Persistent Beaver

In Persistent Beaver below (7 Jan.), we posted on beaver progress with felling a large soft maple over some months, where persistence had reduced the tree's heartwood to the point that a good gust of wind might topple it. A few days ago, we noticed that the beaver had chewed some more, and that the tree had indeed fallen, perhaps just in line with the beaver's anticipation, across the stream, where the busy beavers lost no time piling mud, sticks, and assorted stream bed materials up onto its branches.
We now speculate that rather than a contribution to the beaver's pantry, the large tree may have been chosen for its potential strength and bulk in the building of yet another dam, as the mud and sticks attest.
Between the previous post and this one, we have had a brief flooding rain followed by below zero temperatures. Since then, the stream has receded from its flood, leaving behind great slabs of cracked ice on the banks.
Whatever the beaver's intentions, we can only praise its skills and persistence.