Beavers can be destructive assholes. These two large trees are right next to the canal towpath and have been beaver-girdled for no reason whatsoever; they are too big to use as a dam, and thousands of other smaller, useful, and tasty trees are all about, free for the taking.
I have observed this in a forest preserve where I run my dogs. Last fall, beavers did this to a tree with a good 15" diameter. My thoughts same as yours. Then, within a week or two, they felled that tree. The trunk was too big for them to move of course, but over several months they chewed off any branches of around 6" diameter or less and carted them away. Over the winter, they chewed off every little bit of bark from the fallen trunk. What was left was more or less a bare tree lying on the ground with a couple of big branches, and everything stripped completely bare. This impressed me. Possibly, they have similar plans for the tree in your photo. Hope so.
ReplyDelete