There's the old saying:  you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy. Well, something like that applies to beavers. You can take the beavers out of the country, but you can't take the beavers out of the river.

In the heart of the city you still find that country-critter - the beaver - doing their country thing. The photos in this blog were taken just up-river from downtown St Paul. The bridge shown is the High Bridge (Smith Ave Bridge).

The audacity and persistence of beavers is displayed in the large trees they choose to gnaw on. Sometimes they are successful in toppling them, and sometimes not ... or at least, not yet. Are the trees abandoned, or just a work-in-progress?

Beavers can be amazingly effective in clear-cutting small trees and brush in an area.

The photos were taken near dusk on an overcast day.