We first discovered the Tetons and Yellowstone 40 years ago. One of the first places we found in the Tetons was Schwabacher’s Landing, a beautiful spot on a branch of the Snake River where people launched their boats. They don’t launch there now because this former branch of the Snake is now almost an oxbow. It gets a little water from the Snake and a creek but it has definitely changed over the 40 years we have been coming here. That strikes me as really strange, that I have lived long enough to see a river change course.
Not only has the river changed due to various floods, but beavers have changed Schwabacher’s as well. When we first saw it there was one huge beaver dam on one branch. It was well over 100 feet long and I have a photo of me walking on it with no trouble.
It used to be one of the photographer’s favorite places to come to get a reflection of the Tetons in the beaver pond.
You can’t do that now because the beavers, being the crafty engineers that they are, have built their lodge right in the middle of the reflection. A number of years ago the beavers that built that long dam ate all of the willows in the area and moved on to better habitat. The dam began falling apart so the water flow increased. Then the main channel people floated on became partially separated from the rest of the Snake River. It is still called Schwabacher’s Landing but no one has landed there for years.
Over the following years new willows grew and then new beavers appeared. They now have one big 4 foot high dam and 4 smaller dams below it. They have created a series of ponds much to the delight of trout, several species of ducks, and a family of muskrats. Beavers are a keystone species because without them many other species of plants and animals would not be able to survive in a particular location. They create habitat for other organisms.
They are also fascinating to watch. The current family of beavers is composed of at least 4 large and 2 smaller animals. They have cut down all of the willow in the surrounding area so they must go down stream to get more. Eventually they will get all the willow in the area and they will move on. But in the mean time we will enjoy them going about their busy lives collecting willow, taking willows back to their lodge, reinforcing their dams, and slapping their tails on the water when they aren’t happy.
Our photos are available at www.vernelehmberg.com
Love the beaver pictures
Love that tail slapping! Looks like you had some fun down there. Miss you! We had action for two days and then it was dead today with no one finding anything, except a disturbed Rosie of course.
Deby I have replayed that tail slapping 15 times. It is the first time I ever caught a beaver doing it on film and I so wish I had recorded it at about 100 fps so I could play it back in slow motion. The Missouri River between Helena and Great Falls has some huge beavers. I used to fish it while floating in my float tube. When a beaver came up and saw me it would often slap its tail. That was fine if I saw it coming but scared the #^$@* out of me if I wasn’t watching.