Beaver Trap

     In case anyone ever wondered, let the record be clear:  it is not any easier to live in a small community (population 14) than it is to live in a large community (population thousands to millions).  Actually, I think it might be harder because in a little place like Oysterville, for instance, you see Those Who Don’t Agree almost every day.  You know who they are, what they’ve done, often why they’ve done it, and what the rest of the community thinks about it.  And vice versa.  No anonymity here in Oysterville.
     At issue right now is a beaver trap.  Each spring Bucky Beaver attempts to set up housekeeping in the ditch along the south side of Oysterville Road between Territory and Sandridge.  Some years we are lucky and get a glimpse of him lying ever-so-still – eyes, nose and tail barely showing above the waterline.  Look away for one instant and he is gone!
     But we do see his dam.  It goes up in one night each spring and the water backs up ever-so-nicely in the ditches along Oysterville Road and around the corner along the east side of Sandridge Road.  We’ve heard that it continues backing up onto some of the low-lying property at the rear of homes facing Territory Road but we’ve not seen that for ourselves.  Private property and back in the woods, after all.  No Trespassing.
     About this time of year our population swells in Oysterville.  We are now up to 18 or 20.  Some of the additional residents are “summer people” who winter elsewhere.  Some are part-time residents who have another home within driving distance but who are likely to be in Oysterville more often in the non-rainy months.  And, some are full-time residents who leave town a lot more frequently in the winter than in the summer.  Then, of course, there is the core group of 14 of us who are here through thick and thin, bears and bobcats and beavers notwithstanding.
     It is when our ranks increase during the summer months that Bucky Beaver is in trouble.  Invariably someone calls the County or Fish and Wildlife or the Beaver Patrol and a white truck with a whirly yellow light on top comes and sets a beaver trap.  Beware, Bucky Beaver!!
     Yesterday morning on our walk, Nyel and I noticed that the recently set trap has been sprung.  We wonder if Bucky was clever enough to do that without being caught or if it was one of the beaver-friendly neighbors.  The only critter around was a curious frog who hopped in and out of the trap at will.  Bucky, of course was nowhere to be seen.