After maintaining this website for a decade and writing about the cascade of beaver news around the country, you start to realize certain things.

September is the month for sudden worries about beaver dams causing flooding, October seems to be the for writing about roads washing out because of failed dams and December is the sweetly wistful month where whimsical columnists write stories of beavers asleep beneath the ice like cozy children.

January, however, is the month for complaining about beavers chewing trees.

Hungry beavers make mess in LaSalle, town moves quickly to prevent clogged drain

Busy beavers have been keeping LaSalle tree trimmers just as busy. The semiaquatic rodent has been chewing through some trees along Turkey Creek near Malden Road. The town is moving fast to clear a path, ensuring the drain doesn’t get clogged.

“There were some trees taken down by beavers in that area, so we’ve sort of moved it to the front of our list,” said Mark Beggs, LaSalle’s manager of roads and parks.

The Turkey Creek drain doesn’t provide beavers enough trees to make permanent lodges or dams, according to Cedar. She assumes they must just be practicing their lumberjack skills.

“A lot of young beavers … have to figure out what trees they are able to remove,” Cedar said. “Can they cut down this tree on their own? Is that too big? Is that too small?”

Cedar said there has been similar beaver activity near drains within city limits as well.

Hmm. Windsor is pretty far away from Martinez. 4000 miles to be precise. But gosh darn if we didn’t find the same thing in our creek this January. Coincidence? This report is from Montana.

Park board hears more on beavers in Beaver Creek Park

Hill County Park Board met Monday and discussed beaver management options and beaver trapping reports, as well as park usage.

Fran Buell of Gildford provided a beaver damage control report for the board. The document said, “At the December 2019 Montana Trappers Association Board of Directors meeting, the funding of beaver damage control on Beaver Creek Park was discussed. It was agreed that the Montana Trappers Association would continue funding to a Montana Trappers Association member to assist in beaver damage control until it will be discussed again at their May 2020 board meeting. Again, beaver damage control will be under the supervision of the Beaver Creek Park superintendent.”

Buell said the trapper has not been actively trapping since the first part of December due to the warm weather because he would like to have sufficient ice on the ponds to safely and efficiently set traps.

Bring in the traps! Who needs another ice-skating rink anyway? Here’s a letter of support from Pennsylvania,

LTE: Let the beavers of Cobalt Ridge and Quincy Hollow be

Residents of Cobalt Ridge and Quincy Hollow have been observing the activities of beavers in the greenbelt between the two sections. The beavers have been repeatedly building a small dam at the expense of some trees in the immediate area. Initially someone attempted to discourage the beavers by destroying the dam only to see reconstruction start immediately.

Rain events also tended to damage the beaver work efforts. It now appears that more drastic measures are being taken. At least one beaver has been killed by trappers who claim to have been hired by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The trapping activity continues since the beaver construction activity has not been deterred.

The dam has never been large enough to jeopardize storm water drainage lines entering the creek. It did create a pool of water that improved fishing as youngsters were observed enjoying this activity for the first time in years.

Mark Bogdan

We might look up Mark. There are a few clues in this letter that he might have an environmental background. “Greenbelt” and “Rain events” to mention two. We could always use another beaver defender Plus he has a pretty unusual name and that’s always easier to google.

Here’s what I wonder. Is there some biological imperative that leads to beaver chewing in January? A sudden tooth growth spurt or a preparation for bleaker days ahead? Is there some ancient evolutionary memory that reminds beavers – even in places like Martinez where they’ll never be frozen in- reminds them to eat some cambium? These trees often aren’t felled. Just nibbled.

Why?