What are the odds that a big beaver dam would suddenly wash away RIGHT before a field trip planned with news cameras! It’s almost like the fates aligned to let the children see the inside of a beaver lodge.
I’m sure it wasn’t any other reason.
Middleton Stream Team: Seeing the usually hidden world of beavers
The dam on Emerson Brook, creating Prichard’s Pond, was recently breached in one area, causing a dramatic drop in water levels. The hikers on this overcast, but mild winter day, were amazed. It is very rare to see the many tunnels, runways, and entrances to lodges that beavers use to stay hidden from all and safe from predators.
It seems most of the beavers may have moved up the brook to a large impoundment northwest of the pond. On the pond, we found several lodges with the entrance hole totally exposed due to the very low water; This would be a dangerous home for a beaver. But not all of them have given up and moved. We discovered several large trees recently chewed. These large rodents usually only eat the cambium layer of nutrient-rich pulp just under the bark, although they will also sample small branches. They prepare for winter by dragging many branches and stacking them in the pond just outside their lodge. They can stay inside and just eat from their “pantry” right outside their door. With all the work areas of the beavers in full sight on this hike, it was easy to see how they live.
Gosh that’s an amazing coincidence! I’m so old that I remember when Skip was paid to take the beaver dam down by three feet so that the city council could keep their largest donor happy. That was a very long time ago.
The final stretch of the hike was exciting in a different way. The pre-hike planners, led by Pike Messenger, had run a hand rope through some large secure trees so the hikers could safely walk across the top of the dam. We got a close-up look at the beautiful ice formations over the rushing water. We also got to see the old sluice way control, rusted and frozen shut, but the wheel and mechanisms still clearly visible from where we stood on top the dam.
We had started the hike by heading up Boston Brook for a bit of history of the 17th-century, water-powered mill that had once been there. The old man-made dam has crumbled but the beavers have impounded the area above where the dam and water-powered wheel would have been.
Wow what a coincidence! The dam washed out and you got to walk by the old mill. Good thing the beavers didn’t rebuild their dam really fast before you got to take that field trip! This really couldn’t have worked out any better for you.
It’s almost like the whole thing was planned.
