Spring Is Here, Let The Fun Begin.

[kkirchmer]

With a few short outings to start spring off right I ran across a story I shared last year and thought it would be a good way to begin this fishing season. Enjoy and have a great year of fishing.

Anyone who has had a run in with a beaver will enjoy this fishing trip we had earlier in the year on Castor River in MO.

In Cal’s defense beavers aren’t the little cute furry critters everyone thinks they are. LOL

To all of you who don’t know Cal, he is my fishing buddy from work and this is our latest trip 5-22-08.

Sorry Cal the story must be told.

“The beaver is the largest rodent in North America, the adult reaching 4 1/2 feet (1,371 mm) long and weighing up to 90 pounds (40.8 kg). Its common name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word beofor.”

The sky is overcast and the water is crystal clear, my testicle’s will attest to the fact that the water still isn’t warm enough for the intelligent fisherman to wade into it with only a pair of shorts but that didn’t stop either of us because we were on “a mission from god”. We work our way up river stopping every twenty five to fifty yards trying to catch that elusive hog that lives in these waters but unfortunately we aren’t having much luck. We hit a long stretch of the river that is straight and wide with deeper water to our right and waist deep water through the only section we can traverse so needless to say the fat kid is moving slow. Calvin has made his way through the long stretch and is about forty yards ahead of me when all of a sudden I hear the phrase that starts it all, “Look Kurt a little otter”.

As I look to where he is pointing I see a small head poking out of the water and it seems to me the critter is trying to swim away from the Crocodile Hunter who is now in full pursuit. As my partner in crime gets closer to the little, furry, and seemingly harmless creature it raises it’s body in the water and brings it’s tail down with as much force as possible sending a spray of water into the air and making a loud splash obviously warning the chasing party to back away. Now Calving realizes that the small otter he thought he was chasing is a cute little beaver and he happily announces that he is going to get a picture of it completely unaware that beavers hate the paparazzi. I warn him that the rodent is splashing his tail in protest and I have had bad experiences with furious beavers but that doesn’t phase Calvin who inches closer to the little furry commando who is about to unleash an attack our special forces would be proud of.

Completely unaware of his surroundings a second baby beaver has circled around Calvin who is now retreating from the first baby because it is chasing him like a pit bull trained to attack. The second beaver that has now cut off the escape route starts making its way to help the sibling in distress and Calvin looks panicked. He draws his fishing rod like Zorro drawing his sword and proceeds to fence his way to safety. About this time I’m in tears and then I notice something, a monster “Jaws” like shadow making its way towards Calvin who has his back turned watching the two approaching ninjas of the river. I now realize that the babies were not only trying to scare the giant attempting to swat them with his rod and reel but that they were calling in the big guns. Hell hath no fury like a pissed off momma beaver. I worn Calving as I’m laughing hysterically to turn and look behind him, before he can turn the shadow hits the hyper drive and buzzes the tower only missing Cal’s leg by a few inches. Now the fun begins, if you have never tried to run in waste deep water I’m here to tell you it is darn near impossible.

Calvin lets out a squeal that would make a ten year old girl proud and does his best Carl Lewis impression as he heads for the shallow waters. He only has one path of escape because he has two baby beavers approaching on one side, seven feet of freezing water on the other and a seventy pound stealth bomber circling around to make another pass. With moves that would impress every synchronized swimming fan in the world he ran, paddled, and jumped his way to safety.

The momma beaver patrolled the area for a few minutes until her children were safe and swimming in deeper water and I have now stopped fishing to wipe the tears from my eyes. Meanwhile Calvin settled down from his near death experience and is waiting for me to catch up. We fish the rest of the day catching a few good ones and watching the waters for the dangerous rodents of the deep without any further attacks. Overall it was a good day of fishing and one that I won’t forget anytime soon.

We should all take something from this little fishing trip and I have learned this. Never underestimate the power of rodents in numbers, and leave the wildlife photography to the professionals.

Have a good weekend all,

Kurt Kirchmer

[Danoinark]

Now that is funny. Thanks for sharing.

Dano

[laker67]

I certainly hope that Leonard reads this. Escape is possible Leonard.

[skeeter]

That's a great story and thanks for telling it in a way that was hilarious.

In reality, your friend Cal was very fortunate Momma Beaver missed him. Our local neighbor's large and very fiesty ( with wildlife ) mutt got into it with a "Senior" Beaver last week.....if you think Coons are rough on dogs you wouldn't believe what that Beaver did to this dog. Rushing him to the Vet is the only thing that saved the pooch dying from his wounds and blood loss. That dog was at death's door and all torn up. Those large orange rodent/chisel teeth the Beaver possesses are apparently very sharp and not just used to chew wood.

We know it was a Beaver since the dog's screams alerted his owner who came running in time to see the Beaver re-enter the lake. The Vet said the only postitive thing is that Beavers rarely, if ever, contract rabies, unlike Coons.