What once was a large and successful colony of beavers, now sits drained. Only a little water left past where the dam used to hold it all in. This little puddle of water seems to be home to a family of wood ducks and occasional mallards, black ducks and Canada geese as they pass through.
A photo doesn't do this dam justice, but it was without a doubt the largest and longest dam out of all the other ponds in the area. Stretched across I would guess around 75 yards, not quite the length of a football field. Impressive was an understatement to describe this structure.
A year or two ago, this long structure broke open during a lengthy storm. This caused quite a monsoon to go down the stream, even taking out a bridge on a poor fellows driveway. Thus leaving this successful colony to become defunct as the beavers left to find somewhere else to call home. Now it sits, overgrown, a shadow of what it once was.
I think what fascinates me about beavers is the fact that they build these structures, no two are alike. When they are done with them, they sit abandoned, much like an old building or factory, once bustling with life, now empty. As with manmade and animal made structures, they don't remain lifeless for long. Plants begin to grow over and in them. Smaller animals use them for shelter. Herons sit a top old lodges eating a fresh caught frog or fish. Life goes on in these places, but it goes on without the presence of the beavers.
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