Attack of the Rogue Beaver

If you visit my lakefront, you will notice wire fencing wrapped around the base of my golden willows.  I originally started wrapping the trees thirty-plus years ago after a beaver gnawed at one of the them.  Our section of the lake is not great habitat for beaver, but on rare occasion one will migrate through.

Yesterday, while down at the lakeshore retrieving a couple five-gallon buckets, I noticed something missing.  That something was a golden willow that grew from a branch I poked into the rip-rap at the edge of the lake a dozen or so years ago.  Upon close inspection, I saw the tree had been attacked by another rogue beaver.

Weirdly enough, I am having trouble getting mad at the beaver.  A beaver needs dinner.  Also, I have been enjoying the work of beavers along the creek at my cabin.  They are an incredibly industrious sort.  They have made several handsome ponds in my meadow.  And they have provided sub-irrigation that now keeps sections of the meadow green throughout the dry spells of summer.

Gnawed Willow

—Mitchell Hegman