Berkshire Beaver

Soon after spring arrived and pond ice left, Berkshire beaver turned to remodeling their houses, piling the remnants of their submerged pantry and spring muds onto their winter-worn homes. The above scene shows vigorous spring cleaning, with additions to the dam and house and new canals into the surrounding trees filled with water from the enlarged empondment.
As shown below, the persistent beaver has attempted to fell a large nearby tree over several nights. Judging from the height of the gnawing, this beaver may be more than two feet long and weigh perhaps 40 pounds. A close look at the chips and gouges suggest that this beaver's two front teeth may span three inches and be about the same length.
Almost extinct in the early 20th Century, the resurgent beaver population has come to be considered an invasive pest as its numbers in Massachusetts reportedly now exceed the large number present when the Pilgrims arrived. Fallow fields and their swales, lawns with creeks or streams, make perfect homes for arriving new generations of beaver. Berkshire Country residents now patrol such sites to discourage these industrious squatters.