Author Archives: john

Beavers are back

johngregsite Posted on by

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image D81_0649_2018_zAfter a vigorous but short rain storm last week, I found the creek near our house backed up at bridge bravo (the second bridge on the adjacent snow-mobile trail). Here is the cause: rodent damnation. At first I was suspect of the cause. We had a big storm last October which felled a great deal of trees, branches, leaves, and eroded volumes of dirt, mud, silt, and everything I can’t think of. In the spring, there was a large dam almost like this one. After a couple of months, a town maintenance crew showed up and cleared it out.

Now, I am thinking the first one was not natural causes – well, natural but, in an animated way. Two days ago, I found a tree across the trail right at the culvert and bridge. The image below shows the base of the tree as it is now. I have also spotted another three-inch diameter sized tree halfway gnawed. We have beavers.

The culvert has been completely under water a couple of times over the almost thirty years we have been here (it is about 25 yards from our property line and 150 yards or so from the house). The flooding inspired by the dam renders access to our side of the snow-mobile trail, and thus our side of the hundred-acre wood, a bit more complicated. The detour forces us to walk a bit further on the road and we then cross land that is being sold and marked as no trespassing (we will claim we are inspecting the property for purchase if ever challenged, but, that is another story).

Back woods animal park

johngregsite Posted on by

One recent evening on a walk to the far bog, we encountered turkeys in the field, a beaver (we think- could be a muskrat?), and then a young buck back in the field on the return leg.
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There were four or five turkeys. Getting a good shot of them is difficult; they are skittish and I am not sure it is because of Murphy or not.
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The image below is at the near side of the far bog and it was amazing to see this blob slowly cruising down the alley in the duckweed/slime directly right at us. This is the first time I noticed an “alley” in the water. At the beginning of the spring, this is all open water once the ice melts.

The creature continued straight at us. At about twenty feet away, it dove and seemed to appear right at the shoreline in front of us. It disappeared again. It may have swam off underwater or continued into a tunnel at the water’s edge in front of us.

The young buck was eating when we approached from the bog; we stopped; he looked up and then we stared at each other for a long while. The area between us and him was where the turkeys were about thirty minutes earlier! Because of the curvature of the field, I am sure the deer did not see Murphy. With that, Murphy also couldn’t see the deer. He did not indicate any targets on his nose radar.
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