The Bantam River Litchfield County, Connecticut In Connecticut I liked the Housatonic and Farmington rivers, but when I wanted to go to my favorite place for pleasure paddling I drove 40 miles Northwest of our home to the Litchfield area, to a peaceful stretch of the Bantam River. I liked the beavers, waterfowl and deer in the marshes and pine groves. On Bantam River I was face-to-face with a weasel staring from a hollow log and a deer fawn drinking. I observed beavers and snapping turtles mating in shallow water. Goslings grew quickly from spring into summer. Great Blue Herons were majestic in flight. The water is cold and always clear, coming from rocky hills as it meanders to the Shepaug, then the Housatonic, on its way to Long Island Sound. When the water is low you have to climb over the beaver dams. When the water is high you can paddle up and over spillways in the dams and slide down with a spurt of speed.   A beaver dam in early morning   Parking at the same dam to rest   Litchfield locals looking for beavers   Beaver lodge One day I took friends Betty Ball and Kim McClure to the Bantam River. Betty is in the red boat, and Kim took pictures.           Many times I was closer than this to beavers, but not with a camera in the boat. Once, while crossing a dam, I watched beavers mating in shallow water, moving together as if waltzing, then separating and swimming away  After all those years .. I finally caught a big bass...5 lbs, 2 oz., in Bantam Lake, in lily pads near the mouth of the river, just before an August sunset, on an old Jitterbug lure. The picture was taken in our kitchen, but I used old-fashioned scissors and paste to make a post card with a Bantam River scene. One of these days I will learn to use Photoshop on my scanner.     Paddle to Bob's Paddling Page    Paddle to The Silver River Sancho, My Canoeing Cat a mostly true story by Bob Cork