Evan Bartow
All the wonders of nature are wrapped up in a 40-pound densely furred, oily creature with orange ferrous-infused teeth, webbed feet, and a scaled leathery tail. The American beaver possesses a fascinating way of life, always centered around water and a multi-aged family unit, always busy building dams and keeping up a lodge that houses them year-round.
In these first beautiful days of winter, something splendid transpires in nature. Black bears are well into their long hibernation, having stocked up the fat stores to get through the cold months.
James Ohio Pattie by our best reckoning was the first to record catching Gila trout. The man led a beaver trapping expedition from Kentucky that traversed today’s American Southwest shortly after Mexico achieved its independence from Spain.
