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| This is what a beaver lodge looks like. |
Some people have to deal with termites, others with mice, ants or cockroaches. We have beavers.
When we first moved to rural Charlie Lake, BC and noticed signs of beavers in the creek in our backyard, we thought it was sort of quaint and cute. A nice touch to country living.
We rarely saw them at first, and it seemed like they only really became active in the evenings, when you'd hear the smack of their tail on the water if you startled them. Downstream from us, our neighbour had a large beaver dam on her property. We assumed that's where the beavers lived, although we had no idea how many beavers there could be.
Early one morning, around 2:00am or so, we heard a SPLASH! from our bedroom. The next morning, we took our puppy out to investigate. This is what we found:
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| Attack! |
They had chopped down an entire tree from our backyard, overnight! "Busy as a beaver", it turns out, is pretty accurate.
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| Counter-attack! Notice the dog's wet feet, from beaver hunting. |
After the first tree was chopped down, they stripped all of the bark, leaves, and twigs in under a day. These guys are serious.
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| What to do about those beavers? |
When my parents came to visit, my dad put on his fishing waders, and took apart what looked like another dam/lodge in the creek near our house. The beavers did not like this one bit. We burned the wood from their lodge to send them a clear message.
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| The elusive yet destructive North American Beaver, or Castor Canadensis |
The beavers retaliated by targeting other trees in our backyard, including some trees which are located uncomfortably close to the house. Chicken wire and duct tape were our answer to stop any more carnage.
We learned from our vet that beavers actually eat wood. We thought they just used it to build their homes. This explains why they are in a mad rush to chop down a bunch of trees soon, as winter is fast approaching, and this is their main food supply over the winter months. Dams created by beavers also create a habitat for water reeds and shrubs which beavers like to eat.
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| 4 very confused beavers out of water |
The latest episode in our battle came by chance yesterday. Coming back from vacation, our neighbour downstream from us dislodged the massive dam by her house. The effect? The water level in our creek dropped about 6 feet. No water, no beavers! At least we hope...
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| Winter's coming! Beaver fur jackets, anyone? |
