Beaver Lodge

On the 12 January I found my way here but it was too dark to get a decent photo and I promised I'd return, so here we are again.
This lodge has been here for at least 10 years, perhaps much longer, steadily growing every year as the beavers add another layer or two of branches and sticks and fill in all the gaps with mud. Now it's a good bit over 2 metres high.
The lodge is in a great place. So what makes an ideal location for a beaver.
It's secure. The land I'm standing on as I take the picture is actually an island in the lake. Just now, with the lake frozen I can walk here over the ice, but any other time of year it's not easy to get here.
Deep water - On the other side of the lodge is a narrow piece of water between two lakes. There's a steady current flowing there, the water is deep and it's nearly always open, which the beavers like.
Materials - There's plenty of mud and trees. If you are going to keep building you don't want to run out of materials.  Even on the landward side there's a trench round the lodge, caused I think by the digging up of the mud.
Being good neighbours - Because they have deep water naturally available, even in winter, these beavers don't need to build any dams. I guess this saves them energy but more importantly it means they aren't irritating land-owners who tend to react when their ditches are blocked and their fields flooded.
So much for beavers. In other news, I finally got the winter tyres on my bike, Sweden still has no government, and the British one just lost it's Brexit vote by a majority of 230.  That should ensure Theresa May her place in the history books.