My friend George, who commutes to work by bike very early in the morning, has seen beavers in the bosque a couple of times, at dawn on the west end of the Alameda Bridge where the Corrales drain empties into the river. I’ve never seen ’em, though I’ve seen gnawed tree trunks many times. But today, riding along the river trail down near the botanical gardens, Joe and I saw this:

It’s in the drain along the east side of the river, and I could have sworn it was a half-assed little beaver dam.

Lissa and I went back this afternoon with camera in hand for a closer look, and now I’m not so sure. I want it to be a beaver dam. I could see some bits of wood sticking out of the water that looked gnawed, but up close there were clearly some sticks that had been cut off cleanly, like with a clippers.