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------=_Part_9788_9679153.1222567088218 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Hello Steve, The more evidence you provide, the more convinced I am that you were visited by a 2-year old transient beaver. A weight of roughly 1.5 kg and a body length of about 30 cm, with short legs, suggests to me that a muskrat would probably not even be able to cut a "stout vertical alder stem sticking out of the lake that had been cut off 13-14 inches above lake level". Note also that diet studies have reported muskrats as eating no more than 2% woody stems (as reported in American Wildlife and Plants by Alexander C. Martin et. al. 1951. Dover Books). All the best, Ron 2008/9/27 Stephen Shaw <srshaw@dal.ca> > OK rodent experts on NatureNS: > On the question of the identification of which rodent hacked up our rose > bush > stems and alder branches about 2 weeks ago: I've just photographed some of > the > cut ends of the branches and uploaded four of these pics to a site I've > used > before for IDs, namely > > www.flickr.com/photos/steve_1968/2892388417/ > > where the last number should get you to the end of the series, while the > other > three relevant photos are next door to this. The lighting was not that > great > but I've touched the pics up a bit. Hopefully, they may be enough for > experts > to tell whether it could have been a beaver, or whether a muskrat is still > in > the running for the animal responsible. I've put a scale on each photo, > and > some measurements. The length of the longest gouge mark (on a recently > found > birch branch) measured in the direction that it was obviously made, was 7.5 > mm. > Others averaged ~6 mm, and yet others were smaller still, ~4 mm. Assuming > that it was the same one animal moving through, this rodent obviously and > unhelpfully used a variable gouge-length, to use Dave's analogy. As it was > obviously capable of at least 7.5 mm in a single gnaw, this would seem to > be > the most definitive identifier. I also discovered another stout vertical > alder > stem sticking out of the lake that had been cut off 13-14 inches above lake > level, and which was stiff enough that it could not have been bent over > easily > to chew on. This seems a bit tall to me, for a muskrat to have done it. > > So, does anyone on the list think that a clear identification can be made > from this evidence? Could Charlie the muskrat have done this, or do the > pictures > suggest the handiwork of a transient beaver? We have had no further damage > here > since, but a neighbour some distance away at the outlet end of the lake > reports > that she found a cut branch on her driveway a couple of days ago. > > Steve, Halifax > > > -- Ronald G. Arsenault Memramcook, N.B. ------=_Part_9788_9679153.1222567088218 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline <div dir="ltr"><div>Hello Steve,</div> <div> </div> <div>The more evidence you provide, the more convinced I am that you were visited by a 2-year old transient beaver. A weight of roughly 1.5 kg and a body length of about 30 cm, with short legs, suggests to me that a muskrat would probably not even be able to cut a "stout vertical alder stem sticking out of the lake that had been cut off 13-14 inches above lake level". Note also that diet studies have reported muskrats as eating no more than 2% woody stems (as reported in American Wildlife and Plants by Alexander C. Martin et. al. 1951. Dover Books). <br> <br>All the best,</div> <div> </div> <div>Ron</div> <div> </div> <div class="gmail_quote">2008/9/27 Stephen Shaw <span dir="ltr"><srshaw@dal.ca></span><br> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">OK rodent experts on NatureNS:<br>On the question of the identification of which rodent hacked up our rose bush<br> stems and alder branches about 2 weeks ago: I've just photographed some of the<br>cut ends of the branches and uploaded four of these pics to a site I've used<br>before for IDs, namely<br><br>www.flickr.com/photos/steve_1968/2892388417/<br> <br>where the last number should get you to the end of the series, while the other<br>three relevant photos are next door to this. The lighting was not that great<br>but I've touched the pics up a bit. Hopefully, they may be enough for experts<br> to tell whether it could have been a beaver, or whether a muskrat is still in<br>the running for the animal responsible. I've put a scale on each photo, and<br>some measurements. The length of the longest gouge mark (on a recently found<br> birch branch) measured in the direction that it was obviously made, was 7.5 mm.<br>Others averaged ~6 mm, and yet others were smaller still, ~4 mm. Assuming<br>that it was the same one animal moving through, this rodent obviously and<br> unhelpfully used a variable gouge-length, to use Dave's analogy. As it was<br>obviously capable of at least 7.5 mm in a single gnaw, this would seem to be<br>the most definitive identifier. I also discovered another stout vertical alder<br> stem sticking out of the lake that had been cut off 13-14 inches above lake<br>level, and which was stiff enough that it could not have been bent over easily<br>to chew on. This seems a bit tall to me, for a muskrat to have done it.<br> <br>So, does anyone on the list think that a clear identification can be made from this evidence? Could Charlie the muskrat have done this, or do the pictures<br>suggest the handiwork of a transient beaver? We have had no further damage here<br> since, but a neighbour some distance away at the outlet end of the lake reports<br>that she found a cut branch on her driveway a couple of days ago.<br><br>Steve, Halifax<br><br><br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"> <br>-- <br>Ronald G. Arsenault<br>Memramcook, N.B.<br></div> ------=_Part_9788_9679153.1222567088218--
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