Beaver Full Moon
On November 15th, we experienced a beaver full moon. This name is appropriate because now is the time of year beavers start taking shelter in their lodges after stocking up food to get them through the winter.
During the fur trade era, it was the season to trap beaver for their heavy winter pelts.
Adult Beaver
Beaver activity in Wacouta is fairly common. Because they are primarily nocturnal, observing them is not a frequent occurrence.
Beaver Cutting
If you walk or canoe along the shore, evidence of their presence is easy to locate. One misconception of a beaver's diet is that they eat wood. Beaver only consume the bark of smaller twigs and branches. If this takes place while the beaver is in the water, the wood floats away and ends up on the shore.
The tree of choice around Wacouta Bay is willow. It tends to grow along the water's edge and is very abundant. Their favorite food is aspen. Unfortunately, aspen does not grow near water, but prefers well drained soil.
Back in the 1970's during the month of February, I had a group of ELC students on a hike in the hardwood forest along Hay Creek. This hike took place right after a freak heavy rainstorm and resulting flash flood. The high water washed away the feed pile for a family of beavers.
With two month of winter remaining, this offered our group an excellent opportunity to discover food preferences for these unfortunate animals. For the next ten days, we cut and made available saplings right next to their bank den of eight different species of trees.
For the next ten mornings, we would check to see what saplings were missing and offer a replacement. Aspen was missing every single morning while most of the others were never touched.
Fresh Beaver Cutting
Beaver prefer to cut trees and saplings as close to the water's edge as possible to avoid predation by coyotes in our area. Beavers have very poor eyesight and leave them quite vulnerable.
To illustrate that fact, I would like to share a personal experience. Growing up in far southeast Minnesota, I did a fair amount of summer fishing for smallmouth bass in the Upper Iowa River.
One very hot and humid evening just before dark, I was wading up to my knees casting across the river. Glancing downstream, I noticed an adult beaver swimming upstream directly toward me. I stopped casting and remained motionless, anxious to see how close it might come.
When the beaver was six feet away, I tapped it on the nose with the end of my spinning rod. To say there was an explosive reaction would be an understatement.
Well Used Beaver Trail
When saplings are not available at the water's edge, trails are repeatedly used leading back to a reliable food source.
In recent years, research conducted by the University of Minnesota and Voyageurs National Park using GPS monitoring and trail cameras some amazing discoveries have been revealed. Especially in the spring, timber wolves will lie in wait near the trails and ambush adult beaver as well as the kits.
Beaver Lodge
Another challenge facing Wacouta beaver is where to reside. Unless their lodge is built away from the predictable high water and strong current, it will be repeatedly washed away.
Except for the past two years, there has been a wonderful lodge constructed back in the trees away from strong current at the upper end of Wacouta Bay. It was a lodge I was able to visit at all seasons of the year.
Winter Beaver Feed pile
In the fall of 2022, this very large feed pile was established at the front of the lodge I described earlier in this post. I wonder if they had a sense that a difficult winter was about to arrive with several feet of snow January through March?
Beaver On Top Of Its Lodge
The next spring, all that snow would melt and cause the river to rise several feet. By paddling my canoe quietly, I was able to approach the lodge without being detected.
This photo is of an adult beaver resting on top of it's lodge after the main living quarters had flooded. Eventually, my presence was discovered and the beaver dove into the water and slapped it's tail to warn others in the family of potential danger.
A New Lodge
As you might remember, we dealt with very low water levels in the later parts of the 2023 and 2024 summers. In the summer of 2023, I received a phone call from a neighbor informing me a pair of beavers had established residency under their large dock because of the low water levels.
This past summer, I am assuming the pair of beaver after having to abandon their lodge because of low water, constructed a new lodge at the mouth of Bullard Creek. With water levels continuing to fall, this new lodge was also abandoned. The life of these beavers face continuing challenges.
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