Many years ago I was night trout fishing in a large pool. It was pitch black and quiet and I was standing in hip high water. Out of no where the water two feet from exploded! It scared me to the point I was trying to run out of the pool. When I got to the shallow rapids at the top of the pool my fishing buddy was laughing his XXX off. Confused, I said "What the xxx was that?" His response was "I see you and that old rogue beaver had an up close experience." He went on to say the beaver never saw me until it right next to me and then slapped its tail when I startled it. That beaver continued to do that to me the rest of the summer. The pool was in a state park and I mentioned it to the park ranger who told me they would take care of the problem after the camping season. Later the ranger told me they shot the beaver and that it weighed 45 pounds. He explained that older beaver don't breed and then just get huge. I'll never forget that first night we met though.