There is a creek out back that borders my property that I rarely go down and visit much. In fact, the entire 1/2 to 3/4 of an acre was naturally cleared back there by a hurricane years ago. When we moved in, the previous owner had taken a wood chipper back there and the entire area was littered with wood chips. Not the most fertile space I thought. When we bought the place, I had in mind that it was a natural place to put a submersible pump to flood a small hockey pad out there for our kids.
I never ever got around to building the "Do It Yourself" rink. In fact, the winter here these days rarely holds ice consistently any more. It definitely gets cold, but then warms, then rains, then freezes, melts, snows, repeat. This past summer, I took a little walk back through the property and I couldn't believe how much it had grown in. No more wood chips. It was in fact full of alders, small birch tree's, and the ground was wet and mucky in many places. I investigated a little more and found an area of birch trees cut off at about 2 feet high looking like they were placed in the ground like little spikes. I of course was intrigued and followed the area right to the creek in the back where carnage to any tree three inches or less in diameter seemed to have been victimized. That's when the water seemed to be flooding the property a bit in the far end...and that's where I saw the dam.
A beaver had built a small dam across the creek in the back! The water was starting to creep into the back yard and the trails it seemed to be creating with its belly were meandering creating pathways to the bounty of young birch trees throughout the yard. I was immediately offended that this oversized rodent was interfering in my plan from 14 years ago to build my rink. I took my chainsaw to any area that there were small stumps left and pilfered whatever loose trees it had fallen and took them for my own outdoor fire pit. I then did what most people would do in my situation...I hit google. "How to get rid of beavers?", "What do beavers like to eat?", "How to break a beaver dam?".
What I had determined is that to get rid of one of these things takes a lot of work, and in general is a call to the experts at the Department of Natural Resources. Seeing as it was close to the end of fall when I found it, and I had determined there wasn't really any more activity I dropped the matter for the time being and began to think of the pros and cons.
If I left the beaver there, eventually that whole area may become submerged. I would have a small lake in a few years that maybe had some fish, or a spot to use a small paddle boat. That could be pretty cool. That could also bring a huge infestation of mosquitos, and a constantly wet golden retriever....not as good.
Maybe I could rent a digger or a bobcat and get rid of the dam? Or maybe I could just leave it and build up the border of the stream with a bunch of big rocks that I could push up to it? All kinds of scenarios began to develop in my brainstorming noodle. Most of these plans of course are just initial thoughts and not well thought out.
Things may have changed a little over the course of this past winter. This winter in particular was a great one for outdoor rinks. I know what you are thinking....I cursed that vermin and my procrastination for not building that outdoor rink. Wrongo!! After skating on my dads lake I figured that I would head down and check to see how well the water pooled on the pooling side of the dam. When I got down there and shoveled off the snow, the most clear, flat, pristine pond of thick ice was awaiting for nothing more than a net and a bench to the side to change into skates. That beaver made my rink!!!
The boys loved it! It wasn't huge but it was enough for a game of one on one, some shooting practice and of course the breakaway challenge. We named it The Beaver Palace...then I thought that could sound like we owned some sort of strip club so it was renamed shortly afterward to Beaver Pond. The boys would rush down after school and be on the ice for hours.
So this summer may be interesting. Do we wait to see what Barney the Beaver is going to do next or do we make the call to boot the buck toothed tenant out and possibly lose what could be the next twin arena right there in our own back yard? If only he would involve me in the design. I'm sure being one of nature's engineers the plan is way better than anything I would come up with but I really wanted my own dressing room. Maybe one more season to see what the little fella can do...it was a twenty year plan anyway.