A few years ago, word on the street was that all the BLMs were moving to Belmont because it was *the* hot new neighborhood. Well, times have changed, and I was really concerned that a tepid real estate market paired with unwise mortgage choices might have caused the BLMs to flee. Luckily, my good friend Heather just spotted a BLM right in the heart of Belmont. And it’s a fat one at that, so it’s obviously doing OK. Thank goodness:
OMG, OMG, I just saw a huge BLM – in my backyard in Belmont! It lives under my neighbor’s dilapidated shed just on the other side of the fence and is a never ending source of aggravation for Miss Izzy, the younger of my two dogs, and, by extension, all of the neighbors within earshot. I just stepped out onto the back porch to let the pups out and there it was in my back yard making a dash for the shrubs along the fence line. God knows how it got into the puppy-proofed yard, but you can be sure I’ll be investigating. Izzy’s down there now madly dashing up and down the fence line trying to follow the scent.
As for a description, all I can offer is fat, round, brown, and fast.
Cheers, Heather
Thanks Heather! Keep dogs and BLMs separated, please.
Bill writes:
From my back porch sometimes I can see as many as 3 BLMs at once, scattered across my neighbors’ yards. The City is to BLMs as Shenandoah National Park is to deer. The City is a place where BLMs can live without fear. No danger from hunters, no danger from off leash dogs. CHO is a BLM center. Charlottesville is the Number One City for Beaver Like Mammals!This silver-back in the yard of #### Woolen Mills RD (a.k.a. Market Street).
Thanks so much Bill! I hope you are right that BLMs are safe in Charlottesville. I am always so concerned when I see them grazing by the side of the road. I do wish we could hire BLM crossing guards. Do you think Charlottesville would consider changing the official city slogan to “CHO is a BLM center” or “Charlottesville is the Number One City for Beaver Like Mammals!”? I think both those phrases have a very nice ring. Also, this is an awesome photo of a very noble-looking BLM:
And the BLM’s closeup:
Last week I wrote a post in which I criticized - ever so gently of course - my fellow book club members for not supporting beaverlikemammals.com by posting their BLM sightings. Well, it seems like my comments worked. I received a submission today from my friend Laura. Thanks Laura:
My name is Laura and I live very close to Sperry Marine in Charlottesville. Often, on my trek home, I drive by Sperry’s huge lawn on 29 and lots of times, I see one or even two of the cute critters doing what appears to be grass munching and scrounging.
I am grateful for your web site because now I know what a beaver looks like and don’t have to ask, “Is that a beaver?!” It is evident that the critter speaking with Abe Lincoln on a sleep aid TV commercial is indeed, a beaver (this commercial cracks me up).
I am a member of an extremely awesome book club. The club has plenty of members who, I happen to know for a fact, see plenty of BLMs. But I have not receieved one single BLM sighting from a club member, hint hint, nudge nudge. Until now, that is. Saskia wins the prize for being the first book club member to really come through for beaverlikemammals.com. Yay Saskia! She reports that her daughter, Jessica, spied a BLM eating Begonias off the picnic table on their deck. What a sassy BLM! This occurred in Charlottesville on August 8th. And check out this awesome photo:
Thanks again Saskia! Next month, one of our discussion questions should be “What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story? And, further more, why have no other book club members submitted any sightings to beaverlikemammals.com?”
Kate writes in with three (3!!) BLM-related photos:
1. The first is just a hole, I know, but I saw the BLM (a groundhog) go into it. I was sitting in a friend’s backyard at a bbq in Charlottesville, Virginia when the sighting happened. I immediately rushed over to where the BLM was spotted and got down on the ground and crawled around under the neighbors back porch hoping to see it again. I didn’t. But here is a picture of its hole.
2. A a statue of a BLM that I saw in Portland, Oregon. Portland is known as “beaver nation” because the Oregon state athletic mascot is…the beaver. I’m not sure if this BLM statue has anything to do with that or not, but it was very pretty and definitely beaver-like.
3. Lastly, here is a wild duck that I saw in a marsh in Charleston, South Carolina. At first glance I think ducks are probably not beaver-like, but they do swim and thrive in similar kinds of habitats and, like beavers, have a waterproof skin covering. Plus, this duck was really nice looking.
And I took this photo of a BLM on the corner where McIntire intersects 250. I was driving at the time, and leaning out the window, and I can’t believe it worked, but you definitely can see the little BLM in the middle of the picture to the right. I often see a BLM at this location, I assume it’s the same one each time, and I am happy to see he/she made it through most of the summer without being run over. It seems like such a dangerous place to live. If I didn’t have to work for a living, and also had the ability to communicate with animals, I would like to have a job being a crossing guard for BLMs. There is so much I could teach them such as How To Cross A Road Safely and How To Live By A Major Road Without Losing Life and Limb. Those would be some of my course titles.
I have to give a major “shout out” to Liz for this submission. She saw a BLM in her neighbor’s yard and ran outside to snap a picture even though all she was wearing was a towel. Why she was hanging around her house in a towel I don’t know, but regardless, she is a dedicated BLM sighter.
Extra points to anyhone who can snap a photo of Liz in her towel photographing a BLM.
PS - I’m not sure where the BLM is in this photo, but I’ve been assured it *is* there.
[UPDATE - evidently, that little brown splotch on the left side of the photo, about half way up, is the BLM]