Are we going to have baby beavers soon?

I visited the beaver pond yesterday. I was struck by the appearance of the dam--it almost appears to have been abandoned. A portion of it is gone and the rest looks somewhat bedraggled. 

the dam. 8 May 2013 at 17:53.

A look at the two photographs and the chart below may help to explain that. We had some rain in the past week, and both of my visits were soon after that rain. Look at that water flow chart. A little bit of rain falls and, whammo, the water level rises in a straight line. That kind of fast and furious urban water flow is damaging to the beaver dam. 

USGS stream flow data.

Meanwhile, I observed a couple other things. One is that our rodent friends are not cutting down trees. Three explanations occur to me to explain this. One is that the beavers just aren't worried much about the dam this time of year--that they will devote more time to it as fall approaches. Another is that the beavers' diet has switched to grassy plants, rather than wood cambium. A third possible explanation is that the beavers are getting ready for birthing. (Boy, I can't believe I just typed that. It feels like anthropomorphism to me. Maybe I'll re-write this paragraph later.)

the dam. 11 May 2013 at 20:08

Anyway, trees are not being cut down. The beavers are still there. And other animals are stopping by.

Enjoy the pictures.

More later.