Are there Beavers in the Blue Hills?
By Lawrence Meyer
To my knowledge, no beaver has been seen in the Great Blue Hills Reservation, Milton or near Boston in centuries. Still beaver are making a come-back on rivers around, the Charles, the Ipswich, Sudbury-Assabet and Concord rivers. I was paddling on the Charles in Dover on April 23, had one beaver encounter and saw a new big beaver lodge near Rocky Narrows.
So there’s reason to believe beaver might get back to the Reservation sometime soon.
Where I did see one in the Reservation was about the last place I expected.
On Monday April 22 I was driving to Braintree from Milton via Chickatawbut Parkway about 6:30 pm through a driving rain. Coming down the last hill as you approach the intersection with Willard St., a large mammal started crossing the road ahead of me. I slowed and stopped as it turned and walked up the road toward me. It was a beaver for sure, looking very wet and not used to crossing roads. I flashed my lights and honked and he turned right off into the woods on the roadside.
How it got there I have no idea. There are no navigable streams or rivers for miles around. The Neponset, the nearest river way into the Great Blue Hills, is about six airline miles away from where I saw my first beaver in the Greta Blue Hills.
Saw a beaver today and the same one 2 days ago in Blue Hills. I thought he might be passing through but today he was definitely fortifying his position which is very exciting. I took some video. Unless large Norway rats gnaw on wood, I saw a small beaver. I’m hesitant to say where since he looked small and vulnerable.
So awesome! We’d love to see the video!
I spoke too soon. I sent the video to a wildlife biologist friend and he confirmed I saw a common wetlands muskrat. Oh well, I’ll keep looking. Sorry about the false alarm.
Chris, Oh well! You certainly could have seen a beaver! Thanks for letting us know!