American River Parkway California-1982: Beaver Hunched on a Flood Debris Pile Beside High Water

Catalog date: estimated · Catalog location: estimated. Review source evidence · Request a source quality check

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Year1982
Decade1980s
LocationAmerican River Parkway, California, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1982 · American River Parkway, California, United States
StatusStockfilm Exclusive

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

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Stockfilm licenses the rights identified in the applicable agreement. Additional use-specific review may be required. See the Licensing Guide and Archive Integrity.

From the same film reel

1982 · Sacramento & Nimbus Dam · Reel eb27900e contains 6 published Stockfilm-exclusive clips. Watch them in reel order and review the available reel documentation.

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Same year and place1982 · American River Parkway, California, United StatesExplore footage →Across the archiveFilmed in 1982Explore the year →Across the yearsAmerican River Parkway, California, United StatesExplore the place →

What is in this clip

wildlife
winter flood
river habitat
beaver behaviour
flood aftermath
nature observation
home movie

Shot type: medium
Camera: static · handheld
Setting: outdoor · Flooded riverbank with a pile of washed-up branches and logs, open floodwater and a driftwood snag behind, bare winter twigs in the foreground
Time and weather: day · winter · overcast
Lighting: flat overcast daylight with bright reflected glare off the water, subject backlit
People: 0
Animals: North American beaver
Objects: flood debris pile · branches · logs · driftwood snag · bare twigs · tree trunk
Colors: dark brown · pale grey-white · muted blue-grey · black
Master dimensions: 3840 × 2160
Audio: Silent
Date confidence: Low
Location confidence: Medium

Moments in the footage

Select a time to watch that moment in the preview.

A beaver sits hunched on a debris pile, facing right toward the floodwater.
The beaver shifts its weight and lowers its head slightly.
It lifts its forepaws toward its mouth, appearing to feed or groom.
The beaver stays in place on the branches as the shot ends.

Beaver Hunched on a Flood Debris Pile Beside High Water — Clip Details

American River Parkway, California, circa 1982 home movie footage. A North American beaver sits hunched on a pile of flood-borne branches and logs at the edge of the swollen American River, dark against bright, pale water. It shifts its weight, turns its head slightly, and near the end lifts its forepaws toward its mouth as if feeding. Filmed in one steady medium shot on Super 8 through a screen of bare winter twigs, with a driftwood snag lying across the water behind.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 800002184

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Commercial Direct license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

No recognizable people, logos, or music are flagged. Lower-risk for commercial use, subject to your own review.

People visible: No
Logos / trademarks: No
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel record not linked for this clip
Date: 1982 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual or technical evidence; no reel-level note is linked.
Location: American River Parkway, California, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual evidence such as signage, landmarks, or terrain; no reel-level note is linked.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Answers requests for authentic early-1980s amateur wildlife footage, especially a beaver on a flooded California riverbank for nature, environmental or local flood-history productions.
Period detail: The shot itself holds no dated objects; its period look rests on the Super 8 colour stock, grain and muted palette, with the year carried from the reel's early-1980s newspaper.
Home-movie behavior: A local filmmaker walking the flooded parkway stopped to watch a wild beaver and held the camera on it, an unstaged moment of a resident's attention.
What appears in frame: A dark beaver hunched on a heap of tangled branches, pale bright floodwater behind, a driftwood snag across the river, bare winter twigs across the foreground and a pale tree trunk at the left edge.
Film character: Super 8 grain, soft long-lens focus and backlit exposure that turns the water near white and the beaver into a near-silhouette give it a period amateur-film texture.
Edit role: Works as a wildlife cutaway or a quiet breathing beat between flood scenes, or as an insert in a river-habitat sequence.
Historical context: Shot on the American River Parkway, established by Sacramento County in 1959, during a winter high-water event that left woody debris heaped along the banks.
Research note: No people, logos or artwork are visible; the film's copyright belongs to its maker or estate and is separate from any location consideration, so confirm licence terms with Stockfilm before use.
Research search match: Matches searches such as beaver Super 8 home movie, American River flood 1980s, vintage riverbank wildlife footage and California winter flood amateur film.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with this reel's Sacramento Bee flood headline, Nimbus Dam spillway, onlookers at the release, parkway sign and flooded-river sunset, then with other early-1980s Sacramento flood film, then with other wildlife home movies.

Still Frames From This Clip

North American beaver on flood debris beside the swollen American River, California, circa 1982 Super 8 home movie — A beaver sits on washed-up branches at the edge of the flooded American River, circa 1982.
License this still · $49

Beaver lowering its head on a branch pile at high water on the American River Parkway, circa 1982 — The beaver shifts its weight on the debris pile as floodwater glares behind it.
License this still · $49

Beaver appearing to feed on a flood debris pile, American River, California, circa 1982 home movie — Near the end of the shot the beaver lifts its forepaws to its mouth, apparently feeding.
License this still · $49

Backlit beaver with forepaws raised on washed-up branches by the flooded American River, circa 1982 Super 8 — The beaver keeps its paws raised, framed through bare winter twigs against bright water.
License this still · $49

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