We happened upon a beaver swamp while out snowshoeing and learned that beavers are busy in winter too. There were many fresh tracks in the snow, lots of chewed trees and an open hole in the ice. The tracks were so fresh we figured the beaver heard us coming and hastened to his den.

Close-up of hole. Very stinky. No wi-fi.

Very cool pic. I have found seveal active beavers with holes like that in March. I was watching one as he dragged a small tree into a hole and disappeared.

RR

Did you know beavers contained an oil spill, three were burned.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/2 ... 70772.html

I don't know where you were snowshoeing, of course, but beavers on the snow in the winter near cottage country are usually the result of live-trapping and release away from a cottage lake.

Beavers know they are at considerable risk when out on the snow. They'd rather not.

What happens is that in Fall they start cutting down alders and such to put together their winter larder. If it's a cottage lake, they also cut down the prize expensive shrubbery planted under cottage windows. The owners visit, get annoyed, and then call someone to get rid of the beavers. But they say, "Don't shoot it -- we want it live-trapped and relocated to a wild lake". The trapper says, "OK", and takes their money (can't blame him).

But there aren't many wild lakes that are suitable for beaver that don't have a resident beaver population. So the relocated beaver has to fight for the right to stay there, or move on. Usually he moves on.

So he gets to a lake or pond just before freeze-up. There isn't time to build a house and stock up a larder. And usually it's a crappy spot -- that's why no beaver are there already.

Thus he spends a tough, high-risk winter, with poor accomodation, and has to go onto the surface of the snow to get something to eat. Odds are he'll get caught by a wolf or dog-coyote and killed and eaten himself.

It isn't much of a kindness to relocate a beaver in late Fall. (Although if you ask the beaver whether he'd like to be shot vs relocated, he'd probably opt for the move;)

Dave

February 2011 - Deep Freeze - north of Sudbury

_________________

"There are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going"-unknown

Cottage country..

Taken this spring in my backyard. Cut last fall it looks




This was started last year..now its much bigger. Some progress also made on dam.



The guys had a bit of a swim from my property..about half a km.. And the trees cut were some 75 meters from any shoreline.