Although I can’t say I am a fan of commuting to and from work every day, there is one part of my daily drive I always do enjoy — the GW Parkway. Going my direction, it’s relatively traffic-free (well… more often than not, anyway), and it offers some of the best views in all of DC. It also happens to have tons of wildlife; mostly deer, a lot of rabbits and squirrels, a huge assortment of birds, and the occasional fox, raccoon, or similar sized mammal. Once in a while, though, more exotic beasts make an appearance.

I mentioned a few months back about the bald eagle family that lives in the median, and now I can add a new critter to the list: beavers.

I saw one today, just on the shoulder of the southbound side. As I drove up towards it, I was thinking, “Gee, that is the biggest groundhog I have ever seen.” And then I wondered if it was injured, because it was waddling its little heart out, in a rather awkward looking gait.

By the time I saw that the “groundhog” had giant paddle tail, I realized what it actually was. I would have loved to pull over for a closer look, but sadly, on that stretch of the road there was nowhere that I could.

So check another animal off on the wildlife-spotting list. There are still a few I haven’t caught sight of yet, though — supposedly nutria, gray foxes, coyotes, and skunks all live along the Parkway. Hopefully those guy will decide to make an appearance one day, too.

-Susan