Wild Horse Annie is my neighbor who lives across the hay field that you see in the picture of the termination dust and the moon over the mountains. Her family owns several hundred acres including the river bottom where the beavers live. Our main trail crosses the beaver pond and can be quite deep at times. On the few days during the summer when it's warm enough the beaver pond is a swimming hole for horses and kids.
The beavers hadn't gone too crazy with tree cutting and building until this year. Now it seems as though they are building a home to go with their dam. They are cutting numerous trees and creating some major destruction. Last week when we rode they even had a tree leaning against the power/telephone lines.
This is a cottonwood tree that they cut about two weeks ago. Now the stump is the only thing remaining. The beavers have stripped the log of bark, cut it into manageable lengths and put it in the beaver pond.
This is the dam they have built. Two days before this picture Annie's husband had taken a large excavator to the pond and ripped out most of the dam. The beavers rebuilt it even better! You can see on the down river side of the dam they have put logs straight out from the dam. We used to have a place to drop into the river just to the left of the dam and we could ride about 10 feet from the dam. Now there's too many places to catch a foot in the logs.Annie is usually tolerant of the critters but now the beavers are taking down her favorite trees on the side of the river. It's also becoming a hazard if the river floods again as there will be no trees to prevent the river from making a new path. I think she's going to have a cousin come trap the beavers.
Our weather is fantastic: blue skies, upper 50s for temps, no snow! We are planning to ride this weekend and as many days next week as we can.
Ah yes...the old beaver damn trail damage, we know it well! Hello...popped over from my niece's blog, PONY GIRL!
ReplyDeleteWhoa...had no idea that they could be that endustrious! Those are some pretty large trees there, they are fallin! Too bad they have to be relocated...but it could be a hazzard if they decide the tree near your home, needs to come down too!
ReplyDeleteKK
Oh geeze-- beavers!! They are fun to watch but damn (sorry...) they put up their homes in some of the worst places sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting over at my blog! You brought up a really great point, about personalities clashing, and I'll be sure to include more on it in Monday's post. In short though- oh heck yes. Used to be an older TB gelding that my husband- who gets along with most anything on 4 legs- could just NOT trim. The two of them would fuss and grump at each other, and finally my husband asked me to try. The horse and I got along, and I was able to trim him w/o anyone holding him. On the reverse, I had a TB mare who absolutely loooooved my husband, and he was the ONLY one who could trim her. She' give me about 4 seconds per foot to clean her feet, and I could handle and brush her all day long. Trim her? Not on your life!
I'm looking forward to reading more of your ride adventures here!! Love the photos too. I have a cousin in AK, but he never sends pix! LOL At least this way we can get to see some beautiful portions of your state!
Here, you cannot trap a beaver, or shoot a beaver, or disturb their dams. Only the Game Commission can handle that...and then they are relocated. That's why virtually everyone I know with a beaver problem is an outlaw. If you're trying to farm the land, you haven't got a choice. You shoot 'em.
ReplyDeleteAnnie looks like a very cool gal...I love her horse!
ReplyDeleteThe beavers are amazingly strong! Don't you wish you could train them to be a lil' more conscientious about where they build their dams? Good luck on the trapping.
Love seeing your pics too Jenny!