Nibi the Beaver Returns to Shore

After returning from Winter Break well-rested and ready to dive back in, students were treated to a visit from a very special furry friend, Nibi the Beaver, from Newhouse Wildlife Rescue! Shore students have been big fans of Massachusetts' 'celebrity beaver', famously labeled as a 'diva' by local media, ever since she waddled through the door of the Lawrence A. Griffin Center for Creativity last year for her first visit. 

An animal with a fascinating backstory, Nibi was rescued from the wild as an abandoned baby and has lived safe at home at Newhouse Wildlife Rescue ever since. After growing up in captivity, and reaching the age where beavers are released into the environment, Nibi didn't acclimate well in environments with other beavers and didn't seem likely to thrive in the wild, which led Newhouse Wildlife Rescue to pursue a special permit to keep Nibi there permanently as an educational animal, paying visits to schools like Shore all over the surrounding area so that students can learn her story and get to experience Nibi firsthand for themselves. Kids are often surprised by the size of Nibi, now full-grown and weighing in at almost 50 pounds, typical of a medium-sized dog. The Newhouse Wildlife Rescue team that accompanies Nibi on her travels is knowledgeable and kind, and our students love to ask questions about the beautiful animal, her habits, her species, and her day-to-day life.

While Nibi’s visit was geared towards our Pre-K and Kindergarten students, our Grade 5 beaver education team did a spectacular job of preparing the young ones for Nibi's highly anticipated arrival! Despite Nibi's size, she is a shy beaver, and loud noises and movements can be frightening for her, so the beaver education team worked with Pre-K and Kindergarten to make sure that the little ones were ready to give Nibi the warmest and friendliest Shore welcome possible, building on the connections fostered between grade levels with our Big Buddies program. 

Students were amazed by Nibi's appearance, asked thoughtful questions, and were very polite and well behaved during the celebrity beaver's visit, which included an introduction, a demonstration, a lot of stories, background information about the species and its habitat, and finally a quick visit from Stanley the groundhog, another educational animal living at Newhouse Wildlife Rescue.

Pre-K and Kindergarten were awestruck, with their only request being to "Please bring Nibi back next year!"