OGDEN, Utah -- Six superheroes have landed in Ogden. The beavers, whose dam stoppedsome of the Chevron fuel leak from spilling into Willard Bay, are recovering at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah. At this point, officials believe at least three of the beavers will make a full recovery, and with the help of the public, they hope to name them.
“They saved Willard Bay. By building their dam and keeping the spill backed up in that one smaller area, they saved the bay,” said Buz Marthaler, who serves on the center’s Board of Directors.
He and others at the center are calling the beavers superheroes, and they want their new names to reflect the title.
“They’re environmental superheroes," he said. "They saved our environment from a human impact that would've been just a catastrophe. It is on a smaller level because of them."
The three were brought to the center within 24 hours of the leak, which poured about 27,000 gallons of crude oil into soil and marshes. Marthaler said, “It was scary to us, but we’re quite hopeful now.”
The beavers are sleeping and eating again, but still have more rehabilitation ahead of them. Three other beavers brought in later are currently undergoing treatment for severe burns and internal injuries.
“The last three were soaking in the fuel, actually in their lodge, in an enclosed fuel vapor area," said Marthaler. "So, they’re breathing it, and they’re eating and consuming foods that were covered in it. So, they were saturated through and through."
Staff members at the center were hesitant to name the beavers any sooner, as their outcome did not seem as promising. However, since they were rescued, the three seem to be coming out of their shells.
Marthaler said, “We have one that’s a chow hound, and we’ve tentatively named him or her Munch. We have another one that every time you go in, bucks and fights and turns. The other of the three is a very calm, timid, she just kind of lays around.”
If you would like to suggest a “superhero” name for the beavers, you can send an email to: beavers@wrcnu.org
