Evidence of beavers

Clicking on this picture (taken last Friday) will give you a closer look at the beaver's tooth marks on this tree standing in the ice on the south bank of the Ottawa River.  I thought that beavers hibernated, but apparently they do stay awake. According to my research they tow logs away before the onset of winter to store them under water and only leave their lodges during the cold weather to feed from their stored food supplies. These marks look recent though, as if the beaver had actually emerged in the dead of winter to attack the tree for the sake of its succulent upper branches.


This particular beaver was too ambitious, trying to bite off more than it could chew. I have never seen such a large tree with beaver damage before. Next to humans, beavers are the most destructive loggers in North America.