dcr
Deceased Member
Registered: February 2004
Posts: 1,317
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When beavers dam up a stream, some of the area subsequently flooded usually has trees on it which become flooded and drown, creating dead standing trees, sometimes large like some seen here. Herons love to make their nests in such dead trees - the long stretches of deep water surrounding the trees help to discourage potential predators of their eggs from attempting a raid. The huge, ungainly stick nests are a further deterrent to predators since the unkempt and highly random placement of the sticks leaves the nest looking something like a porcupine, with jagged ends of sticks jutting out at all angles, further increasing the difficulty a predator might have in entering the nest even if he did manage to overcome previous obstacles. Here we see an example of a heron standing guard at the nest it has built in just such a situation - herons' nests in dead trees in the middle of a beaver swamp are something seen in many beaver-created small ponds.
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