Forget Buc-ee’s, Lubbock Has Real Beavers

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For years now those in Lubbock have talked about whether a gas station beaver that is the mascot of Bucc-ee's would ever come to Lubbock. While the gas station and convenience store chain remains far away from Lubbock, some creatures that were far away have moved in.

On Thursday Texas Tech announced that a Department of Natural Resources doctoral candidate, Garret D. Langlois, had made a historic discovery. In East Lubbock along the southwest side of Mae Simmons Park, the Canyon Lakes system is home to beavers.

There, among the cattails, lies the proof: a worn swimming path near the bank where the water creature turns around and goes back into hiding. Deep in the woods is evidence a creature has constructed nesting areas and dug tunnels to remain hidden. Near the tunnels, spiky stumps erupt from the ground – the remains of small trees that were cut by large incisors.

The evidence is clear. There are beavers living in Lubbock’s Canyon Lakes.

Langlois was able to confirm the presence of beavers by using pictures and videos taken from night vision trail cameras. What makes this such a big deal is that it's believed that beavers haven't been in Lubbock in more than 5,000 years.

So how did they get here? According to KAMC, it was a long swim from the east.

Langlois made the discovery and said the beavers have been coming into town from the east, secretly working up tributaries of the Brazos River over the last decade. His research started November 2015 when — to his shock — he and some others spotted a dead beaver at Mackenzie Park — a creature that they thought had not lived here since prehistoric times.

You can get more information from Texas Tech here.