“It was an unusual call …”
It was an ordinary day at a Michigan funeral home when employees spotted an unexpected visitor wandering across the parking lot. The small, weary animal made her way to a corner, curled up, and appeared to rest.
When staff took a closer look, they were stunned — it wasn’t a stray cat or dog, but a beaver.
“They were in a location with no water anywhere nearby,” said Kari Aspenleiter, founder of Serenity’s Place Wildlife Rehab. “That’s how the story of Spruce began.”
A social media post about the lost beaver soon reached Aspenleiter, who immediately cleared her schedule to respond.
“It was definitely an unusual call — right in the middle of the city of Westland, Michigan,” she told The Dodo. “I needed to make sure it really was a beaver. Once that was confirmed, I put together a plan to safely contain her and asked one of our volunteers, Lauren Golembiewski, to keep an eye on her while I gathered supplies.”
When Aspenleiter arrived, she gently scooped the tired animal into her arms for a quick examination right there in the parking lot.
“She honestly seemed relieved to be found,” Aspenleiter recalled. “She was calm — almost grateful.”
After a closer look, Aspenleiter estimated that Spruce, as she named her, had likely been born in the spring of 2025. Beavers normally stay with their mothers for about two years, but it appeared Spruce had become separated too soon.
She was thin, dehydrated, and had several small injuries — including cuts on her tail and an infected eye. Thankfully, none were serious, and with proper care, she was expected to make a full recovery.
Aspenleiter reached out to her partners at Wildside Rehabilitation Center, knowing it would be the perfect place for Spruce to heal and grow. Once transferred, Spruce quickly settled in — and even received her own stuffed toy for comfort.
“She’s become a favorite at the facility,” Aspenleiter said. “Beavers are very social animals that form strong bonds. While Wildside never wishes for any animal to need rehabilitation, they’re hopeful that when another young beaver comes along, Spruce will have the perfect companion.”
No one knows how Spruce ended up wandering alone in a funeral home parking lot, far from any stream or pond. But what’s certain is that her misadventure led her straight to safety — and into the care of people determined to give her a second chance at life.