During a morning walk along one of the river trails Baloo and I used to frequent, I discovered something that would have fascinated that inquisitive fellow. I could almost hear him sniffing everything thoroughly to discover things I couldn't even begin to imagine.
First, I noticed a tree down across the trail that looked as if it had been thoroughly gnawed. Almost all of the bark had been removed and most of the branches, as well.
I took a fork in the trail that almost immediately led to this structure built into the river bank. Many of the branches from that downed tree are almost certainly woven into this snug little lodge.
There's even a handy slide for slipping quickly and quietly into the water.
It's a pretty modest structure for a beaver, but the river's brisk current probably wouldn't allow for too much building before it would wash the eager architect's efforts downstream. Especially when spring thunderstorms cause the river to rise a foot or two and really roll along.
Baloo would have loved putting his clever nose all over the area. I'm sure he would have breathed in volumes of information and had amazing post-walk dreams.
2 comments:
There was a place that I would frequent, that had a beaver lodge. It was fun to watch them raise little ones. Then one day the lodge was empty. No one was saying much other than there were people that didn't want them there.........so sad that it was implied that they were done away with. They were located in an area that had beaver trade history and it was nice to see them back in the area.
sheila
Hi, Sheila! Beavers are pretty amazing. It's cool you got to watch them, though I'm sorry that they were so unwelcome. I know that some people don't like them around because they can be pretty destructive. We had one group on our family property that did a clear cut on a poplar forest and created a swamp. They eventually moved along on their own - maybe there wasn't enough wood close enough to their home any more and they had to relocate. Anyway, I didn't get to see any actual activity around this lodge, but they're clearly still in residence. :)
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