An episode appeared twice a month
in The Michigan Farmer magazine.
Flattail Makes a Little Trip by Himself
"Do you know what beavers eat?" Uncle Joe asked Jerry the
next day when we visited the tower.
Jerry shook his head. "I haven't any idea," he replied. "In
fact I had never given it a thought before. What do they eat, Uncle
Joe?"
Uncle Joe laughed. "I knew that question was coming. To answer
it, I'm going to tell you about Flattail and his tree cutting."
"Do beavers actually cut down trees?" I asked.
For an answer, Uncle Joe handed me the binoculars and pointed to a
section of trees far up Friendly Creek. To my amazement, there were
many stumps of trees all along the creek
"Uncle Joe noticed how amazed I was and said, "Looks like
they'd been chopped down with an axe, don't they? But they weren't.
The beavers chew them down with their teeth. If they didn't have strong
teeth they would probably starve in the wintertime."
"Where did Flattail go to?" Jerry asked.
Uncle Joe settled himself comfortably. "It was one morning after
the repairing of the dam that Flattail decided to go on a little trip.
He wanted company but finally he had to go by himself. It was just after
sunrise that I noticed the larger beavers starting upstream. Flattail
was on shore making a breakfast of bark and lily roots. He was comfortably
eating, and I suppose he wondered where the beavers were going. He had
been born during the spring and had never watched the older beavers
cut their winter supply of food before.
"He also didn't know that the older beavers had been cutting trees
most of the night and that since they were anxious to do more, they
were going to work in the daytime, too. Beavers usually work during
the night since there is less danger from their enemies at that time."
"What kind of trees do they eat?" Jerry interrupted.
"Mostly poplar," Uncle Joe replied, "but they will eat
other soft woods if the supply of poplar is scarce."
"And Flattail?" Jerry urged.
"Well Flattail watched the last of the beavers go around the bend,"
Uncle Joe continued, "and then he slipped quietly into the water
and swam after them. I suppose he had been warned not to go, for he
went very quietly, like a little boy sneaking away through a back yard.
The other beavers were ahead and Flattail followed at a careful distance.
"Finally the beavers arrived at the place where they were cutting
trees. They waddled out onto the bank, with one of the older beavers
keeping a sharp lookout, and began cutting more trees. Some of them
worked alone; while in some instances, two or more worked together.
They chewed with their sharp teeth in very regular cuts. When a tree
was almost chewed through, they ran back, being sure to get out of the
way of the falling tree. Occasionally one of the trees fell the wrong
way and lodged so securely that the beavers could not get it out.
"When the beavers had cut several trees they began cutting them
up into smaller pieces which they would later float down to the beaver
lodge.
"From his hiding place, Flattail watched the proceedings. Then
something prompted him and he turned and started swimming back to the
lodge. I suppose he was thinking about the work of the large beavers,
because in a little while he stopped swimming and climbed out on the
bank.
"He looked around very carefully and, selecting a tree, he walked
right up to it just like he had seen the older beavers do. It wasn't
a large tree, but it was too large for Flattail. He sat dawn with his
front paws on the tree and his tail out behind him, and began chewing.
Around and around he went. It was tiresome work but probably he wanted
to cut down just one tree by himself.
"I never did suppose he would cut it all by himself. For a long
time I watched him, hoping every minute he would give it up. But he
didn't. Then, without warning, the tree began to fall. At first Flattail
didn't know what was happening. Then he looked up. He jumped but it
was too late. The tree fell right across his back!"
Click HERE to read "Flattail
Is Rescued"
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© 2004 Leo VanMeer
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