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I took an overnight trip up to the St. Joe River in the Idaho Panhandle. The fishing was fair and it was great to get away from the valley heat for a couple days. The first place I fished is an area I have fished a number of times. This time, I had a little friend who hung out with me. He was not very shy. The first time I saw him I did not have my camera; when I returned, I could not find him at first, but he suddenly appeared on the bank and swam over to me. Sadly, I suspect the little guy is an orphan, as I saw no sign of recent beaver activity although the habitat was ideal. The little fellow seemed able to feed himself, so maybe he will survive.

 

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The next day, as I was driving out, I spotted this guy on the opposite side of the river:

 

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Agree with the assessment of the goat. That little beaver is cute. I've never seen pictures of one so close. Pretty cool, I hope he survives.

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Are you sure that isn't a moose? And I've never seen a beaver either but that could be a muskrat???

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No that's a mountain goat for sure, moose are brown, plus the horns are wrong, I know... Moose have antlers... But this sheep has horns.

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FB

I couldn't blow it up enough to see horns. I have seen mtn. goats tho. I thought it might be a baby albino moose. I've always been south of the Mason-Dixon line, so I wouldn't know a moose if it bit me.

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Don't worry I've always been south too, my dad went to Montana though, came back with pics of all the wildlife, and told me how they used marshmallows to trout fish.

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Aha! In another thread we were discussing fishes' ability to taste. I had read that anise (flavor in licorice) was a fish attractant (I used to use it in minnow traps and I know it works). I plan to try using licorice on a hook with a cane pole to see what bites. Marshmallows as trout bait confirms what I was saying.

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I got a good look at the goat, better than the pics I took. Definitely what it was. And the little beaver and I spent quite a bit of time in each other's company. It had the flat tail, and every once in a while it would do a little dive and try to slap its tail on the surface. This didn't work too well because it was in only about six inches of water. I have seen muskrats, and this was definitely a beaver. I felt sorry for the little guy - he seemed pretty lonely. And I don't normally anthropomorphize animals. Another picture that I didn't post shows his tail.

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An that is a beaver for sure I'm more into trapping than fly fishing I'm getting there. Anyways the reason why there is no beaver sign around is cuz that beaver is prolly a 3 year old male beaver an the mom kicks them out around that time an they have to go look for a new place to live an build a beaver hut an find a female. So I'm sure the beaver will live he just got kicked out of mom's house.

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That is definitely a beaver and a goat.

 

Concerned about an ecosystem that has frail looking critters like that! Something ain't right?

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Definetly a goat. You'd look skrany to if you know how hot it was, even on the river. I was up at Fly Flat that week, and the daytime temps were reaching mid to high ninties.

Was the goat around Sisters Ck.? That's where we normally see them.

I've never seen a beaver on the river ( my bad luck), but I have some friends who have a favorite pulloff campsite they call the beaver hole because of the beaver (duh?)

Going up on Mon, for four days to see if there are any fish left.

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Yep I read a big article in the paper about the St. Joe river this summer. The article was mistaken. It said in the newspaper article you could catch your dinner! The next sunday the paper clarified that it was all catch and release!

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An that is a beaver for sure I'm more into trapping than fly fishing I'm getting there. Anyways the reason why there is no beaver sign around is cuz that beaver is prolly a 3 year old male beaver an the mom kicks them out around that time an they have to go look for a new place to live an build a beaver hut an find a female. So I'm sure the beaver will live he just got kicked out of mom's house.

You might be right, but it seemed awfully small to be out on its own. I still laugh when I think about some guy from Florida calling a mountain goat an albino moose.

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