Yesterday I ventured forth, camera in hand for my version of a National Geographic expedition.
Too bad I couldn’t get some sponsors like North Face, or Nike to pony up some really cool gear for my walk over to the creek, but as it is, I muddle through as a freelancer.
As I approached the creek, I noticed right away Mr. Beaver has been busy. He has felled a shocking number of trees, Cottonwoods I think.
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He could almost be considered a carving artist...
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But the number of trees... OY! It’s a little troubling. I can see why they are considered destructive pests. But they are just so darn clever at what they do!
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Some of the trees that are left seem to defy physics.
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But one thing has me very hopeful. At the other pond, he had a ready made island where he could hide out very effectively from my camera lens.
But at the new spot, well, he’s having to make do...
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I’m much more hopeful that I can get a picture of him under these conditions.
Notice the four rocks lined up along the edge of the lodge. I wonder if this is his idea of the foundation for the next layer. He has slapped mud on the sides of this structure and you can see where he has smeared it with his feet? And that little canal he has dug, I think will be the underwater entrance once he gets more of his house built. Which means he intends to make this pile a LOT bigger. We will keep an eye on it for size. Those rocks will be good markers of progress for me.
Here’s the new dam...
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A much more modest bit of work compared to the old one and it only dams up half of the watershed in that area. Just a ways down the creek another drainage ditch empties into the creek. That’s where the old dam was and when he built THAT one, a LOT more water was backed up. That dam was four times this wide.
I think the local park rangers are onto him, because they poked two pvc pipes down low that are allowing water to flow out. I THINK they are hoping to keep him from damming up too much water. We’ll see how that works. Already one of the pipes is clogged with cattail reeds.
This is how close he is to the houses now...
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I wonder if this makes him nervous?
This is his old house:
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The big pond he made changed the entire landscape. This whole area used to be filled with willows and tall gnarly thistle plants, and cow parsnip. Now it’s bare of vegetation. It will be interesting to see how much stuff comes back and how long it takes.
The ducks and geese are going to miss the pond I’m sure.
You can see the underwater tunnel he used to get into the tangle of branches that was his house. No wonder I only glimpsed him once. He didn’t have to show himself at all to get into his lodge.
Anyway, that’s your Beaver Report for December.
We are ever hopeful to actually post a picture of the engineer himself. Anybody know what I could bribe a beaver with? Marshmallows? Reese’s Peanut Butter cups? Black licorice?
Dunno.
I’m open to suggestions.