Beavers

Photo: Beaver damage to an elm tree along the river- Although we surrounded these two trees with chicken wire, just barely visible in the photo, the beavers simply ate the tree above the wire. This is one of 4 largish trees damaged so far this spring. Smaller trees, too, have been eaten in our 'backyard,' which doubles as the river bank of the Little Ark. The concern, besides the loss of our shade, is that those trees stabilize the bank. Without their root structure holding the soil, the floods wash away the bank and come ever nearer to the porch each year. It's enough to give a homeowner nightmares.