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Beavers

Bryn Davies/Flickr Creative Commons

Over the weekend, I was lucky to be hiking along a stream in Montgomery County. But the hastening sunset of early autumn took me by surprise and I found myself rushing down the trail toward the park exit. Just as dusk was reaching its end though, I saw something really incredible. 

A beaver about the size of a very overweight beagle waddled away from the trail and toward the stream. I heard the sharp, startling alarm smack of the large rodent’s wide, paddle-shaped tail hit the water. There was a pause as it looked at me, and then it gracefully escaped toward its lodge. I stood, silently watching the deep reddish-brown mammal’s comings and goings, until it was nearly too dark to see.

W. Brooks Paternotte took the helm of Irvine Nature Center as executive director in July 2013 and immediately began building on the strong 35-year foundation. Brooks is a Baltimore native who was a teacher, coach, advisor, dean and Head of the Middle School during his 13 years at Boys’ Latin School in Baltimore. He is also an instructor and ambassador of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and is a Leave No Trace Master, as well as an avid outdoorsman and a features writer for FlyLife Magazine.
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