The dam is the largest and in many respects the most influential beaver work. Across a stream it is an inviting thorough fare for the folk of the wild. As soon as a dam is completed, it becomes a wilderness highway. It is used day and night. Across it go bears and lions. rabbits and wolves, mice and porcupines; chipmonks use it for a bridge, birds alight upon it, trout attempt to leap itand in the evening the deer cast their reflections with the willows in its quiet pond. Across it dash the pursuer and the pursue. Upon it take place battles and courtships. Often it is torn by hoof and claw. many a drama, romantic and picturesque, fierce and wild is staged upon the beaver dam.
p. 73 Enos Mills In Beaver World
Is that the loveliest thing you’ve ever read? I had to stop and read it aloud and send it to everyone connected to the story. I can’t recommend “In Beaver World” highly enough. It is less sentimental than Lily Pond, not as intrusive as Beaver Sprite and more scientific than Grey Owl. It is both less and more flattering to its subject than Lewis Henry Morgan, and oddly more observant than Muller-Schwarze. It is forcing me to read it in teaspoons so that I make sure to appreciate every vividly descriptive paragraph. Surprisingly, I’m on page 85 and haven’t yet read anything untrue. In fact he has a few things to say about beaver myths in general noting “One might read almost the entire mass of printed matter concerning the beaver without obtaining correct information about his manners and customs or an accurate description of his works and without getting at the real character of this animal“ Wow. Can I get an Amen?
The two things he has written that have raised my eyebrows are so firmly embedded in the midst of the verified the beaver-behavior we have closely observed over the years, that I’m inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. The first is that the beavers at one of his locations allow other families into their lodges and maintain lodges with up to 30 beavers. Hard to imagine, but I suppose not impossible. The second, and equally impressive, is that he had seen a beaver kill a bobcat on two occasions, again not outside the realm of imagination, but surprising none the less. His observations are so accurate and respectful of the animals that they have taken my breath as often as they have expelled it. Remember this is a lone man in the field, nearly a hundred years ago, just watching. No radio collars, tail beacons, or radar. Only a man with keen and quiet observations, day in and day out, in every season and weather, over many years and across many colonies and regions.
I was especially surprised to find this paragraph basically presaging the research of Michael Pollock 80 years ahead of its time, and describing the principal of hyporheic exchange about 65 years before it was ever discussed in scientific circles.
The Beaver dam gives new character to the landscape. It frequently alters the course of a stream and changes the topography. It introduces water into the scene. It nourishes new plant life. It brings new birds. It provides harbor and a home for fish throughout the changing seasons. It seizes sediment and soil from the rushing waters and it sends waters through subterranean ways to form and feed springs which give bloom to terraces below.
p.74 Enos Mills In beaver World
Did I mention it’s a good book? If you aren’t sure its worth your hard earned dollars to pick up a used copy at Amazon, Google has it mostly online and its well worth the read.
Our own beaver sightings are frustratingly inconsistent at the moment. Cheryl and I scoured the area for beavers this morning without success. Of the morning’s labors I can only report:
Beavers: 0 Mosquitoes: 2
