There is a ditch in here somewhere.
But it's clogged with trees, sediment, and years of the neighbors' trash, so when it rains heavily our driveway washes out.
The previous tenants told us that the county worked the road for them, but in our moment of need it was pronounced a private road. All my "but the water is coming from your county road" reasoning did not prevail.
This was the other problem. A storm had washed some debris and huge dead trees to rest against some very large culverts. It did not enter our minds that industrious beavers would see this as a gift, and make the situation even worse.
But they did, and the neighbor's property began to flood. (It was putting some of my favorite wildflowers underwater too!)
Ahh.
Ahhhhhh. I feel better now.
When backhoe work starts at $70 an hour, it's easy to believe that time is money.
"He's been here $140 and it seems like he's just started," I fretted.
I was gone running errands for $210.
"My husband will be home in about $175," I realized at one point.
Actually we feel lucky to have had both problems fixed in just under ten hours. It could have been a lot worse.
You know, beaver ponds are places of wonderous diversity...sure, the species you know disappear but others come to fill the new niches. Just a thought.
ReplyDelete[Come on now, quit yelling at me and calling me names :) You know I love my wetlands]
This is unfortunate for you, but it sure makes for an excellent blog. I visit every single day!
ReplyDeleteSwampy somehow I knew you were going to say that! :)
ReplyDeleteActually beaver ponds on our land are one thing (we do have one or two), but causing flooding on the neighbor's land, well... I couldn't help but remember this story that another blogger wrote about a while back.
The jury awarded $30,000 to the neighbors AND the guy still had to get rid of the beaver dam. So the concept of "nip it in the bud" won out on this one.
I hated having to wait til this time of year to have the ditch fixed - common yellowthroats were flitting about the willow trees in there - but the guy couldn't come any sooner. Hopefully they will like the willows at the end of the ditch just as well.
Thanks Pablo!
It can be worse.
ReplyDeleteGood grief. At least they are native here, even if not all their predators are around anymore to keep them in check.
ReplyDeletebut your problems are so nice LOOKING!
ReplyDeleteI'll bet you say that to all the problems.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a mess! But you're smart to have dealt with it quickly....just think of the time and money saved compared to your neighbours getting upset and starting a huge and very costly drama.
ReplyDeleteBut as always your pictures are so lovely it's hard to see anything bad in them :)
-Sarah
http://www.slaphog.com/sarahblog/
What a mess! The only thing missing from that log jam at the culvert is beer bottles! There's a place in Tennessee, near our family cemetery, called Possum Hollow (pronounced "Holler" for all us Yankees). The culver in Possum Hollow was at least 5 feet deep and filled to road level with beer cans and bottles. So, you can feel good at least that you don't have to clean up that mess!
ReplyDeleteYep and a smelly mess too, at least the one in the front. Across the street is a trailer park where the septic system is not to code. Guess where the overflow goes??? Yuck. I think they are finally fixing that problem though.
ReplyDeleteBeer bottles... they're definitely in there! An old TV set too. Joy, joy. I think they need to start running that commercial again with the Indian man who cries.