More Rain and High Water

I was surprised to find 1.98 in. of water in my rain gauge this morning.  I heard it raining last night, but had no idea how hard or how much.  We had to go to St. Johnsbury today and all the rivers and streams along the way are raging.  Joe's Pond looks high, too, and the brook flowing from the dam in West Danville was running wild and strong. 

I had a note from Bob Kimball on Channel Drive tonight.  There's been an on-going beaver problem up there, and here's what Bob says:

 High water on Channel Drive.  [This is] the beaver dam blocking Joes Brook to Joes pond and flooding our roads before the rains....  would you  post this picture on your blog so people can see you can't get to the trestle any more and flooding over the delicate wetlands.  There was a foot difference in water  between the high and low side of the dam....

That will surely put a lot of pressure on the marshes along the channel.  At the rate the brook is running, it probably won't take long for the water to back up and flood the road and could likely take sections of it out.  Not a good situation.  The combination of so much rain and then the beaver dam making the water level even higher can clearly wreak havoc.

It's not an easy job to remove a dam that size.  Fred and I have had some experience trying to outsmart beavers, and I think it's fair to say one or two beavers can easily rebuild in one night  whatever humans have spent hours tearing apart.  The only solution is for the beavers to be removed.  I've been told land owners can shoot beavers if they are damaging their property - but that's not something everyone is comfortable doing.  The better way is to trap and relocate the troublesome critters.  A while back I posted Scott Ackermann's phone number, 279-7416.  Scott traps beavers (and other troublesome varmints), and frequently works with the state in this capacity, so someone might want to get in touch with Scott and at least get his take on the situation.


Today was misty with what I thought was fog, but turns out we're probably experiencing smoke from forest fires in Canada.  I've been smelling smoke in the air the last couple of days, but thought it was perhaps a neighbor trying to dry things out and get the dampness out of their house.  Since there have been strong thunder storms passing through the general region, it is likely fires may have been ignited by lightning strikes.