Walked Lake 3 today to check possible beaver damage.  Mary Shaffer who walks the lake daily told me there was a hole near the top of the dam almost directly across from the feeder that she had placed a limb in so that no one would step in it.  I suspected beaver damage since we have had them before in lake 3.  Tony Sanders shot a large beaver about 12 years ago on that lake and we have not had any beaver reports since.  After checking it out it looks like a small hole has appeared about a foot in diameter and about that deep, however there must be a hollow underneath for it to cave in.  There is an animals slick at the pier on the west side leading from the branch side to the south side of the pier.  Saw no evidence of tree damage and it might be nutria, which are just as bad at tunneling as beavers.  Mary has agreed to carry a buckets of sand to pour into the hole to see how long it takes to disappear which will tell us if it is a tunnel.

There are about four holes coming from the waters edge, (catfish digging out to spawn), that need to be filled.  Would it be possible to use some rock and soil from the repair on Lake 4 when that comes around?  Don’t think it would take but a couple of wheel barrows to do the job.

Also there are a lot of trees at the waters edge that need to be removed, but not the cypress trees.  I will get an estimate just to check it out.  It could also be done on a work day if the cost  seems high.

Please keep on the look out for signs of beaver or nutria.  If they are back we need to get our heads together to determine how to get rid of them.

Jerry Jones

[Editors note: Shooting in Country Place is prohibited so if you see one of these critters, please report it to a board member so proper arrangements can be made. There are too many pets and kids in our neighborhood for anyone to be shooting around water without some safety precautions.]