Update from our May 12 workday courtesy Topf Wells with photos from Jim Beecher …

Busy as and efficient as beavers is the summary of our workday at Fryes Feeder. About 15-18 of us cleared, treated, and stacked willow.  We would have burned it but would have risked suffocating a trail run at Donald Park.

The stream banks are clear of willow with the groves of bigger willow several yards away from the stream still remaining. We also took out some invasive honeysuckle. We removed a small beaver dam and an enormous willow stump. When it dries out I intend to sit on it some spring  and watch trout eat BWOs.  The bigger beaver dam was breached to the extent that the flooded crop field drained.

Some very fresh cuttings tell us the beavers are still there and plenty of bigger willows still remain. I don’t know how all the rain will affect the beavers’ repair schedule but I expect they have already filed the work orders. As I looked at the site, I was reminded of Dave Vetrano’s comment that “willows are beaver candy.” If so, we were at the beaver equivalent of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

The creek itself looked great and was running surprisingly clear. I’m guessing it’s full of trout. I’d love to know who is living in the beaver pond.