Mary Obrien of the Grand Canyon Trust delivers a short sermon on the mount about why beavers matter. This is lovingly highlighted with photos from Cheryl Reynolds, Rusty Cohn, Suzi Eszterhas and Mr. Getty. Also artwork by Lizzie Harper, Elizabeth Saunders, and Kay Underwood.Music by Bach. Thanks everyone for helping tell the story!

heidi08 Beavers July 21, 2026

GREAT LETTER FROM BRITISH COLUMBIA

heidi08 Beavers July 20, 2026

LETTER: Beaver dams and salmon in Vernon Creek

I live along the portion of Vernon Creek that has its headwaters at Kalamalka Beach and runs along its course to the newly naturalized Polson Park.

Vernon Creek is important for our freshwater Kokanee Salmon and trout species. They have co-existed for millennia with beavers and beaver dams. Yet, in the 20 years I have lived along this creek, every beaver dam has always been destroyed. The reasons are never truly explained but the main one is no doubt flooding. However, we are now in Stage 3 drought, and our beavers know how to keep streams active and deep. It is the ponding effect of beaver dams that create ideal nurseries for juvenile fish. The lower depths of the ponds are cooler which also creates cooling for seeped waters downstream. As I have walked along in former times, I have seen these pools as deep or deeper than seven feet with all sizes of fish from minnows to adults.

Beavers need space to create their dams, they also need the correct species of trees and the ability to forage for them without disturbance by man. Efforts need to be made to widen our riparian zones along creeks and rivers to encourage all the animals we share this planet with, including our national animal, The Beaver.

Hollister Baxter

RUINED!

heidi08 Beavers July 19, 2026

This made me honestly Laugh Out Loud.. See if you can guess why.,

15 animals that can ruin a pond fast

A good pond or dependable water hole can carry a whole place. It keeps cattle watered, gives wildlife a reason to stick around, helps a fishery stay healthy, and can turn an a.verage property into a better one in a hurry. The problem is that water draws everything, and not everything that shows up is good for it. Extension and wildlife-damage guidance make that pretty clear. Burrowing animals can weaken dams, rooting animals can wreck banks and water quality, and birds or livestock can turn clean water into a muddy mess faster than most landowners expect.

Aren’t you curious what kind of wildlife ruins ponds? This article is from Mississippi. I bet I can guess.

Mississippi State’s pond management material says plainly that beavers, muskrats, nutria, alligators, and geese can all become nuisances or cause damage, while USDA APHIS notes similar problems with beaver, nutria, waterfowl, and other wildlife in aquatic settings.

Beavers are so bad they made the list TWICE. You know how they are. With their engineering ways. Saving that damned water and mucking up the place.

What makes these problems so frustrating is that a lot of them start small. A little burrow in the dam. A little muddy water at the edge. A few birds loafing on the shoreline. A couple of hog tracks in the wet ground. Then a bank starts sloughing off, a dam starts leaking, fish production drops, or the water gets so muddy and nutrient-loaded that it stops being the kind of pond you wanted in the first place. These are 15 animals that can ruin a pond, creek, or water hole fast if they get comfortable.

That’s the worst! That dread nutrient-laden water!!!

You know, the way that money ruins banks and attractive women ruin fraternities. The article ends with a series of wanted posters, mug shots of the pondy criminals in the flesh. I was happy to see that alligators and otters were amongst them.