Peek A Boo Beaver

Today was a beautifully warm today.  I was lucky enough to celebrate spring with a DQ and a walk along Lake McCarron.  We walked out on the dock. Offspring #2 an I carried big sticks so we could help the ice along.  I always like messing with the ice as it melts in the spring.  The dark ice was a couple inches thick and when you looked at the side view, the ice looked like 2 inch teeth fitted closely together.  We pushed some smaller pieces of ice around.  We turned some over. We pushed some pieces  under other sheets of ice. Around the dock there was quite a bit of open water. We could see the sandy bottom and much trash but no fish.  A group of gulls flew noisily around us and some walked out on the dark ice.  As the wind gusted by you could see the ice move up and down with the wind. Or else the layer of water on top of the ice was moving.  It was hard to tell.  I tried to break a big sheet of ice that was connected to the entire lake but I couldn't.  The ice was slippery and my stick wasn't long enough.  I was able to bounce it up and down and crack the edge but I couldn't get a big piece off.  The gulls walked closer.  I squinted at them to see if they had rings on their bills.  Offspring #1 asks, "Hey, what is that animal out there?"  We look and can see a beaver way out on the lake beside a  hole in the ice.  We can see it sitting on the ice and it appeared to be grooming itself.  I wished I had my binoculars.  Pretty soon it pops down into the hole in the ice.  A  minute later the beaver is back on top.  The gulls come walking closer.  Three gulls advance toward the beaver.  The beaver appears to see them coming. Is this a game of gull/beaver chicken?  The beaver gives up first.  It swoops back under the ice and comes up in a hole a little bit closer to us.  He hops onto the ice again, stays for a couple minutes, and plops back under the ice.  We watch to see where he will come up next.  A section of open water leads from the dock twenty yards into the lake.  At the very end of the opening, I see the ice form a ridge.  I think the beaver is hitting the ice from beneath with his head.  I am right.  He pops his head into the open water really close to us.  This time he doesn't get out on top of the ice. We scan all the open holes in the ice to see where he comes up again.  We get tired of waiting.  Way down the shore is a brown spot near a yellow willow tree.  It could be the beaver way down there but we're not sure.  It's only March 17 and I am lakeside wearing a sleeveless top, eating ice cream and enjoying nature.  Unbelievable.