Deer Park Academy is still going strong! Students joined us at Willow Creek this week to install caging around native hawthorn trees they planted this spring. We are seeing a lot of beaver activity at our sites and while we love these native animals, we want them to chew mature trees and allow our young trees and shrubs to grow. Great work, Deer Park!
Beavers are active during the day (diurnal) but become nocturnal with human encroachment. They don’t hibernate. Beavers build dams to create deep water needed for protection. The dams are made of branches, grass and mud. The main lodge of a beaver dam is 6 to 10 feet in diameter. Some people say beaver dams cause floods, but on the other hand, they help control runoff, and aid in keeping erosion in check and maintaining a suitable water table for fish and waterfowl.
The population of beavers is stable to increasing in what remains of suitable habitat. The threats to beavers are civilization, habitat destruction, water pollution, and hydroelectric dam construction. They are regulated by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. (from the Oregon Zoo)
SOLVE Green Team 