Beaver Dam at Beaver Pond

I was very pleased to see this well-maintained beaver dam in the Beaver Ponds area in northwestern Yellowstone in 2007 and 2008. Beavers had been in danger of extirpation because the over-sized elk population was eating the aspen, willow and other fauna that beavers rely on.

Now that the wolves, and some drought years, have trimmed the elk population, the beavers seem to be coming back to where they belong.