Beavers Make Presence Known

It’s not just the humans that are busy with farm activities.We have been noticing more sign that the beaver family is busy with spring activities as well. A walk along the river shows several areas where the beaver are cutting down saplings and dragging them down into the water.

The water keeps the bark moist and fresh, like a natural food storage program. Days or weeks can go by with these saplings, leaves and all, are sunk into the cool water and stored.

When the beavers are hungry, they strip the bark for a tasty snack. The river then acts like a garbage disposal, and the bare sticks are washed away from their dining area. I found a spot downstream from where the beavers were eating. Sticks littered the bottom of the river and along the edge.

I have found that these bare sapling sticks are very strong. They can be whittled easily and used as a walking stick; in the garden, they are strong and flexible markers and row stakes.

Twenty years ago, we had planted a few fruit trees in an area about 100 yards in from a steep bank that led down to the river. The trees were tended regularly and were growing nicely until one spring the beavers decided that they had a hankering for some apple. The beavers had started to girdle the apple tree, and were gnawing off the bark around the base about two feet up from the ground.

Trees have a thin layer of cambium (sticky sap-like substance) just under the bark. The cambium is the lifeblood of the tree and if a tree is girdled, that is, the bark is removed in a complete circle around the tree, the layer of cambium is disrupted and the tree will eventually die.

To prevent more damage to the tree, the beavers had to be discouraged from gnawing. We used a water based paint to give the tree a protective new coat. The paint worked, and the beavers left the tree alone. The family laughed when they saw the tree trunk had been ‘white washed’ with pink paint. It was left over from a recent painting project. I’m not sure if the paint tasted terrible, or if the pink paint just sent the beavers off appalled at the sight at having to gnaw on bright pink wood.

After several years the paint is not very pretty anymore, but it has served the purpose of protecting the fruit bearing apple from those pesky beavers. The tree is severely disfigured but continues to produce golden delicious apples every year.