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By BOB McMEANi
Anino«l Newspaper* Special Wri r
Between now and the n .ddle of May, you may notice a big chan je in activity around your local beaver ponds.
Female beavers are preparing their nurseries in expectation of the arrival of the kits. Beaver kits (or babies) are bom in the beaver houses or lodges around the huddle of May. But, for several weeks before arrival of the litter, there is a flurry of activity.
Readying the lodge and preparing the nursery area is the responsibility of the female. As she gathers all the rough twigs and cleans the lodge she looks for anything that could possibly harm her offspring and removes it from the lodge.
She makes each trip count. As she carries litter and sharp twigs out of the lodge, she returns with soft bedding material, such as cedar bark and grass, to line the nursery area.
The entrance to the beaver lodge is below water level and the responsibil-ity of maintaining the water level and repairs and strengthening the lodge is in the hands of the chief engineer of the family — the male beaver. He meticulously maintains the outside of the lodge to keep any predator from gaining access.
The lodge consists of tons of material, mainly sticks and mud. Packed into place with the human-like front paws of the beaver, it becomes matted and tangled and is nearly impenetrable by anything short of a hungry grizzly bear or a bulldozer.
The water level in the lodge is maintained by the constant monitoring and repairing of the dam. The dam has a way of growing beyond desirable limits. Here is where the feud between man and beavers occurs.
Beaver ponds that develop along remote streams affect few humans, but beaver are making quite a comeback here in Virginia, and are no longer satisfied with remote stretches of stream.
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