What Is the Beaversprite Wildlife Sanctuary?
Beaversprite is the home and wetland sanctuary set up by Dorothy Richards to educate the public about beavers!
What Makes It Historical?
Dorothy Richards was forty years old the first time she ever saw a beaver! That’s because they’d almost been wiped out in her native state of New York. She loved them so much that she and her husband asked the New York Conservation Department for a pair of beavers, and they were delivered to the Richards farm!
Once the beavers had settled in and flooded the land, Mrs. Richards sat down to make their acquaintance! After eight years of studying them by the pond, she asked the Conservation department to allow her to bring them into her home, and she became the first individual to receive a zoo-level license in the state!
So the beavers came to play in her cellar each night, and she learned about beaver language, and how we can learn from out mistakes, and how we are actually sustainable harvesters of trees, avoiding new saplings so they have time to grow! Mrs. Richards shared this knowledge in books and by opening the family farm to visitors. Through her work, beaver populations have recovered in the Adirondacks, the beaver became the state animal of New York, and April 7th is now known as International Beaver Day!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Pay the entrance fee to help maintain trails, signs, structures, and other visitor services!
- Volunteer with the Utica Zoo!
- Donate to the Utica Zoo!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
399 Beldon Corners Rd
St Johnsville, NY 13452
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
To get the full experience, email their site coordinator to set up an appointment!
More Photos
Good morning. I am writing to you from Preswick Glen. We are a senior independent living community in New Hartford NY. We are interested in visiting your wildlife sanctuary in the Spring. Is it possible to arrange a tour? If not or maybe in addition to, we would be interested in having someone come speak to our residents about your mission. Let me know if either of these ideas are possibilities. Thank you .
Regards,
Sari Wightman, Director of Activities at Preswick Glen
Hi Sari! Thanks for taking an interest in the beavers of Beaversprite! I’m not actually affiliated with the organization; I just visited it in 2016. If you’d like to arrange a tour, please contact them directly at (518) 568-2077. I hope you have a great experience!
I am desperate! We have a beautiful beaver that has been here for about a year I believe and he lives in the retention pond behind our home in Pendleton New York. Suburb of Buffalo in Niagara County. Unfortunately he has been heavily clogging the drainage and yes, eating massive beautiful trees around multiple homes. Since the beginning of Covid I got out every morning and clean out piles of clogging he is putting in the drain. He ate all of the neighbors lilacs and he talked to the town about it. He feels as we all do, we are desvistes to learn that every where we turn, the only option it to trap him which means he won’t live. I don’t know who to turn to but our clock is ticking as the town with our permission will be taking him. This is devistating to us all and I just don’t know if you can help! 😢
Hi Raquel! Oh no! Thanks for looking out for your local beavers! Definitely give Beaversprite a call at (518) 568-2077 or email them at castor@frontiernet.net!
I visited her probably around 1959 when she had just one beaver left. I sat while it came into her living room. The kitchen and climbed up onto a chair by the table. Where I hugged it. This remains one of the best memories of my life., I’m 83
What an amazing memory to have! Thank you so much for sharing it.
I don’t know what prompted me to look up Beaversprite Sanctuary, but my mind got jogged and I had to. Glad to see it is still around. I remember visiting in the mid 70s. I remember the elderly woman who ran it, and I think lived in the house. There was a pond in the house, and the doors and furniture were all chewed up. As a kid I thought this was great. She really loved those little critters, and I believe they loved her.
I don’t know who is running it now, but I will always remember visiting there as a kid. If I ever make it back to my old hometown (Caroga Lake), I will make it a point to stop in. For what it’s worth, I am an Oregon State University grad, home of the Beavers.
Hi Kevin! Thanks for sharing your memory! It’s so neat to see how much of an impact Beaversprite has had on beavers across the country! Say Hi to Benny for me!
Glad I’m not the only one who’s crazy about Beavers.
In the mid-70s, my parents took us to Beaversprite. There was quite an interest of people that day. We walked across a board over a muddy front yard. Inside were a few beavers and Dorothy. She let us pet the beavers and she talked about their habitat and foods they liked. I will always remember her as a very kind person. The beavers loved her.
What an amazing story! Thanks for sharing!