Monday, November 23, 2009

"One for the Beaver"


My dad walked into the barn the other night and said, "One for the beaver" then turned around and we saw a 10" rip in his jeans with some undies peeking out.

You see, since clearing out the bottom land at the farm, he's discovered a beaver dam in the little creek that runs along the north side of the property. He's been obsessed with clearing that dam so the water doesn't back up and flood our land. Every day, he puts a rake in the back of the side-by-side and drives out to the dam and breaks it up. Every night, the beaver builds the dam back up so dad can go out the next day and tear it down.

It's quite entertaining, actually.

On a side note, I was happy to repair dad's jeans that night. I said, "Go in the bathroom and throw me your jeans and I'll fix them on my sewing machine." I was feeling extremely domestic at the time. I bought the machine about 4 months ago and I've gone through 3 spools of thread, but never made a stitch on fabric, just paper. I was surprised it worked on fabric so well! I fixed his pants right up. He was even able to wear them home.

And, when we got home, I got a lesson on beavers from National Geographic.
  • They're 2nd to man in their ability to manipulate their environment.
  • They mate for life and send their kids out after 2 years.
  • They only eat vegetation
  • They're nocturnal
It's amazing what you learn living on a farm.

5 comments:

Kimberly said...

I adore this story!

Davinie Fiero said...

The are also the mascot for Oregon State who's going to cream the U of O Ducks at the Civil War game on Saturday and head to the Rose Bowl!

:)

Denise said...

OK...have you ever seen the show called The Exterminators? All about trapping bugs and nuisance animals. Hilarious. It's on A&E and they had one episode, which I remembered immediately upon reading your blog today. Basically, trapping beavers. If you want a good laugh and to learn how to rid your land of beavers, go to this link (then All Videos) and then watch the video called Extreme Roaches/Busy Beaver part 2. http://www.aetv.com/the-exterminators/index.jsp

BTW...good job with the sewing!

Nicole said...

ummm, i think i would love your Dad...he sounds like a hoot, lol.

(and for the record, it doesn't matter WHO wins in Dav's game...because the Ohio STate Buckeyes will beat whoever shows up to play them at the Rose Bowl, teehee)

xoxo

Sharyn said...

I'm glad I took a quick break in my day to read this one. Love the beaver lesson