Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve to host ‘amazing’ program

Architect. Engineer. Rodent. There aren’t many times when you can mention all three of those things in the same sentence but, this weekend will be one of them.

That’s when The Amazing Beaver program at the Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve will take place.

Forest Ecology Preserve Administrator Jennifer Lolley will be the presenter at the program that will focus on the life cycle of the beaver and its role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem throughout the state’s wetlands.

According to Lolley, the beaver can be found in areas all across Alabama.

“There are approximately 10 million beavers in the U.S., down from the 200 million that were in the country in the 1600s,” said Lolley. From the 1600s through the 1800s beavers were hunted in great numbers for their meat and water repellent pelts that were prized in the manufacture of hats and castoreum (a material secreted by their glands) used to make perfumes.

Beavers, which are mammals, can weigh as much as 60 pounds and grow as tall as 50 inches. The rodents are excellent swimmers and typically build their dams at a narrow point in a stream with their home lodge in the middle of a stream, according to Lolley. 

“A beaver’s diet consists of twigs, bark and grasses which they use four large, continuously growing incisor teeth to chew,” said Lolley. “Beavers can actually die if they don’t keep these teeth worn down by gnawing on wood.”

And while some might think of Castor canadensis, better know as the beaver, as a nuisance, Lolley says they play an important role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem.

“Beavers create wetland habitats for many plant and animal species,” Lolley said. “Wetlands are like filters for our groundwater, so the dams beavers build slow down the flow of water, helping to purify streams and reduce sediment flow.”
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If You Go:
What: The Amazing Beaver!

When: Saturday, July 11 at 9 a.m.

Where: Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve, (located on Highway 147 North on North College Street)

Cost: Admission free for members, all others $3. For information, contact 334-707-6512.