I know we all think it’s terrible when beavers are crushed and drowned in conibear traps. Dogs and otters often meet horrifying and gruesome ends in them as well. I’m sure no beaver lover has a soft spot for traps anywhere near their heart.
But it could be worse.
Winnipeg man stunned after beaver shot and killed outside his home
James Malzahn was in his backyard at his St. James home Monday evening when he heard a loud noise coming from Truro creek nearby.
“I heard a loud bang and first I thought maybe it was a car that backfired, then I was thinking possibly a firecracker or something,” Malzahn said.
The Winnipeg man is calling for change after a beaver was shot and killed by a City of Winnipeg contractor right outside his living room window Monday night.\
‘I left the back of my house and walked to the living room to look out the side window and at that point I saw a man in a reflective vest holding a rifle.”
As it turned out, a contractor had shot the beaver that had been roaming the creek beside Malzahn’s home.
Winnipeg is about 150 miles north of the border of Minnesota. It is in Manitoba which is considered the “Wild West” of Canada, and the rules can get a little looser than most of the country. Still shooting a beaver in town is probably going to cause a stir.
Just a hunch.
If they have to remove it it would be nice if they did it and allowed it to live,” he said. “But the way that it was done was a little surprising, to be using a firearm in the city.”
The City of Winnipeg said it doesn’t relocate the animals because beavers are territorial and will physically compete for suitable habitat and moving wildlife can also increase the risk of spreading disease.
“We can’t stress enough that beavers are only removed when we have no other options for mitigating damage or danger,” a spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
“Some examples of property-based damage or danger are dams in drains that could flood City infrastructure or private property, and excessive damage to trees.”
Ahh the old “we only killed him because he needed killing” argument. We’ve heard it so many times before. I wonder why, since its perfectly safe to shoot unarmed animals on city streets. he felt the need to wear a reflective vest?
Was he worried about traffic?
There are about 100 beavers living along Winnipeg rivers and streams at any given time and one beaver is able to damage hundreds of trees yearly, according to the city, which attempts to protect some trees by wrapping them.
“The City recommends that homeowners whose property has experienced beaver activity wrap their trees with stucco wire which is available in most building supply stores in 2” x 2” mesh size 48” in width using the full width of the roll for the height of wrap around the tree and allowing enough looseness for the tree to grow,” the statement read.
Malzahn, who moved to the area because he wanted to enjoy the wildlife, said he understands some beavers need to be removed, but hopes the city will find another way to get the job done.
“If you have to get rid of them it would be nice to do it in a more humane way and definitely not with firearms.”
It’s certainly nice that they advise homeowners to wrap trees. And I’m glad this kind of random beaver shooting is alarming to residents. But I couldn’t disagree more strongly with Mr. Mazahn.
If beavers are going to be killed it should be in the most disturbing and visibly horrific way possible.
Let me explain.
Killing beavers silently underwater or hauling themed away and euthanizing them in in some gas chamber at animal control is the very worst possible idea. People should KNOW that beavers are being killed. It should be upsetting and unsettling to anyone that sees or hears about it.
People have to think its bad or they will never, never stop it.
Take Scotland for instance. Even though they were officially named a ‘protected species’ the generous farmers have very kindly decided to continue shooting them and killing pregnant females that show up as lead stories in a number of papers with photos I cannot share on this site. This has shocked the entire countryside and really upset people.
If, on the other hand, farmers had killed them in some more subtle way – no one would ever know. If, for example, they had shot them with poison darts and thrown the accumulated bodies in a pit, or weighted them with bricks so they sunk to the bottom of the pond, no one would be upset.
Instead they get letters like these.
READERS’ LETTERS: Our land and soil need expert custodians
The core problem with our land and soil reserves encompasses much more than a problematic relationship between farmers, conservationists, Scottish Natural Heritage and beavers.
The farmers’ union has stated publicly that a limited number of harvests remain due to erosion of soil, the destruction of the mycelium, the constant pounding by large machinery and the annual soakings in both fertiliser and pesticides.
Current practices increase the frequency of flooding downstream while our wildlife – from mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibian and invertebrates – are forever decreasing from loss and corruption of both food and habitat.
At the lower end of our food chain, and vital to our soil health, lie worms and insects. The worm population has dropped by up to 40% and invertebrates by 70%.
The presence of beavers helps remedy most of these issues and the idea their numbers should be left to an unaccountable demographic with short term economic interests is simply unworkable and wide open to abuse.
Argue on the merits I always say.
History instructs us that when commercial activities clash with the welfare of other living things, disaster follows. Birds of prey, wildcats, pine martens and many other species stand testimony to that. Indeed, beavers themselves were extirpated for that very reason.
It has taken many years and a lot of effort to try to both protect this array of creatures in the face of continuing persecution of the type beavers are now experiencing. To once again open the door to laissez-faire-style culling would be a retrograde step.
What is required is a tightly-regulated body consisting of scientists, conservationists, farmers and government to implement and strictly police a system where the agricultural and the natural world co-exist for the general benefit of us all.
This can be done by regenerating the soil, developing new farming systems in line with today’s hi-tech industries, protecting our biodiversity and providing a suitable income for farmers.
Any short to medium term subsidies can be directed accordingly with the focus realigned from production to the health of the environment and the sustainability of the soil on which the produce grows.
Self regulation and commercial interests make poor bedfellows.
George Murdoch
Well said, George. Farmers got the UK into this mess they are unlikely to be the ones to get them out of it. Thank them for their excellent service in growing vegetable and killing beavers as inhumanely as possible, and then use the horror they’ve created to teach people how to do it better.
It’s the only way.
