Hans,

The article you might have read in the Seattle Times was probably from
about two years ago. The mountain beaver was on the cover of their
Pacific NW magazine in February of 2009. A nice article with several
interesting pictures.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2008706268_pacificpbeaver08.html

I've seen them in my yard a few times. I don't know where their burrow
is since they grab plant material and then drag it under the fence and
out of my view. From personal experience I know they like ferns, iris,
chives, indian plum, and hen and chicks (the succulents).

I took some pictures of one pruning the lower branches of a rhody in
2008...

http://troublebound.smugmug.com/Animals/Mountain-Beaver


Craig Kerns
Lake Forest Park, WA
troublebound at gmail.com