Completely unknown in the Little Miami when I was a kid, if you night fish anywhere along the Little Miami and are quiet chances are you might just see a beaver. One of my most memorable encounters happened just a few weeks ago. I was sitting on a rock bar just upstream of the old King's dam catfishing when a beaver hauled himself out on the rocks ten feet from me. In the dark all I could see was the beaver silhouette as he sat grooming himself for at least a minute before moving upstream. Right above me was a pretty fast moving riffle and I was amazed at how effortlessly he moved against the current. The beaver you see in these photos I saw in Turtle Creek which is a small creek that runs into the Little Miami at South Lebanon. He was huge! I'm guessing around fifty pounds! Even if your not on the river at night if you look closely you can find beaver sign all along the river. Although they do not build the classic beaver dam on the Little Miami they den in the bank all along the river. The easiest beaver sign to spot is the chewed up tree stumps or trees partialy cut down. Almost every river bottom has these if you look closely as you explore the Little Miami
There are a bunch of chewed up cottonwoods at the end of the trail at the Avoca trailhead on the bike trail (just North of Mariemont). Had no idea there were beaver in the Little Miami until I noticed those trees. It was kind of shocking that they are living in what amounts to downtown Cincinnati.
ReplyDeleteWe pick up a little trash and carry it out every time we go but I'm starting to like some of the trash that is down there. Some of the heavy metal junk machinery is so old that you wonder how it got there. I find myself staring at an interesting piece of junk almost every time I go. Dunno why.
This summer I was pretty surprised to see two beaver swim under the roebling bridge in downtown Cincinnati
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