Trees And Beaver

I was called upon recently to provide some of my limited expertise in woody plant identification in order to assist a Boy Scout with his Eagle project. His particular Eagle project consisted of mapping and indentifying the street trees and shrubs that the town of Woodbury, Connecticut through its Sidewalk and Shade Tree Committee and through private donations by residents had planted thoughout the years. I thought this a worthy project because I believe it is good to know the plants by their specific epithet in one's immediate and far ranging surroundings and for future reference so if the town were ever to decide to mark these trees with some sort of permanent identification foot travellers travelling along the narrow sidewalk that were interested in botany could stop and read the botanical and common names of the plants, a few of their distinguishing characteristics and perhaps some indication of what important roles trees play within the complicated web of life and throughout our local history.

During the course of the plant identification process I had to cross a pedestrian bridge that spanned the local beaver pond along route 6 and it's always a pleasent view if you're tall enough to see over the safety railings of which I have been genetically predisposed. On the final day of the ID process I managed to linger on the bridge and take some photographs and observe the beaver pond. As you can see by the above photograph the natural setting of the beaver pond is about to be ravaged by the progress of mankind in its search for greater wealth and happiness, but I truly feel sorry for the beavers who I predict will leave the area in search of more peaceful and less polluted surroundings. The incessent traffic, noise and noxious fumes on Route 6 on a Saturday afternoon is not conducive to lingering on the pedestrian bridge for very long so I can only imagine how the beavers feel. I didn't see any beavers that day although some evidence of recent gnawing on various trees led one to believe they are about and perhaps only come out at night in order to work in peace and quiet.