The long weekend allowed us to get out into the back woods and check out where some woodpeckers are having a major feast and to discover a new beaver harvesting zone. About three-quarters of a mile toward the country store on the old rail trail, a set of aspen trees were gnawed down by the beavers. Aspen is typically the first tree the beavers will attack, so this is a new set of animals (the area has seen previous colonies since it is swampy with areas of open and running water).

The warm weather has really depressed the snow machine traffic; the last image shows the trail as it goes to the pond. When the pond isn’t frozen to at least four or five inches, the snow machiners traverse it at their risk.