Getting Busy in the Headwaters!

Overlooking the beaver lodge at the end of the point.

Author: Neil Howk

In the spring of 2021, Kate Kitchell told me that she was working on a grant to fund the purchase of the 10-acre parcel we now call the Big Ravine Headwaters. She asked me to do some bird surveys so she could more accurately describe the species that were using the property. A small beaver pond was easily the most biologically diverse area on the property. I noted at least five species of ducks using the pond (mallards, blue-winged teal, wood ducks, hooded and common mergansers).

The wetland surrounding the pond also attracted species like belted kingfishers, great blue herons, sandhill cranes, sedge wrens, eastern kingbirds, eastern bluebirds, Wilson’s snipe, common yellowthroats, solitary sandpipers, red-winged blackbirds, song and swamp sparrows. 

Water diversion from beaver dam expanding wetland.

I was excited to learn that the Landmark Conservancy was able to facilitate purchasing the property for the Town of Bayfield in 2022 with funds from the Wisconsin DNR Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service North American Wetlands Conservation Act, and private donations.

In the years following the purchase, I saw very little evidence of recent beaver activity around the pond. The pond was still attracting birds and other mammals like river otters.  In the winter of 2022-23, a black bear even excavated a den near the pond. Late last summer, however, we started seeing evidence that beavers may have returned. This year there is no doubt that the BEAVERS ARE BACK!

Beaver Work Zone!

They just keep on chewing!

The beavers have been very busy. They stabilized and raised the level of the primary dam with mud from the bottom of the pond. This work and some auxiliary dam structures around the pond have raised the level of the pond, expanded the wetland, and flooded part of the loop trail between the observation deck and the trail to the winery/orchards.

Since early September, the beaver activity kicked into another gear. They targeted their favorite food source, the aspen trees along the edge of the woodlot and between the pond and Olson-Meyers Road. Several aspen trees fell into the roadway and were removed by town road crews. Although a bit of a nuisance due to extra chainsaw work, Carl Butterfield, the Town of Bayfield Road Foreman, doesn’t see an immediate concern about or risk to Meyers-Olson Road. He recognizes that the beavers are readying themselves for winter and that the falling trees will likely end soon.

​Last weekend, Kate and I met Jeff Wilson, a retired wildlife manager with Wisconsin DNR, at the headwaters to look at the beaver activity and assess the habitat. Jeff pointed out all the recent activity around the dam and demonstrated how the beavers carry mud with their front paws.

A path cleared by dragging branches into the pond.

Not only do they build dams and lodges, they build trails too!

We looked at the “highways” leading from the pond to the trees the beavers were chewing on.  Jeff pointed out the rapidly growing food cache near the beavers’ den. He said these animals were tirelessly working to stash enough food to get through the winter.

Jeff told us that he spent more than 30 years trapping and relocating “problem” beavers from wetlands across northern Wisconsin. With an emphasis on humane and best management practices (BMPs), he explained the types of traps and snares he might use and where he would put them if we wanted him to trap these beavers.

Tree limbs dragged to the lodge provide a winter food source.

No tree is too big for these guys!

We shared our perspective that we liked having beavers here but were afraid they might be eating themselves out of house and home. We wanted his assessment of the ability of this habitat to sustain the beavers. He explained that although this was not the highest quality beaver habitat, there were still quite a few aspen trees near the pond along with a few secondary tree species that the beavers had not yet utilized. The beavers already have a sizeable food cache for this winter.

Though they have started to build a few small dams in the drainage channel along the road, the dams were not an immediate threat to the road and could be easily removed by the town crews. If we wanted to protect any of the larger aspens that the beavers were starting to work on, we could wrap them with hardware cloth to protect them.

In the final analysis, we agreed that for now we should just let the beavers be beavers. Jeff agreed that the proximity to the trail and the observation platform made these beavers a tremendous educational opportunity.

If you have not visited the Big Ravine Headwaters lately, get out there before the snow flies and see what it means to be “busy as a beaver”.

Acknowledging these brilliant engineers, and guiding hikers to a safe path!