Under normal circumstances, “my husband” and “explosives” are not words you want to see in the same sentence.  However, with our beaver problem going from bad to worse, plus the onset of some of the wettest weather Nova Scotia has seen in recent years, the pairing of these phrases became not only acceptable, but necessary.

As I had already returned home, I can only give a second-hand and necessarily vague report of the shady goings-on down at Beaver Dam.  The first round was a fairly straightforward win: with the aid of a keen eye and a great deal of patience, the final score was Paul: 2, Beaver: 0.  The evidence was left at the dam as a warning.

This is all well and good, but word on the street estimated the beaver population along this waterway to be forty-plus.  If this was the case, we needed to find a more permanent solution.  The gravel surface was now almost completely washed away, and if the erosion continued, our road would become a river.  We had discussed various options: a bridge, a bigger culvert, raising the level of the road.  All of these are costly endeavours which require a backhoe, not to mention a wealth of time and material.  Simpler, more immediate action was needed.

Trust me, there’s a reason why Paul’s nickname is Pierce Gibson McGyver.  See, you leave him by himself for a couple of days and he gets bored.  When he gets bored, he thinks up mad solutions for tough problems.  Hmm, he thinks to himself, what would happen if I used my knowledge for good instead of evil?  Ah, what indeed? 

Around the supper hour, a large boom was heard in the vicinity of Beaver Dam.  The theme from “The Dambusters” may or may not have been playing.  The initial percussion caused a small shock wave, giving local blue jays and chipmunks time to scatter.  Shortly thereafter there was an ominous burbling sound, and a huge mass of mud, tree branches and debris rocketed out of the culvert like a cork from a bottle.  Water began to gush through the cleared culvert and almost immediately the flooded area began to subside. 

Here are a few before and after pictures:

Before



Remember this?  Knee-deep ... and this is the road!



The extent of the flooding, with our car to show scale.

After

 

That great big lump that looks like a part of the riverbank?  That was tightly packed inside the culvert.





View downstream showing how quickly the water has receded.



The riverbank which was previously completely submerged.



.... and the road is now dry!

The amount of material blocking the culvert was such that we guess it had not been cleared in years.  As well, when we looked at the photos of the waterway when we first saw the property back in February, it’s obviously been quite a few seasons since the water level has been this low.  We’re hoping that now the culvert is clear, as long as we keep it clear, the water will flow under the road the way it was supposed to.  We can’t stop the beaver activity, but as long as we can maintain a dry road, there’s no reason why we can’t co-exist.

In the meantime, if you chance to meet Pierce Gibson McGyver on a dark night, my advice is to be very, very nice to him. 

Beaver Wars, Part the Second

The beaver is not called busy for nothing. We soon discovered that as fast as humans take apart, and sometimes even blow up a dam, the beaver simply comes back to the scene and, while aforementioned humans are sleeping, builds the dam up again. So, when we returned a few weeks later, it was fairly obvious that (1) the beaver had his whole family involved in the repair job; and (2) the Department of Natural Resources had done exactly nothing. To make things worse, while we were away there had been a ton of rain. A few pictures will illustrate exactly what we were up against:



Paul is literally up to his knees in water. This is not the pond ... this is the road!



Our car gives a bit of perspective to show just how much water was flooding the road.



And this is what the beaver does best: fells entire trees with nothing but his teeth.


Stalking a beaver at dusk would, we thought, take patience and a lot of time. Strangely enough, we only had to wait a short time before we actually saw the culprit. He crossed the road in front of our parked car, paused to glare at us for a moment, then slipped into the water. After a few minutes he went back the way he had come. I wish I'd been able to get a photo.

Sometimes, especially with government departments, a visit in person gets a result. Within 24 hours, we had a trapper turn up at the house, and 6 traps were placed. Not our ideal solution, but sadly, it didn't take long for the traps to work, and soon there were two less beavers on the planet. The job then became a matter of breaking up the dam (again!) and clearing the culverts under the road which the busy guys had stuffed full of wood and mud.




Paul preparing to clear the culverts. Chest waders this time!




Mud pouring out of the culvert as Paul is clearing it out. Not an easy task.




Breaching the dam.




He's in there somewhere, I swear!




The secondary dam is now high and dry.



The water across the road is greatly reduced after the breakup of the dam.

When we left, the water level on both sides of the road was almost gone and hopefully, will stay that way. A couple of traps remain in place just in case ... but for now, the battle of the beaver is won.

Beaver Wars, Part the First

So, having declared victory in the Battle of the Mouse and the Battle of the Chipmunk, we turned our attention to the Battle of the Beaver. The beaver is a determined and resourceful adversary, but as we need to drive down a road, not navigate a river, we had little choice but to declare war. This is what we faced:




Flooded out section of road, with gravel surface washed away, basically a river crossing the road to a depth of two feet.







The other side of road showing water pouring from one pond, across road, from there it flows into dammed area.




The water flow was considerable, as you can see, and would eventually have eroded away the gravel road making it impassable.




This, you might say, is a small dam. But this is only the secondary dam! This was built just a couple of yards from the road to further raise the water level. In the distance you can see the main dam.




That beaver did a dam fine job.




Beaver dams are extremely well-built and very difficult to dismantle.




The resulting pond on the other side of the dam is actually quite beautiful.




These dead tree stumps look like fingers.




Paul used a rake and his bare hands to take apart the dam piece by piece.




Busted!


Now you might think that was the end of it - but think again. The beaver is not called "busy" for nothing - and he soon repaired the damage and once again, the road was flooded. A few days of torrential rain to follow, and we were in big trouble - but with a call in to the Department of Natural Resources gave us hope. We really didn't want to have to camp out all night with a shotgun ...

Stay tuned for Beaver Wars: Part the Second ...