Usually the East River in New York City is not home to beavers, but that is exactly where park rangers found Justine, a sick and starving beaver that had been carried downstream by the current.

She was found clinging to the rocks off the East River and was suffering from an intestinal blockage. This made her unable to digest anything and she was very dehydrated and thin.

Justine was then brought to the local wild animal rescue organization, Wildlife In Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation (WINORR). WINORR was founded by retired Queens firefighter Bobby Horvath and his wife, Cathy.

For several days last week Justine was put on a liquid diet and allowed to roam around in a kiddie pool. Under their care, Justine has steadily improved and the Horvaths had been posting updates on her condition as she got better.

Then on the weekend, the Hovarths released a healthy Justine back into the Bronx River, from which they believe Justine originally came from.

Justine's rescue came a little less than two weeks after the Hovarths worked out a compromise with the Long Island town of Oyster Bay to be able to keep their backyard wildlife rescue operation open.

They can still work from home, but are looking into other locations, like the Tackapausha Museum, in order to expand on a long term basis. Most likely Justine the beaver is just glad that they were there when she needed help.

In this very sad, yet heartwarming video, a sick-at-heart pooch is 'mourning' the death of a beloved but unlikely friend: A beaver named Beavis.

According to YouTube user "Jack Bdead" who uploaded the video, Beavis and Bella the dog had played and lived together "for quite a while" before Beavis died last year.

"Bella has been in mourning for hours," the YouTuber said.

Though first published when Beavis breathed his last in July 2012, the moving video has experienced a viral resurgence this week.


"I love it when even animals show their love for other," wrote one YouTube user on Friday after watching the clip.

"Aww, it went from cute to sad and then touching. It's a wakeup call to cherish life," wrote another.
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OGDEN, Utah – A pair of young beavers credited for helping keep an oil spill out of Willard Bay are now recovering in the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Ogden.

A Chevron fuel spill was discovered near Willard Bay on Monday afternoon and crews spent the better part of Monday and Tuesday working to repair the broken 8-inch pipeline that caused the spill and the fuel that had spread through the area.

Cleanup crews say a beaver dam helped stop the fuel from reaching Willard Bay, but a pair of beavers were covered in the fuel and sent to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Ogden for cleanup and recovery.

Employees at the center spent six hours bathing the two beavers, washing them twice with Dawn dish detergent. The pair were put on medication to help recover.

The beavers were reported doing a little better on Wednesday. One of the two is still lethargic, nauseated and didn’t have much of an appetite. The second has started moving around and has started eating a bit.


Rehabilitators say they’re taking the recovery one day at a time and hoping to prevent further damage, including neurological damage.

“They can absorb the substance through their skin. They face things like liver issues, it burns their eyes, respiratory issues, digestive issues, so whenever you get that it’s a little bit frightening,” said Dalyn Erickson with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah.

The beavers are just under a year old, and crews are hoping they’ll eventually be nursed back to health and returned to the wild.
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Single Parent Beaver Dad Gives a Dam:  Beaver dads are often among the best in the animal kingdom, but one beaver widower who lost his long-time mate merits special attention.

"Dad," who lives in a Martinez, Calif. beaver colony, was suddenly left with three young kits to care for when his devoted partner died of an infection. They had previously raised 12 other kits together.

Heidi Perryman, president and founder of Worth a Dam, told Discovery News, "We were worried about their (the three kits') safety. Would Dad be able to provide for them and could he care for them as well as she did? Would they learn everything they needed to know without a mother?"

Their fears were understandable. Dad could only do so much in a day. He not only built the family home (his clan's lodge), but he also regularly repairs it. This is in addition to building dams, gathering food and other time-consuming duties.


He more than stepped up to the plate, though. In addition to tackling care-giving basics, he gave the kits beaver-back rides and taught them how to dive. He brought them gourmet tender new shoots for dinner.

"Dad's transition to single parent was a seamless one," Perryman said. "All three youngsters have survived to adulthood, and Dad is still at hand, showing them the finer points of dam management.

She explained that since beavers mate for life, beaver fatherhood doesn't end with breeding rights -- in fact it has just begun. When male beavers are live-trapped, frequently kits wind up in the trap too, as the families tend to be so close.

Young beavers normally leave home when they are 2-3 years old. If Dad's trio decides to move, Perryman expects that he will accompany "them to find suitable new territory," as such primo care is not uncommon in the beaver world.


"I guess it makes sense from an evolutionary perspective," she said, "since young beavers settled in adequate new homes are less likely to become a boomerang generation!"

When Mom was alive, Dad never received much onlooker attention because Mom was such a crowd favorite. She had a distinctively patterned tail that made her easily identifiable.

Dad may not have such natural tail bling, but he's now drawing fans in California. His family seems to think he's pretty amazing too.