Once again this year, the road is flooded. It is not because of the heavy rain we had last week, and it is not because of the snow (you will notice the snow - a few days ago it was all melted and spring bulbs were blooming or about to bloom, when winter decided to give us one more whack).
No, the road is flooded because of Castor canadensis who has been very busy.
There is a culvert that lets the water drain from one side of the road to the other. It takes our resident beaver about 15 minutes to plug that culvert. Then the water start rising, and it produces a lake in the middle of the woods. No doubt a lovely sight for a beaver. Think of how much easier it is to drag a log along!
People complain, the municipality sends some employees to reopen the culvert. To get the water flowing again, it takes them quite a bit longer than it takes the beavers to stop it.
Once the municipal employees have finished unplugging and have left, and probably before they are even back to the station, our eager beavers have repaired all damage to their beautiful work. The water is not deep enough to the stop traffic, but with time, I suppose, the road could be washed off.
You do not usually see beavers. The moment they hear someone, they dive in.
I was able to take the picture above a couple of years ago because that particular beaver was in a shallow ditch far from water, which is most unusual. I expect it was a young adult who had been kicked out of home and was looking for a new low-lying area to do his/her own personal flooding.
If the situation evolves as it has in previous years, we will get to a point where the water level will remain quite high, high enough to be acceptable to a beaver, but not high enough to flood the road.
Until we get to that equilibrium, plugging and unplugging will go on for a while, with the plugging party definitely having the upper hand.
No, the road is flooded because of Castor canadensis who has been very busy.
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| me? |
There is a culvert that lets the water drain from one side of the road to the other. It takes our resident beaver about 15 minutes to plug that culvert. Then the water start rising, and it produces a lake in the middle of the woods. No doubt a lovely sight for a beaver. Think of how much easier it is to drag a log along!
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| A beaver-made lake |
People complain, the municipality sends some employees to reopen the culvert. To get the water flowing again, it takes them quite a bit longer than it takes the beavers to stop it.
Once the municipal employees have finished unplugging and have left, and probably before they are even back to the station, our eager beavers have repaired all damage to their beautiful work. The water is not deep enough to the stop traffic, but with time, I suppose, the road could be washed off.
You do not usually see beavers. The moment they hear someone, they dive in.
I was able to take the picture above a couple of years ago because that particular beaver was in a shallow ditch far from water, which is most unusual. I expect it was a young adult who had been kicked out of home and was looking for a new low-lying area to do his/her own personal flooding.
If the situation evolves as it has in previous years, we will get to a point where the water level will remain quite high, high enough to be acceptable to a beaver, but not high enough to flood the road.
Until we get to that equilibrium, plugging and unplugging will go on for a while, with the plugging party definitely having the upper hand.
Maybe there's another way to drain the road. The battle of the beavers sounds exhausting.
ReplyDeleteThere is, but it involves raising the road a fair bit ($$$$). Once the culvert is very big, it is a lot more difficult to plug and easier to unplug. All the main roads have these but not secondary roads.
DeleteGosh, they're persistent! I can't imagine having to deal with this. I suppose it happens out in the country around here, too, but I probably just didn't realize it was the work of beavers. I hope you reach that equilibrium soon!
ReplyDeleteOnce in a while they cut down a tree on the property here but fortunately in a swampy area which you do not see from the house or the road.
DeleteWe had beavers in this country hundreds of years ago, suddenly they have been appearing again. We now have a family on our local river, goodness knows how they came to be here, no-one is admitting to introducing them! Maybe we will start having the same sort of problems as you.
ReplyDeleteWhen there is a river they often do not need to build a dam but they do need to cut down trees!
DeleteThey are trying to reintroduce beavers to the UK so I hope those who are against it don't read this.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering like Jason whether the council could think around the problem.
They would be difficult to integrate in a place like Britain as they do need to make dams in treed areas. The real problem is when they move to downtown city parks and start felling mature trees. Then they are relocated.
DeleteWhat a lovely story Alain. Yet another of the perils of living in the country!
ReplyDeleteThey are not much of a problem as long as humans and beavers can find a way to live side by side. Fortunately there are quite a few beavers around here with all the other animals that depend on beavers for their habitat (bitterns, otter, muskrats, herons etc).
DeleteJust saw a documentary re beavers; it seems they are a 'keystone species', holding the whole ecosystem together. What they do in terms of water management and soil enrichment (over hundreds of years) is nothing but astounding. They featured men from the CCN (Commission de la Capitale Nationale) in parc Gatineau where they have similar problems (roads, culverts, $). The men came up with a system to lower the water level in a beaver pond without trapping beavers and relocating them, or tearing down a built dam. It ha to do with a big pipe that can be opened/closed, a bit like the faucet at the bottom of a rain barrel, so the level of water in the barrel may be adjusted without having to take the barrel apart. Plus de castors, moins d'humains!
ReplyDeleteSome decades ago beavers were endangered but fortunately they have recovered.
DeleteWhat an interesting problem. I'm glad there's enough land for the beavers to have their space, but I hope they can work out a compromise with where the dam goes. They probably thought the road and culvert were awfully convenient!
ReplyDeleteThey have been at it for years in the same spot. They usually reach a compromise with the municipality!
DeleteI can't add any suggestions to the beaver problem but I do want to say the photo of the young beaver is wonderful!
ReplyDelete