Bicycles and Beavers

Photo
Left: can you make out the darker shape in that cut out on the canal bank? That's it.
Right: My furry friend surfacing on the other side of the canal. Notice all the silt or pollen floating on the surface of the water. The canal needs dredging and repairing.
Click on pictures to enlarge.

Let the season begin!
Wednesday and Thursday offered good weather and you better believe I was out riding. Wednesday kicked off my bike-riding season. Temperature in the low 60s with little wind made it the best day I’ve seen in a long time. Since it was my first time out since January 8th, I decided on an easy ride. There is nothing easier than the Windsor Locks Canal bike path. Only 9.5 miles round trip, but for a first time out that was enough.

Muskrat Suzie or Muskrat Sam?
As I finished my ride I saw a furry something slide down the embankment into the canal. I stopped to look. I think it was a muskrat – not too big with a long thin tail. I observed it for a while and took some pictures of it as it hugged the side of the canal. When it became aware of my presence it went off (through the water) like a shot and gone—only to surface on the other side (see picture above).

Beavers have been at it all winter
Interesting to note that a lot of evidence of beaver activity was on the river side of the canal. With all the evidence on both sides of the canal, it’s interesting that I sighted of only one possible beaver lodge. Several trees had the bark taken off completely around but were left standing. I found a website about Beaver Solutions.

Trees and Beavers
Beavers are famous for their ability to topple large trees using nothing but their specially adapted teeth. Beaver teeth never stop growing, so they do not become too worn despite a lifetime of chewing hardwoods. Their four front teeth (incisors) are self-sharpening due to a hard orange enamel on the front and a softer dentin on the backside of the tooth. Therefore as beavers chew wood the softer back of the teeth wear faster, creating chisel-like cutting surfaces. Because their teeth never stop growing it is believed that beavers need to constantly chew wood to prevent their teeth from growing too long!

A beaver's diet consists solely of vegetation. They derive nourishment from the inner lining of tree bark, as well as twigs, leaves, and aquatic vegetation. They topple trees in order to gain access to all the bark on the trunk as well as the many branches on the tree. Branches will be chewed off in sections that are small enough to drag into the water for safe and leisurely eating. The bark of large tree trunks will be chewed where it lies if the beaver can reach it. Beavers prefer to cut down smaller diameter trees, but will chew on any size or species of tree. Preferred tree species include alder, aspen, birch, cottonwood, maple, poplar and willow. Once beavers eat the bark off a branch, they reuse the stick to build and maintain their lodge or dam.

In cold weather climates beavers are most active cutting down trees in the fall because they are preparing for the winter. Beavers do not hibernate, so they plan ahead and build a stockpile (cache) of edible sticks in order to survive the cold winter. They stick one end of these sticks in the mud at the bottom of their pond near their lodge so that when the pond freezes over and they can no longer access new trees, they can swim out of their lodge, grab a stick, and bring it back to the comfort of their lodge to eat.

Back to bike riding
Yesterday I did a loop through town – 15 miles. I was bucking some pretty stiff WNW winds and I was pretty tired when I finished. I have to increase distance and speed slowly after a lay-off of several months. I don’t consider the ride I did on January 8th as part of my training for the Erie Canal Ride.