dmccarty
Super Star Member
I used to own some land that had a beaver problem. 
Real mess with the neighbors and home owner association. Lots of lies, people putting their noses in other people's business, etc.
The beavers had made a dam across a stream that was part of my property line and flooded about good 1/3 of the lot. The beaver pond ended up killing hundreds of trees and the beavers were killing some very large trees by eating the bark. I think I saved some of the big trees by using chicken wire but I sold the place to get out of the h.... hole... One of these trees was about 36 inches in diameter. I hope it lived.
Anywho, one evening I went down to the pond to see what the beavers were up too. I had on a dark green heavy wool coat and I sat down next to the 36 inch diameter tree which happened to have an old mound of dirt from a tree that had fallen and long ago rotted. The old root ball mound mostly hid me from the waters and thus the beavers. I sat there in the cold as the sun went down and eventually the beavers came out to play. The were kinda interesting to watch and I sat there for quite some time observing them. After some more time had passed, for some reason, I don't know if I heard something or just somehow sensed something, I looked up over my head and there was this HUGE, HORRIBLE, BLACK WINGED ANGLE OF DEATH swooping down on me! :shocked::shocked::shocked:
It was the biggest danged owl I had ever see landing on a limb about 10 feet over my head. About had to change my underwear. I swear the wings were 20-30 feet long!!!!!!!:laughing::laughing::laughing: Pretty sure I muttered something and the owl realized I was below it so it left. Thankfully, it left me behind. :thumbsup::laughing::laughing::laughing:
Years later we had sold that place and bought our current property. One day I went out to burn a burn pile. I wait for rain to happen before I burn and for a period of rain after I burn before I light the wood on fire. The pile of wood had compacted a bit and it was soaking wet. It took quite a few more hours than usual and every bit of flammable fluids I had to get the pile started. I used some old gas and boy was that fun but that is another story...
The pile finally starts burning but I have lost most of the day getting it burning. Towards evening, I call up the wifey and tell her that I am going to have to watch the fire all night to let it burn down. I asked her to bring me some more water, some food, more clothes and a sleeping bag. The wifey gets there well after dark with our oldest kid who is about 3 and we sit around the fire eating, talking and enjoying the fire and quiet. Then it happened....
An owl landed in a tree right behind us, maybe 10-15 feet away and maybe that high off the ground. The owl let off a HOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! The wife and kid jumped and came close to needing underwear. :laughing::laughing::laughing:
We now live on the place and the owls are still there. We have even seen them just at sun down and if we had not seen them flying we would never have noticed them sitting in a tree. They blind in perfectly to the tree bark and if you don't know they are there, good luck seeing them. I hear them hooting and screeching from time to time and it never gets old. A real treat to hear them. Last week we heard one screeching in the septic field. Makes you jump a bit and it does sound rather horrible. :shocked: We heard screeching and hooting from that spot over the next week or so. We also heard a different sound that I can't describe from the same area. I walked off the porch to see if I can "see" or better locate where the sound was coming from but the owl saw me and shut up. I think it was on a much closer tree and it could see me but I sure could not see it.
Owls are cool.
Later,
Dan
Real mess with the neighbors and home owner association. Lots of lies, people putting their noses in other people's business, etc. The beavers had made a dam across a stream that was part of my property line and flooded about good 1/3 of the lot. The beaver pond ended up killing hundreds of trees and the beavers were killing some very large trees by eating the bark. I think I saved some of the big trees by using chicken wire but I sold the place to get out of the h.... hole... One of these trees was about 36 inches in diameter. I hope it lived.
Anywho, one evening I went down to the pond to see what the beavers were up too. I had on a dark green heavy wool coat and I sat down next to the 36 inch diameter tree which happened to have an old mound of dirt from a tree that had fallen and long ago rotted. The old root ball mound mostly hid me from the waters and thus the beavers. I sat there in the cold as the sun went down and eventually the beavers came out to play. The were kinda interesting to watch and I sat there for quite some time observing them. After some more time had passed, for some reason, I don't know if I heard something or just somehow sensed something, I looked up over my head and there was this HUGE, HORRIBLE, BLACK WINGED ANGLE OF DEATH swooping down on me! :shocked:
:shocked::shocked:It was the biggest danged owl I had ever see landing on a limb about 10 feet over my head. About had to change my underwear. I swear the wings were 20-30 feet long!!!!!!!
:laughing::laughing::laughing: Pretty sure I muttered something and the owl realized I was below it so it left. Thankfully, it left me behind. :thumbsup::laughing::laughing::laughing:Years later we had sold that place and bought our current property. One day I went out to burn a burn pile. I wait for rain to happen before I burn and for a period of rain after I burn before I light the wood on fire. The pile of wood had compacted a bit and it was soaking wet. It took quite a few more hours than usual and every bit of flammable fluids I had to get the pile started.
I used some old gas and boy was that fun but that is another story... The pile finally starts burning but I have lost most of the day getting it burning. Towards evening, I call up the wifey and tell her that I am going to have to watch the fire all night to let it burn down. I asked her to bring me some more water, some food, more clothes and a sleeping bag. The wifey gets there well after dark with our oldest kid who is about 3 and we sit around the fire eating, talking and enjoying the fire and quiet. Then it happened....
An owl landed in a tree right behind us, maybe 10-15 feet away and maybe that high off the ground. The owl let off a HOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! The wife and kid jumped and came close to needing underwear. :laughing::laughing::laughing:
We now live on the place and the owls are still there. We have even seen them just at sun down and if we had not seen them flying we would never have noticed them sitting in a tree. They blind in perfectly to the tree bark and if you don't know they are there, good luck seeing them. I hear them hooting and screeching from time to time and it never gets old. A real treat to hear them. Last week we heard one screeching in the septic field. Makes you jump a bit and it does sound rather horrible. :shocked:
We heard screeching and hooting from that spot over the next week or so. We also heard a different sound that I can't describe from the same area. I walked off the porch to see if I can "see" or better locate where the sound was coming from but the owl saw me and shut up. I think it was on a much closer tree and it could see me but I sure could not see it. Owls are cool.
Later,
Dan
