Mattebasset Beaver Check

I head up to the Salmon River, but the wind is up by the time I arrive.  It is not so bad that I could not canoe it, but it would be a lot of work, particularly on the way out.  The bottom of the Salmon River is a mile of open cove connected to a fairly wide section of the Connecticut River. So, I divert to the Mattebasset River, which is often my go-to on windy days.

My last trip in here was three weeks ago, when the Connecticut River was a little over 10 feet (Hartford USGS gauge) on it's way down from a peak of 18 feet just a few days earlier.  The Mattebasset backs up when the Connecticut is high. Today, the gauge is at about 6-1/2 feet, which is the high end of normal.

This is a good day to check on the beaver, which were flooded out of their lodges by that last flood. 10 feet on the gauge is just about where the living space of the lodges flood.  18 feet means that the water level is 5 to 6 feet over the top of the lodges.   

I start by heading upstream.  I spot a few Mallards and one Great Blue Heron.  It is a quiet bird day.  I turn back just short of the railroad trestle.  The water here is fast and shallow and I would have to wade to make headway.  The upstream trestle requires a short portage, and then a short span, it goes shallow and fast again.  I pass outrigger-guy as I head back.  He's probably doing laps, so it might not be a good wildlife day.

Point Lodge - one of the entrance tunnels is directly below the canoe

The old bank burrow is looking dilapidated.  I slow down at this point to watch for beaver sign.  Before the flood, the quarter mile from here to the Point Lodge was non-stop beaver sign; scent mounds, recent gnaws and peals every few yards. Superficially, Point Lodge looks okay.  But, only on the surface.  There is not a single scent mound, no leftover peal sticks, no recent drags, and no new tree gnawings anywhere in the area.  While the lodge is still conical, no new branches or mud have been added.  I find the back door entry tunnel, and it too looks unused with loose silt partially filling the submerged trench. I think the colony has moved on.  I wrote about this in my entry for my last trip, that this river appears to be ideal beaver habitat, but it is not.  With one or two big floods each year, and one of them happening in the spring when newborn kits are in the lodge, this is at best a temporary stop for beaver.

I continue on to check on the bank burrow near the Tepee Lodge ruins.  It, more or less, looks like the Point Lodge - it hasn't collapsed and looks okay, but there is no fresh sign in the area.