Friday August 25, 2023
RWC Pulse —
A young beaver was spotted in the Palo Alto Baylands this week, marking perhaps the beginning of the return of the aquatic herbivores after more than 160 years. Researchers, who have long sought its comeback, are thrilled.
The chubby critter scampered across a remote, open area near Matadero Creek and was photographed on the trail camera of baylands fox researcher Bill Leikam on Aug. 23. Leikam, aka The Fox Guy, is president and co-founder of the Urban Wildlife Research Project, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the study and habitat expansion of the baylands gray fox.
Having been hunted and trapped to extinction in the Bay Area, the beaver is an even rarer sight in the baylands than the little gray foxes.