Thursday, July 12, 2018

Northwoods Beavers


We were visiting far to the north where the mountains are higher and the forests are healthier than in northcentral Pennsylvania. A journey to the base of a notch in the mountains brought us to a wetland with a beaver pond. The beavers have quite a view from their chosen abode –



Their dam, composed of sticks and mud, backs up enough water to make a pond of about an acre above which is another, smaller pond  –



There’s a beaver lodge not far from the dam –



Surprisingly, there’s a second active beaver lodge not far from the first, it can be seen against the upturned roots of a fallen tree –



In a small pond such as this there would usually be only one beaver family group using a lodge occupied by a pair of beavers, their offspring from the previous year and the young of the current year. 


These beavers were exceptionally unwary, even appearing to be curious, and were active in mid-day. They swam back and forth in the pond, affording good opportunities for photographs –





One ate bark from a large piece of wood that had recently been incorporated into the distant lodge –



Another beaver nibbled bark from a small twig –



Although beavers are renowned for cutting trees and feeding on the bark of aspen, birch, willow and maple they also eat bark from other species and readily feed on the roots of cattails and water lilies.

Beavers are fascinating animals and this colony in such a scenic setting is a gem.

4 comments:

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Great beaver shots! I hardly ever see them active during the day. On one of the ponds I have been visiting for over 15 years, the beavers have abandoned old lodges and built new ones. Does a lodge just get uninhabitable after some years? Also, many of the beavers in this pond dig holes in the steep bank, rather than build lodges. I can see the channels they keep open in the ice in the winter, leading out from the bank. I learned the hard way not to walk on the ice too close to shore, for these channels can freeze over with very thin ice!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

That last photo is SO perfect! How amazing to see something like that! Wonderful nature photos!

eileeninmd said...

Hello, awesome shots of the beaver and the lodge. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend.

A Colorful World said...

How amazing to get so many great photos of the beavers! Wow! What a beautiful place, too.