BEAVERS by moonlight seemed like a good idea. A string of clear nights either side of a full moon was a gilt-edged invitation.
Moonlight gilding every corrugation in the river, gilding every ripple, layering wet flanks of beaver fur with a gilded dazzle, every newly-gilt detail of their architecture aglow even as they cemented it into place, gilt-edged cubs playing with their own moonshadows, new avalanches of woodchips at the base of a gnawed tree rendered into white-gold heaps of unburied treasure. That kind of thing.
I had in mind, the transformative effect of moonlight on so many evening shifts of peering into the tree-shrouded black river for black beaver shapes practising the black arts of their architecture in the dark.
Now, on a perfect evening, I watched the northwestern sky's purples fade to blue-blacks. Woodland darkened, the banks and the beaver canal and the pools and the dams all darkened, and I sat and watched the darkening and waited for the moon.
The evening was windless and quiet, apart from the many-voiced haverings of the river. There are worse conversationalists for a nature writer with time on his hands than a Perthshire river.
But the river only darkened.
It took longer than it should have to appreciate that only the fields to the west glimpsed through trees were in moonlight. Then I realised that the hill at my back was the source of colossal shadow.
This particular beaver territory remained moonless even on a moonlit night, but I wondered if perhaps a beaver might go curiously out into the open moonlit country, the better to see what was going on in the neighbourhood.
So I walked west into the fields until suddenly my moonshadow leapt into life and headed for the river, keeping the company of a shrub-darkened burn that oozed down the side of the field, the better to diminish my impact on the landscape to watching eyes.
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av The Scots Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av The Scots Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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The Bliss Of A Bothy
After a strenuous walk, a mountain shelter can offer all you need
The Long Way Round
When you can only just see the stepping stones under a river in spate, it's time to re-think the route, as two Highland adventurers found out
The New Oyster Cult
A community is helping to restore the once rich biodiversity of Loch Craignish, one species at a time
A Poet's Sanctuary
Hidden on a hilltop, writer Dominic Cooper is inspired by the wild, stormy winters of the Ardnamurchan peninsula
A Rural Housing Crisis
Across Scotland, locals are being priced out and crowded out - but communities are now working hard to address the issue
A Historic Centre
Glasgow's Mercat Cross may not be as old as it appears but it's still seen many changes, along with an ebb and flow in prosperity
A Bird With A Brain
Jim's encounters with the raven in several northern countries have only increased his respect for its intellect and ingenuity
The Warrior King
On the 750th anniversary of his birth, Robert The Bruce's legacy as cultural keystone and historical enigma continues to fascinate
All Going Swimmingly
From Tutti Frutti to Shetland, Monarch Of The Glen to Granite Harbour, Dawn Steele's heart will always be in Scotland - and the sea
Following The Coos
The latest charity art trail aims to a-moos-e and delight visitors to Perth and Kinross this summer