New York Botanical Garden via Tumblr The folks at the New York Botanical Garden had been wondering what was up with José and Justin, the beavers who first made headlines in 2007 when they turned up in the Bronx River - the first exemplars of New York’s state animal to be spotted alive in New York City in 200 years.
“We knew they were here, but they hadn’t been spotted for a while,†said Ann Rafalko, the garden’s director of online content.
The garden’s Critter Cam, a motion-sensitive robot camera mounted in an undisclosed location in the garden’s 50-acre forestthat flanks the river, has provided an answer.
Last Friday around 8 p.m. the camera clicked off 31 stills of a beaver engaging in beaverish behavior at the foot of a tree - rooting around a bit, nibbling on something. The garden assembled the stills into the gif animation above. It and two more gifs on the same theme can be found on the garden’s Tumblr blog.
Though there is no way to tell whether the beaver is Justin or José, Ms. Rafalko said garden officials feel sure that it is one of the two.
“It was a really big coup to get him on the Critter Cam,†Ms. Rafalko said Thursday. “Everyone’s really excited.â€
As are we.
