Beaver and Muskrat Locations

OK, so this isn't one of the glamorous critters in the wildlife category. But just the same I enjoy watching them paddle about in search of food on a quiet summer evening while listening to the loons.

With hundreds of lakes and ponds and dozen of streams and rivers, the Kenai Peninsula is ideal habitat for these two aquatic animals. Since commercial fur trapping is not very prolific in this area, beaver and muskrats carry on their lives with very little interference from man.

These two animals are night time feeders and so most of their observable activities are primarily late in the evening and during the first hour or two of daylight. Since just about every road on the Peninsula passes suitable habitat somewhere along its route, you are likely to see these industrious workers anywhere. Most observations result from a waiting game in the vicinity of beaver lodges and dams, muskrat mounds or where there are fresh signs of their food gathering activity.

The Swanson River Road and Swan Lake Road provide many spots to stop and glass the waterways with binoculars for signs of beaver and muskrat dwellings. Traveling by canoe on The Kenai Peninsula Canoe Trails will almost guarantee the backwoods traveler an opportunity to observe these as well as many other animals and birdlife. At night you can listen to the beavers occasionally slap their tails on the water before diving as an alarm warning for other beaver in the area.

Driving the North Kenai Road in the evening or early morning and scouting the lakes and ponds that lie along its route will usually provide chances for observations.

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