When a man who lived near Bragg Creek needed help with a major landscaping project, he knew the perfect architects for the job were members of a local colony.
Pierre Bolduc knew he wanted a team for which building and design had become second nature, and he found them under a pile of frozen wood and mud.
Bolduc bought land in the area west of Calgary about 16 years ago and immediately found that the well on the property was not working properly.
“There[were]a lot of instances where we ran out of water and my wife got pretty upset,” Bolduc said. “We would have to wait for the aquifer to replenish the ground near the well so we can have some drinking water.”
A creek ran through the property and Bolduc mistakenly assumed he could build an efficient dam to retain water on his land.
“The first rains came and the little dam I had built a foot (high) totally collapsed. So obviously I wasn’t the right person to do such a construction, so I need to get the pros.
“And the pros are definitely the beavers.”
In a near perfect marriage of headaches, Bolduc’s neighbor had an uninvited beaver colony that he found a nuisance, and Bolduc welcomed the rodents on his side of the property line with open arms.
The beavers soon built a cabin that not only ensured the well never ran dry, but also created a large pond in Bolduc’s backyard.
“It raised the water table by two to two meters, solved my problem with the well, no more angry woman, which is fantastic,” Bolduc told CTV News. “It ended up being a wonderful place for the kids and I to skate.”
Not only the neighbors are happy about the new pond, but also the animal world. Moose and bears have occasionally been spotted in the water at the same time.
The descendants of the Bolducs’ first semiaquatic tenants are thriving in their adopted homeland.
“They became grandparents and died,” Bolduc explained. “At one point I had about 12 beavers, which is unheard of. I was able to count them in a video with a drone and I couldn’t believe how productive they were.”
Beaver numbers on the property are so high that some of the animals have since migrated and built homes downriver.
With files from Chris Epp of CTV News.
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