Post Flood Beaver Lodge Observations

 The weather has been too hot and steamy for paddling during the last three days.  This morning we woke to quite pleasant cloudy and cool weather. We headed inland as the new weather brought a bit too much wind to the coastal areas.

I hadn't been on the Mattabesset since a long lasting freshet came down the Connecticut river.  The Mattabesset is a tributary, of course, and so it backs up becoming deep calm water when the big river is flooding.  That last long flood drowned the marsh and forested bottom lands for nearly two weeks, which not only submerged plants, but also forced beaver out of their lodges, prevented bees from reaching the pickerelweed blossoms and in general just interrupted normal natural processes. 

We set out from the old tavern launch and headed downstream.  The water level was typical for this time of year.  I explained to S just how high the water had been pointing out silt stains that were about five feet above the current water level and a good three feet above the forest bottom.  

What's left of the Tepee Lodge

The Tepee Lodge was my first concern. It was a 5-6 foot tall conical lodge - almost perfectly conical, hence the name.  During the flood less than a foot of the lodge remained above water.  I saw a few beaver in this area that were no doubt from the Tepee Lodge colony.  On a second trip during that flood I noticed a new bank burrow across the river.  Today, we found the Tepee Lodge in disrepair (beaver lodges do require routine upkeep), a good two feet lower than it had been with most of the mud gone from the stick matrix.  It did not look like the lodge was in use anymore.  But, there was a new lodge fifty feet upstream and although small, it showed recent signs of being worked on.  It took a few minutes, but we did locate the bank burrow that had been built during the flood.  It's hard to say if it was in use as the wood pile over a bank burrow isn't mud packed.  A bank burrow wood pile is protection for the burrow's vent hole. The concern about the bank burrow is that with the receding waters, the underwater entrance might be exposed plus the fact that the burrow is farther from the water.

We paddled up the Coginchaug when we reached the confluence.  This smaller river also has a good population of beaver.  We found one large lodge with a foot print of nearly 20 feet in diameter.  If it was here before, it certainly wasn't that size.  A second lodge that I spotted during the flood was still in use.

Coming out we turned and paddled down to the Connecticut before heading back out.