Surprise!

On Feb. 26 we drove out to Leahaven to check on things.  To our surprise, we found that the stock pond had risen so high that it was creeping up onto the road next to it, making the road so soggy we didn't dare drive our SUV across it.  So we walked out to see what could have blocked off the overflow.

Surprise!  Beavers had built a dam!  Zephyr, sure they had made it for her amusement, walked back and forth across it. 
What amazing creatures beavers are--another testimony to the Creator of the Universe!  Even though it's a nuisance for the road, the dam is beautiful.  So are the individual sticks where the beavers have chewed the bark off in neat little spirals.  After we got home, I learned lots of fascinating things online.  For instance, I knew that beavers don't actually live in the dam; they use it to deepen the water so they can build a lodge elsewhere in the pond.  But I didn't know they have at least two rooms in their underground home:  The first one is for drying off before they go into the second sleeping chamber.  No wet beavers allowed in bed!

Unfortunately, Zephyr's explorations damaged the dam, so I took a picture to see if the beavers would repair it overnight.  Just like the old "Highlights" puzzles, can you spot the differences?

  The top picture was taken the evening of the 26th, and the bottom one, the morning of the 27th.  Sure enough!  The busy beavers worked at night to fix the dam (notice the new large stick at left with a knot-hole in it, for one), and no more water was leaking through the dam . . .

. . . until Zephyr got busy, too!  She's irrepressible where water is concerned--in it or on it, she doesn't care as long as she can be wet!

Herb and I couldn't agree whether to leave the beavers as permanent fixtures of Leahaven or to tear the dam up right then and there.  (Guess who wanted to do what!)  So we left the beavers in possession of our pond and road--with repairs on the agenda again--and we headed home to find a compromise for dealing with the (excuse the pun!) dam creatures!

Stay tuned for the rest of the story . . .