Chicagoans have finally named their favorite beaver.
A “remarkably rotund” beaver living, eating and knocking down trees on the Southwest Side along the Chicago River chewed her way into local lore after being captured on wildlife tracking cameras in February.
Environmental nonprofit Urban Rivers held a public naming contest for the beaver, who had been described as “spherical,” a “deep-dish Bridgeport resident” and most likely pregnant.
The winning name — Ida Beav Wells — was unveiled Wednesday at The Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave. Al Scorch, a local singer-songwriter known for his viral poem about Chicago-style hot dogs, mayoral election smash-hit “Paul Vallas Hates House Music” and being the first to document Chonk, a local enormous snapping turtle who made national headlines, announced the winner.
Wildlife experts told the crowd Ida Beav Wells was in fact pregnant — and now has two kits, according to ABC7.
Urban Rivers announced the kits’ names Thursday: Chewy Garcia and Plumpton Sinclair.
Over the years, Urban Rivers has seen “a lot of beavers” around Wild Mile Chicago, the world’s first floating eco-park, and around the South Branch of the Chicago River, Executive Director Nick Wesley previously said. The group has observed at least five or six beavers in that area, and it’s continuing to collect research on the semi-aquatic rodents and where they live in the river and city, he said.
