Getting Ready for Winter-Our Beavers

Our Beavers have been VERY busy getting ready for winter. Notice the new mud on top of the lodge and the twigs and branches further out in the water. The mud came from the bottom of the lake--notice the dark colored leaves. The mud will dry and fill in the holes between the branches and twigs so that the lodge is sealed tight for the winter--no wind will be able to get through those cracks. The twigs and branches in the lake will freeze into a solid sheet of ice and allow the beavers to slip UNDER the ice in the winter to nibble on the branches. This way they can stay toasty warm all winter.

BEAVER LODGE in the foreground and GOOD STUFF to eat in the lake.

Beavers at House In the Wood

We have beavers at House In The Wood which I think is really kool!

Photo courtesy of  Wisconsin DNR EEK website

Usually all I get to see are the SIGNS of beaver, like this freshly chewed tree or the branches that I came across last week!

Some of my AmeriCorps volunteers even saw the actual beaver a few weeks ago! It usually looks like a head swimming in the water with a wide "V" of waves behind it. I was so very happy to see them this year because I thought they may have all been trapped and killed by our neighbors in the subdivision across the lake.

Beavers can make many homeowners very unhappy as they chew trees and sometimes even topple REALLY large trees like this POPLAR tree that had to be at least two feet in diameter and 80 years old. It was the only poplar in this area of House In The Wood and the beavers toppled it into the lake. The beavers chewed on this tree for food for over a year! Now it provides a nice sunning spot for our painted turtles.

When you walk the bottom loop of the LAKE TRIAL you can see the beaver lodge that is very near the toppled Poplar tree in an area that we call the "Ramble Breakfast Area". Shhhh....you might get to see the beaver as it leaves the lodge and swims away.

 

This is MY favorite site for information about Beavers

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/critter. /mammal/beaver.htm

What information can you tell us about beavers?

Post a Comment

More information about House In The Wood at www.houseinthewood.org.  

We are operated by: