Just across my property line in the valley is a creek with a bridge that we enjoy visiting. On one of my recent visits to the bridge a few weeks ago - I was amazed to find a beaver dam just up the creek.

Beaver Dam - Up the Creek from the Bridge

Click to watch the Video

The Creek before the Beaver Dam

In the picture below you can see just up creek from the bridge - before the beaver dam was built. The large rocks on the left side of the creek can be used as a point of reference for the beaver dam picture above.

The Picture below is the Creek - before the Beaver Dam

Click to Watch the Video

Beaver Creek Dam Construction

In the picture above you can see the log on the left side of the creek, and that the ground on the left side of the creek goes much higher. The beavers had to build up the right side of the creek. First they piled sticks, then mud and clay on the water side of the pile of sticks. This also helped narrow the gap of the creek where they built the dam.

Made the Trek to the Second Beaver Dam

The edge along the beaver creek is unstable and lined with many small trees. It was easier for me to travel through the field beside the tree lined creek then cut back through the trees to the second dam and pond. Below is a picture of the path to 2nd Beaver Dam - a lot of overgrowth and poison ivy, the large beaver pond is just beyond those tall trees. Luckily poison ivy doesn't bother me, but people can have severe reactions to it, so be sure you know what poison ivy and and other bothersome plants look like before you go trekking off the path in your area.

I wanted to find the home - or lodge of the beaver. It's a large mound on the beaver dam created pond that they enter from the bottom - from under the water of the pond. North American beavers have to make their ponds large enough so they don't completely freeze in the winter - or else the beaver would be trapped in the lodge. Beavers stick freshly chewed off branches into the mud of the bottom of their pond for retrieving and eating in the winter.

Second Beaver Dam and Pond

Click to Watch the Video

In the picture above you can see that I managed to find another beaver dam up the creek from the first dam. This dam created a much larger beaver pond - click the picture above to watch the video of the second beaver dam and pond. Unfortunately I was not able to spot the beaver lodge before I headed back to the cabin. I will return soon to this beaver pond possibly with a small raft or water boots to try to locate the beaver lodge.

The North American Beaver

Beaver Illustration Source

Beavers have large teeth for chewing down trees and removing branches, webbed back feet for improved swimming, front paws with claws, and a large flat tail that is used for signaling danger and storing extra fat. Beavers eat the inner bark of trees, leaves, and other forest and aquatic vegetation. For more information about the North American beaver: Wikipedia: North American Beaver.

First Beaver Dam Taken Down

In the picture below you can see the first beaver dam that is near the creek bridge. A few days later we heard noises down by the creek from our cabin half way up the other side of the valley. I also noticed that I could hear the creek flowing again, so my son and I went down there to investigate.

Click to Watch the Video

When we arrived at the creek bridge there were two teenagers sitting on the bridge and one was in the creek - taking apart the dam. It had been a few rain less days since discovering the beaver dams, they said the creek had completely stopped. They used to live near the lake and visit this creek often - they still liked to come out here once in a while in the summer from the city. One of them said that one time he had came down to the creek and a beaver started slapping his tail on the water. He said all the beavers swam to the other side of the shore and ran off into the woods. Below is a picture of the creek after the beaver dam was removed.

Click to Watch the Video

Stay tuned for the next trek to beaver creek.

Have a great day!