The Beaver Pond – Part 1

A beautiful, warm April afternoon proved an ideal time to visit the beaver pond and photograph the work that the beavers have done. The beaver dam shown here is reportedly 300 feet long. The pond is located on private land and is the site of a pond leveler, known as a Beaver Deceiver.

The sound of running water attracts the beavers who diligently build a dam, often blocking culverts. This in turn causes flooding of roads and areas during periods of high water.

To combat this without removing or destroying the beavers, a device called a pond leveler is put in place. The leveler is essentially a pipe positioned at a level that will allow the pond to drain when the water level is high. It’s a little more complicated than described above, but that is basically how it works. The payoff comes by allowing people and wildlife to co-exist while providing a pleasant area for walking, relaxing and wildlife observation.

 Part 2 of the Beaver Pond to follow, showing the installation of the pond leveler.

If this story seems vaguely familiar, it should. This is the other side of Art Wolinsky’s condo pond in New Hampshire. He’s the retired engineer who used Mike Callahan’s DVD and advice to put in a pond leveler and save the beavers from being dispatched when they were blocking the culvert.  He’s since enjoyed watching and filming the beavers and wildlife in the area wither using night cams or filming in person. Here’s some of his work that I gratefully use in my talks.

Someday we’ll have a beaver advocate in every state, who can describe why they’re important and document the good they do while showing how to efficiently solve problems.  It will happen, trust me. Then they’ll be two in every state. Then five.

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that Texas will be last, though.