Plain Roadbed
Beavers in Montana
Have you ever seen a 100 pound wet rat? The first time I spotted a large male beaver on Cedar Creek, (Mineral County, Montana) that's exactly what I thought it was. I looked again, perhaps the gangly creature waddling down the bank was a bear cub. My next thought was, where is Mama Bear?
Meeting the beaver was a unique and rather unsettling experience. Movies and cartoons have often portrayed beavers as industrious, cheeky and tenacious. Beavers are all of that, however; in the wild they are also just plain ugly.
Beaver (Castor canadensis), semi-aquatic mammals, are the largest rodents in North America, north of Panama and they are the second largest rodent in the entire world (after the capybara). They are closely related to rats, squirrels and marmots. Beavers have an average lifespan of 12-15 years, however; beavers over 20 years old are not uncommon. Mature beavers normally weigh from 40 to 60 pounds, however many will reach a weight of close to 100 lbs.
In the water they are amazingly swift and graceful, slapping the water surface in frivolous play. Diving and cavorting, beavers use muscled, webbed rear feet to swiftly propel their torpedo-shaped bodies through the water. Their broad, dorsally flattened tail provides extreme mobility and maneuverability. Out of water the beaver is a clumsy, rather slow hump-backed creature.
A typical beaver family unit consists of a pair of adults, the yearlings and kits. Beavers will have 4-6 kits after a 105-107 day gestation period. Beavers breed from January through March. At about two years old, young beavers will either leave of their own accord or are driven from the parental home colony to seek new winter quarters.
Beavers once lived in most forested areas of the North American Continent. If one could find a stream, lake or river, one could most always find a beaver colony. Excessive fur trapping in the late 1800's and early 1900's nearly eradicated the beaver in Montana. Today, most colonies are found in remote regions where their activities do not interact with man.
"Nature's engineers", beavers have the ability to build dams and to modify the landscape to increase its suitability for their habitation. Beavers often build huge conical lodges at the edge of a lake or pond or will sometimes burrow into the bank of larger rivers. Beaver dam-building activities are integral components of the ecosystem as they play an important part in natural water flow and erosion control. Beaver ponds also provide recreational opportunities such as hunting and fishing.
In Montana, beaver problems can occur wherever there are trees, water and man. Most conflicts with beaver occur in areas where beaver cause problems by flooding pasture land, roadways or restrict water flow of streams. Sometimes beaver are really an annoying pest when they girdle ornamental or landscape trees or undermine property with their burrowing.
Since I viewed my first beaver on Cedar Creek, the US Forest Service has trapped the Cedar Creek Colony for relocation and demolished the dam. Unfortunately, their dam construction was causing flooding upstream and washing out the roadbed.
Intelligent creatures, beavers construct stick and mud dams in order to build their lodges in the resulting ponds. The lodge provides protection from marauding bears, wolves, coyotes and cougars. Working primarily at night, these nocturnal creatures are hardworking, prolific builders, carrying stones and mud with their powerful fore-paws and twigs and branches between their teeth. The beaver's chisel sharp and rock strong incisors grow continuously. These guys are really industrious! The largest beaver dam on record was discovered near Three Forks, Montana. Visible by satellite, it is 2,140 feet long, 14 feet high and 23 feet thick at the base. Amazing!
Beaver ponds play a significant role in the formation of Montana's plant and animal habitat. Beaver dams create ponds that help stabilize water tables and help reduce rapid rain runoff. Beaver dams reduce soil erosion and improve soil quality, with runoff deposits settling into quiet pools near their dams. Beaver habitat is rich in plant, aquatic and animal life, making beaver ponds an excellent locale for observing nature.
Hindered by very poor eyesight, beavers compensate by having highly developed senses of smell and touch as well as exceptional hearing. When startled or frightened, beavers will use their flat and scaly broad tails to loudly slap the water as a signal of danger. In response to the alarm, which can be heard over a considerable distance both above and below the water, the beaver colony will "dive for cover" and may not re-emerge until some invisible sense gives them an "all clear". The Salish Indian Tribe that lives in Northwest Montana has a tribal ledgend that says beavers are fallen Indians, doomed to the lowly state of a beaver by the Great Spirit.
Strict herbivores, beavers will feast on a wide variety of herbaceous and woody plants. They enjoy wild berries in season and especially crave the water lilies found in many alpine ponds and lakes. Cottonwood, willow, aspen and alder are important foods, much of which is stored in caches for winter consumption. Beaver will also gnaw and harvest birch and maple trees.
A staple of Native Americans and early settlers, beaver meat is fine-grained, deep red, moist and tender. When properly prepared, beaver meat is similar in flavor to roast pork. The high fat content of the succulent tail meat is especially savored.
Prized by hunters and trappers for its sleek, warm pelage, the beaver's value as a fur animal lead to the early exploration of the North America Continent. Rich chocolate brown in color with black to reddish guard hairs, beaver pelts are soft, extremely dense and have excellent insulating qualities. At one time considered the most valuable of furs, beaver was also trapped for its castor glands which produce castoreum, a highly sought product used in making perfume. In Montana the beaver is an official furbearer and is managed and protected by regulated fur harvests.
About the Author
Marlene Affeld has a passion for the environment and all things natural. A seasoned traveler, Marlene enjoys sharing her experiences with others. Visit Marlene's site at
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Meet the Ghosts of Chicago's Bachelor's Grove
By Michael Kleen
Bachelor’s Grove in the southwest Chicago suburb of Midlothian has been an enigma for over three decades, but like most such locations, it started out with a mundane existence. Over one hundred years ago, picnickers dressed in their Sunday best lounged under oak trees in the park-like atmosphere of the cemetery. Two of the grove’s neighbors heated their small homes with coal burning stoves and drew water out of their brick wells, while horse drawn buggies trotted down the dirt road. It was a much different scene from today.
Much of the origins of Bachelor’s Grove have been obscured by the passage of time. Even its name is a mystery. Some say it was named after a group of single men who settled in the area around the 1830s, but a family named Batchelder already owned the land. According to Ursula Bielski, author of Chicago Haunts, the cemetery itself was originally named Everdon’s. Its first burial was in 1844, and the cemetery eventually contained eighty-two plots.
In the early half of the twentieth century, the Midlothian Turnpike ran past the cemetery, over the stream, and beyond. Today, the broken road appears to end at the cemetery gates, but closer inspection of a long ridge across from the stream reveals a roadbed that has been nearly reclaimed by the forest. The road was closed in the 1960s. Locals say that was when the trouble started.
According to the Chicago Tribune’s Jason George, the body of a teenage girl was found in the woods in 1966, and in 1988 a man, who had been murdered by a former girlfriend, was found in the cemetery. Aside from those gruesome incidents, grave desecration regularly occurred. Bodies were dug up, animals were sacrificed, and headstones were moved or stolen.
Then the ghosts came.
One of the most controversial sightings involved a phantom house. In the 1970s, Richard T. Crowe, a local ghost enthusiast, collected stories from dozens of eyewit-nesses who claimed to have seen a white farmhouse complete with a glowing light in the window at various places in the woods alongside the trail. However, “there is no house on the property, nor anywhere near the site,” Ursula Bielski wrote. “No property records exist to suggest that there ever was.” (Haunts, pg. 59) She does mention that “most anyone familiar with the area will offer to show you the foundations of a house that they claim did exist.” (Haunts, pg. 61)
“Claim” is an interesting choice of words, since there are in fact two separate foundations, one east of the cemetery and one west of it. Although the two are hidden in plain sight, both of them are very real. As www.bachelors grove.com has well documented, there also exists two wells near these foundations. Hundreds of visitors have probably seen these and later reported them as “houses.” Time and imagination took care of the rest.
Another popular ghost is the White Lady, or Madonna, of Bachelor’s Grove. Cemeteries in the Chicagoland area are overpopulated with these women, who are almost always searching for their lost infants. Bachelor’s Grove contains a monument to an unnamed ‘infant daughter,’ which has become a shrine for visitors and adds fuel to the story. This ghost, or one very much like it, was supposedly captured on a now famous photograph taken using infrared film. Unfortunately, the “ghost” in the picture casts a shadow on the headstone she sits upon, suggesting that she is not very transparent; at least not in the way ghosts tend to be.
Visitors also commonly report seeing orbs or ghost lights, a staple of haunted locations everywhere. These bright will o’ the wisps are patriotic, appearing in red, white, and blue colors. Although I have been to the cemetery nearly a dozen times, I have yet to see one.
The pond adjacent to the cemetery has its own share of legends. Stories say it was one of the hundreds of places scattered around Illinois where mobsters dumped their victims during the roaring ‘20s. One of these victims apparently grew a second head and has been known to crawl out of the water. Lastly, a number of years ago a policeman reportedly saw the apparition of a horse, followed by a man and a plow, walk out of the pond and cross 143rd Street. The ghost is said to belong to a farmer who drowned in the pond when his horse decided to take a swim one day.
Disappearing cars, sometimes sleek, black 1920s and 30s style, or the sounds of car doors slamming, have been reported along that stretch of 143rd Street. Richard T. Crowe has written that he personally witnessed two of these phantom automobiles.
Although the number of visitors to Bachelor’s Grove has declined, and vandalism has trickled off (there isn’t much left to vandalize), the curious still routinely travel to Midlothian to snap pictures, leave cryptic notes, or place offerings at the stone of the infant daughter.
If you are in the area, check it out. Parking is available at the Forest Preserve across the street, but it is closed after dark - no exceptions. For more information on Bachelor's Grove, and other haunted locations around Illinois, visit The Legends and Lore of Illinois.
About the Author
Michael Kleen earned a master’s degree in American history from Eastern Illinois University in 2008. He is the author of several books, including Tales of Coles County, Illinois; Six Tales of Terror; and One Voice. Michael has spoken on local history and folklore at Teapot’s Café in Beecher, Charleston Middle School, and the 2007 Conference on Illinois History in Springfield. He has appeared on Joliet Paranormal Radio, AM-1050 WLIP, and has written several articles for Paranormal Underground magazine and KILTER - the journal of Gothic Art Chicago. He is also the publisher of Black Oak Presents, a quarterly digital journal of Middle American art and culture.