First Annual Mountain Boomer Day On February 2nd
Brightwood, OR. The First Annual Mountain Boomer Day Celebration will occur on February 2, 2012 at Barlow Wayside Park beginning at 9:30 a.m. Celebrants expect to see our own Boomer or Mountain Beaver show up to see if his shadow is visible and thereby determine whether there will be six more weeks of winter.
“Some think this day is all about another kind of rodent made famous by Bill Murray in the movie Goundhog Day,” notes Mitch Williams, a Barlow Wayside Park mover and shaker.. “In fact. February second began in England as ‘Hedgehog Day.’ Here we have Barlow Boomer and we so look forward to seeing him again.”
Everyone is invited to participate in the Boomer Day festivities. In addition to waiting for Barlow to show, a mile walk through a section of the new park is planned.
Mountain Beavers are also known as Boomers or Ground Bears or Poor Folks Guinea Pigs. The Mountain Beaver doesn't actually belong to the beaver family. It's considered to be a primitive rodent. In most cases Mountain Beavers have a brown fur, but in some cases they will be blackish or reddish. The tail is short. The weight generally ranges between 500 and 900 grams (18 to 32 oz). The length of a male Mountain Beaver is between 30 and 50 cm.
They live in burrows that have specialized chambers for food. They usually eat ferns or other fleshy herbs. The Mountain Beaver breeding season happens during the first three months of the year and each litter has 2 or 3 newborns. Their lifespan is between 5 and 10 years. For more information on Mountain Boomers, see http://viewfromcrutchersbench.blogspot.com/2011/04/mountain-beaver-or-boomers-or-ground.html
“Since February is breeding season for mountain boomers, we will be very lucky when Barlow makes his appearance,” explains Nancy Hegg of Brightwood, who knows and named our community’s own Barlow Boomer. “He might be joined by his beloved partner, Belle Boomer,” she continues.
