Leave It To Beaver

Leave It To Beaver.

Seeing an actual beaver may be as elusive as finding re-runs of that favorite '60s and '70s TV show (1957-1963), since we don't have Nick at Night or TV Land on our satellite television subscription.

If I could find my local beaver, he wouldn't look a thing like Jerry Mathers. Instead, he might look something like this:

Photo from Wilderness Classroom

We do, however, see evidence that the Beav and maybe a friend or two are at our Peace Creek pasture. Just like the TV character, our local Beaver is leaving a trail of mischief behind him.

The beavers have built up a dam at our Peace Creek pasture. It's a little hard to tell from a 2-D photo, but the conglomeration of sticks, cattails and other "treasures" has backed up one portion of the creek, making it about 2 feet higher on the left-hand side of the dam than on the right-hand side.

I asked my resident wildlife expert about why they would do that. He's not exactly sure either, though his best guess was that the beavers like the deeper water the dam provides.

Even though we don't see the beavers, they leave plenty of evidence that they are in the area.

 

They do have a pretty place to hang out.

I've always said the working conditions are beautiful on The County Line. It appears they agree.

***

NOTE - These are crazy times we are living in as the U.S. practices "social distancing" to try and combat the spread of the Covid-19 virus. I'll have some thoughts on that and on March as Ag Month. But, before the edict against gatherings of 50+ came down, Randy & I attended the Kansas Master Farmer/Farm Homemaker meetings and banquet. Since I was last year's secretary, I've been working on those minutes instead of blog posts. I wrote this post before we left for Manhattan. More to come ...

Flat Aggie Plays Hide and Seek

For the most part, I'd say that our Peace Creek pasture is aptly named. Even in the drab brown of winter, it's a fairly peaceful place.

On a snowy day, as we check the mamas and the babies, the silence is broken by the honk of geese and the chatter of sandhill cranes as they fly overhead. The mama cows in the pasture let out their deep-throated cries and their babies answer back in voices that seem bigger than their size.

Randy and I had a visitor to the Peace Creek pasture this past week, but he wasn't too talkative. Flat Aggie from a fourth grade classroom in California came to check out our Kansas farm. Flat Aggie is a project of my southeast Kansas blog friend, Nicole, and her Tales of a Kansas Farm Mom blog. (I'll be sharing more of Aggie's adventures in the days to come. Also, feel free to weigh in on my blog post yesterday and my dilemma about how much detail to share with fourth graders.)

Anyway, our Flat Aggie came dressed in jeans, which is a good thing when you are visiting a farm. He also had sturdy brown work shoes, which is good when you're working around cattle. He and Randy got along just great because they both like to wear caps.

Last week, Flat Aggie came with us to check the mamas and the babies at the Peace Creek pasture. He got to see a calf drinking some milk from his mama. Aggie thought that seemed pretty convenient.

(The little calf ran away, leaving Flat Aggie and Randy in the dust!)

Aggie also liked playing hide and seek with a different calf who decided to get in the feed trough. (The calf doesn't eat the food in the trough, but his mama and the other mother cows do. You can see what the feed looks like in the photo below, where you see it stacked on the wood.)

Then, we took Flat Aggie to look for another creature at Peace Creek - a beaver. I've never seen him, but we know he's there. I would love to share a photo of my own, but he is good at playing hide and seek, too.

(I got the photo from Wilderness Classroom.)

Our cattle drink water from the creek. This is what the creek looks like near the road.

Below, we showed Flat Aggie the creek further back in the pasture. The mama cow over Randy's shoulder seems to want an introduction to Aggie.

Even though we never see the beaver, we know he (and maybe some friends) are there because they've built a dam. They use their tails to build up dirt and plant material to hold back the water.

Randy gave Flat Aggie a closer look.

Back at the road, we saw more evidence that the beaver lives and works nearby. Beavers like to use their teeth on trees.

It looks like he's been working on this tree for awhile.

A few years ago, the beaver gnawed on one of the trees in our pasture and it fell over into the creek.

 

If Flat Aggie wants to see the beaver, he's going to have to be luckier than me and Randy. Maybe if he sneaks up to the beaver lodge, he'll be able to find him. But probably not.

Calling Jerry Mathers

Leave It To Beaver.

Seeing an actual beaver may be as elusive as finding re-runs of that favorite '60s and '70s TV show (1957-1963), since we don't have Nick at Night or TV Land on our satellite television subscription.

If I could find my local beaver, he wouldn't look a thing like Jerry Mathers. Instead, he might look something like this:

Photo from Wilderness Classroom

We do, however, see evidence that the Beav and maybe a friend or two are at our Peace Creek pasture. Just like the TV character, our local Beaver is leaving a trail of mischief behind him.

The beaver and his friends have their equivalent of the Holiday Inn built on Peace Creek about a half mile into the pasture. We rode the 4-wheeler to their "construction site." They built the lodge from the cattails and grasses that they've chomped off with their sharp teeth. They've used their tails to pack down dirt for a dam, backing the water into a small pond along the creek.

The beavers also left their calling card much closer to the road. They are mighty productive - or destructive - depending upon how you look at it. During the past three years, we've watched their progress on felling a tree. Since it's near the entrance to the pasture and to where the guys load up silage in the winter, we've witnessed the beavers' prowess - even though we never see them.

Randy first showed me the tree in January 2011.

January 1, 2011

By the next January, the beavers had almost gnawed through the entire tree trunk. It was not a measly tree either.

January 4, 2012

Now the tree is completely severed and has fallen into Peace Creek.

March 2013

All this without the aid of power tools - unless you count their teeth.

Beavers' ability to change the landscape is second only to humans. That is just one reason why we find the flat-tailed species fascinating. While some beaver behavior is instinctive, they also learn by imitation and from experience. Dr. Donald Griffin, the father of animal cognition, has said, "When we think of the kinds of animal behavior that suggest conscious thinking, the beaver comes naturally to mind." 

From Beavers: Wetlands and Wildlife

 

Their sharp teeth and this soft, dreamy scene don't seem to have much in common. But this is what happens when your husband takes you on a "date" on the 4-wheeler ... and you carry your camera in a fanny pack ... and it goes to a special "soft" setting without you knowing it.

Some dates involve soft candlelight. Mine involves a soft camera setting. And that's just the way I like it.

Proving a Simile

As quiet as a mouse.
As cunning as a fox.
As cute as a bug's ear.
As crooked as a dog's hind leg.
As gentle as a lamb.
As happy as a clam.

I'm not sure how to verify the accuracy of some of those familiar animal similes. I'm not anxious to get close enough to a bug to check out its ear. Same goes for the mouse.

But I have photographic proof of the truth behind this one:

As busy as a beaver.

The beavers have indeed been busy on this tree at our Peace Creek pasture. They've gnawed their way through it, sending it toward the water.

A year ago, Randy first showed me the evidence of the beaver's voracious appetite for timber. Even though we haven't seen the beavers at work, he's watched their progress as he has gone to the pasture to check cattle and load silage.

January 1, 2011

January 4, 2012

If only my teeth were that strong, I'd spend a lot less time at the dentist and a lot less money.

That's as plain as day.
That's as true as the day is long.

Leave It To Beaver

I was one of those kids in the 1960s who loved watching the Beav and Wally on Leave It To Beaver. Even though it only ran from 1957 to 1963, reruns introduced the Cleaver family to other generations of television viewers.

But the County Line has another kind of beaver. Even though he's elusive, and we haven't seen him in person, we've seen evidence of his work.

If we were to catch a glimpse of him, he'd probably look something like this:

(I got the photo from Wilderness Classroom.)

We have cattle in a pasture on Peace Creek. It's also where the guys go every day to load up silage to feed the cattle.

As Randy was driving into the pasture, he noticed the gnawing marks on the tree.

Then, he saw the hole in the ice where the beaver had broken the surface of the creek to get to his chewing station.

And, even though it was about 10 degrees at the time, he came back to the house so I could see it, too. That's true love, isn't it?

The beaver probably lives on the other side of the creek, beyond the bend. When we still farmed that land, we took a 4-wheeler ride and saw the beaver dam along Peace Creek. We don't farm the ground anymore, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

And while it was interesting to see the well-chewed tree and the broken ice, I got distracted by the beauty of the sun reflecting on the ice.

It was worth bundling up in three layers of clothing to see that.