For the Birds: Beavers helping geese

Photo by Chris Bosak A Canada goose sits on a nest atop a beaver den as another goose remains alert to potential danger in New England this spring.

I received an interesting email the other day from Tricia from Alstead. She relayed that she and a few other people — and a couple of dogs — were taking a walk when they noticed a strange lump on the top of a beaver den.

It turned out that the lump was a Canada goose, presumably sitting on eggs, as the bird remained hunkered down, despite the proximity of the humans and dogs. Tricia hypothesized that the goose nest was built over a vent hole in the den, which kept the eggs warm.

I couldn’t confirm nor deny that hypothesis but it does make sense.

The email did spur me to research the relationship between Canada geese and beavers. It turns out that they have a very beneficial Continue reading