kihaku-gato:

While I am now sure what I saw, I am still flabbergasted af by it; an old beaver dam is part of this creek??!? Mud and sticks, its gotta be. I would’ve gotten closer to take some shots but I was not in the mood to SOMEHOW encounter some peeved beavers.

It’s holding back a lot of water too; if I were to stand on the drier side of the dam which is nothing but puddles for water depth, I’m sure the water being held by the damside would reach above my head!!! With the overgrowth of grasses, it has to have been there for a good few years.

When I told dad of the dam he was determined to let everybody know so it’d get torn down (farmers, drainage ditches, and beaver dams don’t blend together well) but the fact the dam shows signs of being so old gave him surprised pause fortunately…

SO FOLLOW UP TO THIS POST;

• The owners of the property were surprised af that such a beaver dam had gone unnoticed in plain sight for so long. I am the first to have noticed that it was present.
• A trapper has since gone to inspect the area and found 2 beaver lodges in the vicinity; confirming that this beaver dam is still maintained/active, though they have not cut down any trees in the locality as of recent, further implying that its a decent age
• This creek is in fact connected to a tributary/ditch where another neighbor has fought against beavers on, implying that they may have all come from a similar location of origin, and may have all moved into this area around the same time (said other neighbor had dealt with his beaver problem several years ago, seems not coincidental that this beaver dam may also be a few years old)
• The land owner has contacted the municipality(? or whomever you contact for this idr) which will be bringing professionals in to dig out the dam to let the water be freed to the rest of the creek/ditch as it was originally intended/designed to be.

So a sad end to a beaver dynasty, but as I said before; farmers, beavers, and dams just don’t mix together well. Farmers need the ability to drain water out of their fields and into the ditches, whereas beaver need water to NOT drain away so that they can have their wetland habitats. It’s a catch 22 of human vs nature.