Sue and I walked in to take a look at the Beaver ponds on Thursday. After all, it was a stunningly beautiful day, and any excuse to be outside sounded pretty good to us!
The trail into ExcaliBEAVER's domain is one of the easiest walking trails on our property. The path is carpeted with moss, and then as it moves down into the pine forest, with pine needles so thick it is like walking on a carpet.
From the top of the hill, the beaver's workplan unfolds to the horizon. There are three separate ponds, terraced by extensive dams. You can easily see the first two of these ponds in the first picture on this post. The third is of course the lowest, and the farthest away from the camera, so harder to see from here. Beaver has his mansion in this first, deepest pond. You can see it from the vantage point at the trailhead, as well as his food stash anchored to the bottom of the pond. So well stocked is his larder that it breaks the surface of the pond. Of course, not all the meals are placed in storage -- you can see from this stump how carefully the beavers have nibbled off the bark -- no doubt enjoying a bit of a picnic in the process.
Farther along, the trail moves downhill, and skirts the edge of the 'work zone.' Right at the edge of the trail is one of the 'canals' the beaver has dug to make the job of moving the trees easier. It's interesting to see not just the stumps, but the intervals where the wood chips are spread about, evidence of how carefully the logs have been cut into manageable lengths.
As the trail smooths out again at the base of the hill, it winds into the pines, a cool shady walk that takes us right beside the first of the dams. This is a big, long dam. It may not be the largest ever found -- that honour at present goes to a dam in Northern Alberta that is about 850 meters (2790 ft) in length, and estimated to be about 23' across at the base. All the same, the Bondi beaver has developed one impressive set of dams.
We weren't the only ones enjoying the beaver ponds. There was a pair of mallard ducks dabbling in one of the two creeks that flow into these ponds. I really like this picture, with the cool green reflection on that section of the water. The ducks were the only reason there were any ripples at all. On the other side of the trail, on the pond itself, it was all sunshine and mirror surface. There was also quite a lot of wolf scat along the trail, but none of the 'depositors' was around to pose for the cameras! While we understand that there is a great deal of industry and effort that goes into the care and maintenance of beaver dams such as these, there is something tremendously calming and soul-restoring about the quiet serenity of ExcaliBEAVER's Camelot. Or should we call it BEAVER-lot?
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