The Antithesis of a Keystone Animal

I put in on Pond Brook, or more accurately, the cove that once was Pond Brook. From the  couple topographic maps that record Pond Brook as a brook, I probably would not have been paddle the brook before 1955 when the Shephaug Dam flooded this area creating Lake Lillinonah. 

As usual, I head downstream when I get to the Housatonic, paddling a half mile before rounding a point and heading up the Shephaug. It is a find day for the trip with temperatures in the upper 60's, a few dramatic clouds that don't hide the sun, and some wind that seems to be able to come from any direction depending on where I am in the forested valley. And, that is the reason to come here, most of the river is surrounded by forest and when there is a house, it is usually back a ways from the water.

Sometimes, there are beaver colonies in here.  They usually don't last more than a year or two. I figure the uninformed locals have them trapped because they are "damaging" the trees, which is a generally ignorant attitude, if that is what is happening. Beaver are keystone animals, which means, they create habitat for other animals. A pond created by a beaver dam will support something like fifteen species that would not have been there without the dam.  

I don't see any signs of recent beaver activity.  The only thing new to me is an old bank burrow that appears to have been abandoned since some time last year. In the 9+ miles I paddle today, I will see 1 Bald Eagle, a Hawk, a few Vultures, 1 Great Blue Heron, a Merganser and a pair of Mallards.  That is the reality of a man-made pond. Unlike the beaver pond that makes habitat for other species, our man-made pond makes a habitat that supports fewer species.  We are the antithesis of a keystone animal.

It is clear that there is a lot of water coming through the cascades at the top of the arm, for there is a current two bends below.  This is the first time that I haven't been able to paddle right up to the base of the cascades. There is enough water that there aren't any eddies - the current is fast bank to bank.  Good enough, I turn back and head out.