this year. We should be able to ride it for a few weeks before the thaw. Had to shovel twice, once Sun. morning and once this A.M. after snow fell all night.
Posted by cottonjim on :
Round 2, 15-20 inches today and tommorow, yuk.
Posted by jordanreed on :
this sucks...
Posted by cottonjim on :
Now it's back to just 10-12" that's so much better, LOL.
Posted by ohdagagain on :
quote:Originally posted by cottonjim: Now it's back to just 10-12" that's so much better, LOL.
I am in central Africa and we are going through a cold spell also, just last week it almost dipped down into the 80's. Hasn't rained in about 5 months now, but should be in about 2 months. The weather is hear, wish you were beautiful!
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