Beaver Activity on the Lower Pond During the Winter of 2015-16

I broke out the bushwhacker to begin trimming back woody growth along the trail head and up to the culvert.  Unfortunately, a missing part resulted in cutting short the effort.  Undaunted, I headed back and prepped the lawnmower to deal with non-wood, dead weeds along the trail.  After changing the oil and gassing up, I grabbed the throttle bar to start it, and the throttle cable snapped. The universe was telling me to go take a hike, so it I did.

On this trek, I headed to the far end of the lower pond.  If you remember, last fall the beavers began reinforcing the long abandoned, original dam and then promptly began another dam only about 20-30 yards down stream.

The old dam was reinforced to raise the level of the lower pond and afford the lodge more protection.  The second dam was most likely made to assist in moving branches and logs for their winter lodge, food, and dam work.

When I observed them last fall, I wondered what the spring would bring. Today's walk seems to suggest they are continuing to work on BOTH dams.  If they do, the pond will continue to grow eastward toward Ham Road and possible southerly, toward Rt. 27.  Neither of those growth areas pose any problem for the condos.

However, continued work on the original dam at the end of Locksley will result in a rise in the level of the lower pond.  This is an area we need to watch this spring and summer season.

Here's an overview of the activity on the lower pond.

Beaver Activity 2-25-16

I took advantage of the great weather today to check out beaver activity around the pond. I was happy to see there was minimal activity on the condo side of the pond.

The bulk of the activity so far, and hopefully into the spring, is on the far side of the pond, along the trail to the old picnic area, and in the wood off the trail around the picnic area.  The video below, gives you a quick look at that.

There was not new activity anywhere around the upper pond, including the trail up to Arrow from the clubhouse.  

The mild winter has been kind to the dam and there is not much repair work for them to do.

The culverts are in good shape and will take only a few minutes of maintenance.