Beaver Walk

04 March 2010

The new rangers have been here for almost two weeks and they are really getting stuck into ranger training, which is all going well. Last week we explored the grounds around Aigas and this included a walk around the loch to discuss our Aigas Beaver Demonstration Project with the new rangers and to find out what the beavers have been up too over winter.

The loch has been frozen for many weeks now, but that has not stopped the beavers. There are plenty of breath holes in the ice and this is evidence of beaver activity. They create these holes and keep them open to allow the air to flow through the ice and even if the ice is too thick for the beavers to surface in order to feed, they will not go hungry. Over the autumn the beavers prepared a winter food cache, which mainly comprised of branches and logs. Once this cache was up to standard they sank it by the entrance of their lodge and this means they have a constant supply of food over the winter.

However, the beavers do emerge when they can and we have noticed this with our beavers, due to a few more trees being felled over the winter. We have also noticed that they have extended and added more material to one of their lodges and repaired their dams. This walk also gave the  rangers a chance to get to grips with their new binoculars!

Alicia