Pic: Jason Evans

Pic: Jason Evans

Pic: Jason Evans

Franklin Square resident:

As a resident of Franklin Square lofts I must say that this is by far the nicest part of the creek and a shining example of what could be. I have enjoyed many SHORT (the walkway is only about 50 yards long) walks along the creek. However, there is an awful smell that comes from the creek on warm days, it is littered with a number of small and large objects and I have been warned by the Franklin Square security guard that along the creek is "private property" for residents of Mission Landing. I know this is not true.

From David, via email:

Back in August I was walking the creek walk at lunchtime. I was down near the end that comes out on Maltbie (sp) Street near Spencer. As I passed the clearing just after that last foot bridge something in the water caught my eye. It was large and brown. At first I thought maybe it was a log, it was that large. I then realized it was swimming up stream. Logs don't do that. So I watched it for a few minutes. It crawled out of the water and on to the opposite bank. I still couldn't tell what it was because it was in the shadow of some bushes. A few minutes later it reentered the water and swam a bit more upstream until it stopped in a very shallow spot right behind Rapid Response. I believe the spot where it stopped is concrete. I walked back to the foot bridge to get a better look at it. Because of the shallowness of the water and the sun shining on it, I could get a really good look at its tail. The tail was wide and flat. The critter was a beaver.

I have never seen a beaver in the wild before and the creek is one of the last places I would expect to find one. I wish I had my camera because who would believe it?

I hope this bodes well for the creek.