Mountain Beaver

Our domesticated canine friend, Scout, left a special gift at the front door yesterday. At first I was exuberantly congratulating him for his loyal service toward eradicating the pesty mole population which continues to destroy our 'yard'. However, upon closer investigation I could tell that this critter was clearly not a mole. Moles are extremely ugly and grotesque, but this fella was kinda cute. I wondered if this rodent was perhaps a baby mountain beaver. As all good people do when confronted with a question these days, I ran inside to google it.

Sure enough, Scout had ferreted out a little mountain beaver ( Aplodontia rufa) kit. They are little-known mammals unique to the Pacific Northwest. They are not related to the beaver family. It's a rodent which occupies a unique taxonomic niche, being the only family member of its kind. It lives underground in burrows and is rarely seen above ground. Most people don't even know they exist.

Somewhere in the past, I remember a neighbor telling me that mountain beavers were ferocious animals that would bite your leg off if you accidentally stepped into one of their doorways. I have not been able to find any such description of this on the Internet, so cannot give validation to this rumor. Little information is available on this species, though, as they live only in a limited area on the earth (Pacific Northwest). They do live on our property, this I know. We spotted one climbing on a vine maple tree outside our window not too long after building out here. I am truly sorry that Scout managed to find one, kill it and bring it to us in triumph, as they are close to being protected on the 'going extinct' list. How I wish it had been a mole instead. They will never be in danger of extinction, and what destructive pests they are!