18 Feb 19 As most if not all of you are aware, the PNW is known for a small habitation of a very elusive animal frequently referred to as Big Foot but whose actual name is Sasquatch. Now there are those who claim that these creatures, like the Yeti in the Himalayas, do not exist but there have been many images and even a few videos that have recorded these creatures, albeit most of them not totally sharp. But then, in the excitement of actually being one of the few who are sufficiently privileged to see one I can understand how one might be subject to some camera movement. What most folks are not aware of is that there is another very elusive creature that inhabits the northern forests of the PNW, namely the VERY elusive Mountain Forest beaver. Few, if any, of these creatures have ever been seen, and in fact, it wasn't until just recently when a local forest was clear cut that I realized that there were some living near us. I had no idea that they even existed until I showed a photo I had taken to a forester who explained to me what I had captured. It was explained to me that the lodges are so well constructed that they fully blend in with the forest and are not even obvious to the foresters until they become apparent during the clear cutting. While I wasn't fortunate enough to actually capture one of the beavers, what I did record was a shot of some of their lodges. There are actually three in the photo, one up close at the left side of the photo and two more further back on the right. What was really amazing was the size of the lodges, some reaching more than eight feet in height so I can only image the size of the animal. Looking through an old Time-Life book - The World We Live In - that I bought back in 1955 while in grade school, in fact, one I had to save up for for almost 8 months to afford, I found an example of what one of these creature must resemble. It was thought to be extinct millions of years ago, just like the coelacanth, but, as we are now having many of these large fishes being caught I'm hopeful that one of these days we may be able to record one of these large beavers. For now I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with what I've recorded. In the background is a section of the Olympic mountain range.
I had to do some light balancing with the original as the bottom portion was way to dark, otherwise this is what the camera recorded. Lacking a Beaver Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture priority; ISO 200; !/1000 sec @ f / 9.