Last year we battled some kind of dam critter, but it never really approached this level of engineering, so we had hoped it was just a muskrat. Now I'm thinking maybe it was an inexperienced beaver, and he spent the winter really perfecting his dam building techniques.
This spring's dam is situated in a more critical spot on the stream, and is much higher than anything he attempted last season. We're seeing a real change in the water table around our place, as the spring rains are caught in the swamp and backed up behind this dam.
This is the second time this week that we've dismantled it. As you can see from the below pictures (taken just downstream from the dam site at the bridge), the water level really comes up in the stream once the dam is removed.
That's the same tree in the center of these two shots, the second one was taken about an hour after the dam was removed on Saturday. The water came up about a foot, and looked like it would continue to flow at that level for at least 24 hours before the water level would come down in the wider area.
Notice that I said "looked like it would continue" above. After the dam was removed Saturday afternoon, the critters completely rebuilt it Saturday night. Sunday morning it was as if nothing had ever changed. Not knowing what else to do, we removed it again... although I suspect that tomorrow morning it will have reappeared. I'm not sure what we can do, realistically, to prevent beavers from building dams. I guess the hope is that we can hassle them enough that they will move the dam back into the swamp where it will (hopefully) not back the water right up into our backyard.
4 comments:
Now I know where the expression "busy beaver" comes from! Holy smokes, I had no idea they'd just keep rebuilding and rebuilding. Maybe Governments should think of hiring them? What a nuisance. Maybe they're expecting babies and are extra anxious about their housing situation?
Yeah. Sunday night and last night they rebuilt AGAIN. Sheesh. I'm happy to have them as neighbors, but only as long as they don't flood everyone else out!
to funny. I thin kthey are protected. You might call animal control for advice. I think they will come out and trap and move them in certain circumstances. Beaver bonds are BIG, like 30' diameter atleast. That would be a big chunk of land right in the middle of your property.
We came across a dam in the backcountry once that was jaw-dropping huge. It was a minimum 10 feet tall and a good 20 - 30 feet across. We were making jokes that BC Hydro should consider generating power from it! We'll keep our fingers crossed that your guys aren't the American cousins...
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