Matt and Jerica are not the only engineers at Shady Grove Ranch.
(We feel more like Master Jugglers than Engineers these days, but anyway… that’s where we started!)
But no… there were engineers at Shady Grove Ranch long before it was even called Shady Grove Ranch.
Beavers. Nature’s engineers.
Some consider them pests, and perhaps we might have, too, had they chosen a different spot on our ranch.
But it just so happens that they chose a very good corner—the lowest corner, actually—and they started working hard at collecting the rain water that runs off the pasture sloping upward from the bottomland.
Since we landed at Shady Grove Ranch a short 9 years ago, they’ve doubled their reservoir and cleared an icky old forest in wetlands which were famous for sinking the kinds of heavy equipment required to clear thick brushy land like that.
They made better work of it than we ever could have, quietly working, plugging away secretly while the ranch grew up around them. Cows and chickens and even pigs have passed by their territory. And still they worked and chopped and dragged and patted and did their beaver thing.
You know, we’ve never seen one of them. Not up close, anyway. Maybe one glimpse of one swimming once. They are very shy little creatures. Just like an engineer! Haha.
Enjoy this picture adventure of our visit down to them last Sunday. This is what engineers-turned-farmers do during their time off.
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- Step 1: Adorn yourself with travel gear, including heart-shaped sunglasses, a beach hat, and a puffy warm coat.
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- Shevi is Mr. Adventure-Seeker, and preferred to ride his bike.
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- And Coconut, the faithful Pyrenees dog, decided to tag along.
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- But chores first! The evening cow check went fine. Everyone was present and accounted for.
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- And was looking healthy and mellow.
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- The new babies are doing fine, too.
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- We recently discovered a new species–Possumhaw!
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- Supplies for Farm Exploration include a trusty magnifying glass.
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- Finally we reached the Beaver Pond. It was quite calm and lovely.
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- There is quite a bit of water flowing out of the pond.
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- So much so that there was even a little waterfall!
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- Like a mini niagara, right here in Jefferson.
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- The lodge is spotted!
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- Here is the forest the beavers cleared. Amazing how big the trees are that they can use!
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- And there were LOTS chopped down!
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- Look at those big wood chips. Imagine chopping a tree down with your teeth.
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- The trees are Sweet Gum, rather a nuisance variety for pastureland.
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- Now it’s time to search for the entrance to the lodge.
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- Here’s another view of the lodge. It’s quite well camouflaged.
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- Everything in Texas is bigger–even the thorns!
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- This is the newest dam the beavers have constructed. It’s much higher than the surrounding lowlands!
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- Imagine building a pond using only your teeth and tail!
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- The beavers commandeered a 4×4 of Matt’s. I guess they figured he wasn’t using it.
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- A glassy little lake!
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- That whole pond’s edge was made by beavers. Such amazing creatures!
It seems the 13-year mark of small business is when all your equipment decides to break down, especially if most of it was already almost a decade old when you started (but of course we didn’t own much “new” stuff. We like our equipment already “broken in,” ha!). We’ve had to do a boat-load of repairs this year. Matt says we can start calling him Jack, as in Jack of… ... Continue reading | 2 Comments
Thanks for sharing. They seem to have done a great job. Keep enjoying them before you find them a nuisance.