I guess the city of Vallejo is so used to abandoned housing that they decided to add a beaver lodge to the foreclosure list. Cheryl found the lodge a month ago, wrapped invitingly around both sides of a flooded eucalyptus tree and at the head of a stately pond defended by a low dam in a culvert. It was made entirely of reeds and impossible to photograph in the thicket of tulles. Now it looks like this.
Remember how our old lodge looked after Skip lowered the water level? You could see directly into the interior and I always worried what harm might come their way. Apparently mom worried too because she got to work building on the opposite shore. Here’s how ours used to look:
- Dad watching from the old lodge – Cheryl Reynolds
So what was the big problem that made them take a back hoe to a better homes and gardens marsh? One of a pair of culverts was partially plugged and looked like this.
Now that they’ve had their foreclosure fun the Marsh is a trickle and the culvert has a pipe in it that looks like this.
I don’t really know how to classify this installation. It’s obviously a hand-rigged attempt at a Clemson design, but the area is so remote that I can’t see this as an ostentatiously ‘pretend’ effort which proceeds the excuse for trapping. Someone really wants to keep beavers out of the culvert without killing them, or spending any money whatsoever and I guess that’s a small comfort. Or at the very least thinks they can ‘drive’ the beavers away by making the area inhospitable. I wrote the mayor and the director of public works and gave them info and plans for a beaver deceiver, but obviously they decided to wing it or listen to their buddies in Cordelia.
Well good luck fellas, and here’s hoping that your beavers have lots of holes to hide in while waiting for the water levels to re-stabilize. Oh and if you haven’t had time yet go sign the Ottawa Petition below. They’re working hard and they deserve our support.
