Sometimes in my travels I come across a beaver article that is confusing, even for me with everything I’ve seen over the years. I can’t decide if its the wisest most progressive policy in all the land, or a monstrous set of lies getting ready to justify some really nasty trapping, or some combination of them both. Well, brace yourself, because if a city like this REALLY exists, we might all have to move.

Busy beavers a challenge for London officials

Workers with the City of London and the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA) are being kept busy these days managing the beaver population. It’s important work if the city is to maintain its infrastructure and prevent flooding.

Now before you start getting confused we’re not talking about THAT london. This is London, Canada which is right across Lake Eerie from Cleveland. The river that flows through the city is called the Thames. It is about 170 miles long.

“I will say that the population of beavers that we’ve seen in London has grown exponentially over the last four or five years,” said Brandon Williamson, land management technician with UTRCA.

But, the city has a beaver protocol to ensure that beavers are “treated in a respectful and consistent manner, balancing the various needs to protect the beaver and [its] habitat; the overall environment; city infrastructure; people and property,” according to a city document detailing the protocol.

Right now, the city and UTRCA workers are aware of about 50 sites where beavers are living in the city.

Now, I’m scratching my head a little at that. I sincerely doubt that public works is close observers of every colony, knowing family size for example like we did. I’m not sure whether their gues-timate comes from seeing fifty lodges along the river? Fifty dams? Or fifty trees that have been chewed? I mean that would be a beaver colony every 3.5 miles and that’s a little hard to believe since they would ALL need to eat.

One way the city is trying to stay ahead of the beavers is to install so called “beaver deceivers.”  “It’s when they’re in our storm water management facilities or ponds in neighbourhood,” said Shawna Chambers, division manager of storm water engineering. 

It’s believed that if the water continues to flow, the beavers will move to a new location.

Um, no. The purpose of installing a flow device isn’t to drive them out like st patrick and the snakes. How did it happen that London is smart enough to install flow devices and still too stupid to know how they work?  I’m not sure whether the reporter is just confused or the entire public works chain of command is like one giant game of telephone and that’s the message that got through.

Looking at that photo is beyond confusing. The fencing looks right, right distance from the pipe and rounded top like Mike Callahan uses. But what’s it function of the fence? There’s no dam visible. And what is that board? Why is the pipe going uphill? Is there some understanding that if the pond gets very, very deep  then water will suddenly flow up hill hit the board, disturb the beavers and make them leave?

Another piece of the protocol is feeding the beavers, although not human food, of course. Instead, fast growing, inexpensive, native species of trees are planted in areas to provide food for the beavers.

“If you plant these trees, like a poplar tree, that’s really quick growing and a low value tree. The hope is the beavers will choose them over sugar maple and black cherry and hickory and some of the more desired trees that we have,” said Williamson.

Having said that, beavers still go for some of those more desired trees. When that is happening, steps are taken to protect the higher value trees by wrapping them in a wire cage, according to officials.

Something about this entire article is fuzzy. Like those cotton candy dreams where everything seems perfect but you find out it’s really NOT.  So an entire city plants trees for beavers to eat but can’t find time to protect the valuable ones until after their chewed? I’m starting to smell a fox in our hen house.

When asked if the city would consider a cull to reduce the beaver population and prevent damage or flooding, that isn’t the plan.

“Ever since the protocol has been enacted in the city we haven’t had to resort to those measures,” said Chambers. “We have definitely not been talking about anything to the extent of killing the beavers.” 

“I think in the future there may be some other ideas that we may have to look at because we can’t always put a flow device or a beaver deceiver in but before a cull is even considered there’s going to be lots of other options that we’ve got,” said Williamson. 

Suddenly I get the feeling that this entire article has been gently leading readers by the hand to this conclusion. We tried our best, they woefully say, installing flow devices and planting low value trees, but there’s just TOO many of them. There’s only one way out. And reasonable people will agree that unless we all want to be drowned in our beds, it’s time to reach for the trap.

Instead of killing the animals, there’s a commitment in London’s beaver protocol to increased public education.

“We need to let people know we’re trying to work with the wildlife and trying to live cohesively with wildlife to make sure that both sides are happy in this,” said Williamson.  “Beavers are known for being creators of wetlands,” said Chambers. “In nature it can be quite nice to set up that blockage and the water is dammed behind it. It creates biodiversity.”

“Education is huge,” he said. “We’ve got people who say [the beavers] are cutting all the trees down so we’ve got to get rid of them. Well that’s their food; that’s their habitat. They’re allowed to be there.”

I haven’t stopped scratching my head through this entire article. Do you have any people shouting “Why the hell is our city LETTING the beavers chop down trees instead of wrapping them?” Any action by beaver loving residents that was big enough to result in THIS policy I would know about. But I don’t. Unless it happened more than 11 years ago when a massive city protest resulted in huge changes, because it’s nothing I covered on this website. And there’s nothing written about it on the internet, I don’t know. Doing a beaver deceiver demonstration at earth day is remarkable and if a city were really committed to coexistence it would be a good idea. But I’m a naturally suspicious person and there are a ton of errors in their thinking. Could this be true?

Is London a beaver city on a hill?