When Helen Erickson spotted a beaver swimming in her backyard pond last week, she rejoiced in the semiaquatic rodent’s unusual presence.

Erickson, who has lived in the Oak Harbor area since 1999, took to Facebook to ask if her sighting on Feb. 24 was out of the blue, since it turned out to be the first beaver she had ever seen near her home. Online commenters had their own stories and photos to share of the critters, which seem to primarily be spotted on the South End of the island.

The beaver spent the day dragging dead branches into the manufactured pond, which Erickson noted wasn’t connected to a water source. He didn’t seem bothered by her or her husband standing nearby.

“He was just the sweetest little thing,” Erickson said.

But the next day, she found the beaver at the side of the road, dead. She took to social media with the sad news.

“On my Facebook Messenger, I had over 700 condolences that were sent to me after he passed … I think he just brought a little bit of joy to people,” she said.

She was unsure if the beaver was in the process of setting up a bachelor pad or heading away to grab his bride.

“I have a huge backyard, and I was willing to sacrifice the pond if he was happy,” she said.

Last she heard, someone was planning to taxidermize her visitor.

According to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, beavers breed between January and March, and litters of one to eight kits are produced between April and June. Once they are a few years old, the kits go off on their own in search of mates and suitable spots to begin colonies.

Unfortunately, their parental training usually lacks tactics on crossing busy streets or roads, Enforcement Officer Ralph Downes said.

“They can be mischievous, and they do seem to not dodge cars very fast,” he said.

Beavers tend to prefer deeper water, especially somewhere swampy or marshy. Downes surmised that the Oak Harbor beaver was roaming around in search of a perfect spot, and his visit to Erickson’s pond was merely a stopover on his journey.

“I doubt it said, ‘Hallelujah, I found paradise, I need to go tell the rest of the clan,’” Downes said.

Most of the time, when Downes hears about beavers on Whidbey, it’s because property owners are looking to get them removed from their land when they cause harm. Permits for trapping are usually concentrated in the Maxwelton area and near Honeymoon Lake. In most cases, the animal is lethally dispatched; Downes said relocation is rare due to numerous potential issues. A total of 18 beavers were trapped in Island County from 2020 to 2022, according to state data.

While they don’t always have the best reputation, Downes said, they do fill a niche.

According to Beavers Northwest, a Seattle-based nonprofit, beaver dams provide myriad benefits for the ecosystem, including improved water quality and habitat for fish. Beaver ponds can also store water and buffer flooding from peak storm events.

In a 2009 article of the South Whidbey Record, a broken beaver dam was blamed for the unexpected swelling of Glendale Creek. About 10 homes were damaged in the flood, and residents had to be evacuated. Neighbors of the area lamented the loss of a beaver that had apparently been dead for weeks, run over while waddling across Cultus Bay Road.

(Photo by Helen Erickson) A beaver takes a swim through a backyard pond in Oak Harbor Feb. 24.