A group of wildlife photographers silently pursued a rare white beaver on a tranquil evening near Perth, Ont., using an electric trolling motor on their boat. The elusive creature sensed their presence and swiftly vanished beneath the water’s surface with a loud splash, leaving the photographers in awe.
Renowned Ottawa photographer Dennis Jackson, known for capturing wildlife images, unexpectedly encountered the white beaver while on a boat trip with a neighbor. Intrigued by the rare sighting, Jackson returned to the river with Canadian naturalist Michael Runtz, his wife Britta Runtz, also a professional photographer, and a CBC reporter to seek answers about the beaver’s unique appearance.
The white beaver reappeared at dusk, but wary of human presence, its continued stay was uncertain. As the photographers eagerly observed, the white beaver swam past their boat, displaying its pale tail and eventually emerging on land to groom itself, revealing a dark patch of fur on its paw and dark eyes. Runtz, a retired Carleton University professor, identified the beaver as leucistic rather than albino due to its dark eyes and paw.
Capturing the extraordinary moment on camera, Runtz expressed delight at witnessing the white beaver’s unusual characteristics. These mutations, although rare, can pose challenges for survival in the wild due to increased visibility to predators. The Canadian Museum of Nature houses a leucistic beaver pelt collected in 1918, highlighting the rarity of such occurrences.
Despite the scientific significance of the sighting, Jackson emphasized the sheer uniqueness and wonder of the experience, steering the boat homeward with a sense of awe. White beavers like this one remain a rare and captivating sight in the natural world, evoking fascination and admiration among wildlife enthusiasts.