It starts small.
Even in a province like Nova Scotia that is notorious for killing beavers. It starts with just one or two people objecting to this solution that solves nothing. First it’s two. Then it’s four. Then it’s an entire town.
Mayor Amery Boyer said the 2 beavers could have caused damage to town’s sewage treatment plant
The culling of two beavers in Annapolis Royal this week has drawn criticism from residents, but the mayor says it was necessary to protect the town’s sewage treatment plant.
“We felt that the situation just couldn’t be allowed to sit because we had no idea what the beavers were doing underground,” Mayor Amery Boyer told CBC’s Mainstreet on Friday.
“… It appeared that they were burrowing into the dyke system so that really kind of escalated things for us.”
What they were doing? Did you think they had tunneled under the prison wall and were planning their escape? Or built a labyrinth of beaver warrens in which to bury the cities treasures?
Boyer said the town originally received a complaint about beavers destroying trees on French Basin Trail.
But after consulting the Department of Lands and Forestry, the town’s public works department and the Clean Annapolis River Project, it was discovered the beavers also posed a “significant risk to the town’s tertiary sewage treatment plant, as well as the adjacent trail and dyke systems.”
The marsh near the French Basin Trail is part of the treatment system for the town’s wastewater.
“If there was a blockage, we could have flooding of the walkways. We could have exposure of contaminated water,” Boyer said.
“If there’s burrowing into the sides of the treatment plant, it could cause the walls of the treatment plant to collapse.”
Prosecution by If’s. This is one of the things I hate most about city responses to beaver. The assumption that because you THOUGHT it might happen it’s the same thing as being sure it WILL happen. Imagine if humans were convicted in similar ways. “He was standing on the street and might have sneaked into our home at night and killed our children when they slept! Lock him up and throw away the key!”
Of when it comes to humans we demand proof of the crime. That’s never needed with beavers.
A notice about the removal was posted in the Annapolis Royal Town Crier and was shared on Facebook, where it drew criticism from residents.
“I couldn’t believe, firstly, that people complained [about the beavers] because it is a nature area. It’s natural, it’s a marsh, and you expect [to see] animals,” Susan Woodland, a resident of Annapolis Royal, told Mainstreet on Thursday.
“Secondly, I couldn’t believe, basically, that they were going to be killed because it says they can’t be relocated. So my first step was to find out, was there not something else they could do?”
Sometimes it just takes a single voice. Remember that.
Woodland contacted Hope for Wildlife, a wildlife sanctuary in Seaforth, N.S. She said the owner agreed that relocation was not ideal this time of year, but recommended relocation be delayed until the spring.
But Boyer said there was no time to wait, especially if damage could be done to the $968,000 treatment plant.
“We did feel it was a time constraint. We just couldn’t let the situation get beyond us,” she said.
Boyer said she understands why residents were upset, but the beavers could have caused more damage than originally thought.
“We live closely with wildlife. There’s a lot of respect for wildlife. It’s just that in this particular situation, we didn’t see a way out.”
I weep for them the walrus said. And deeply sympathize.
With sobs and tears he sorted out, those of the largest size.
I can actually ever decide whether its good for a politician to act like they feel guilty about a bad decision or not. Mostly I think it gives them cover and protects them from looking uncaring. But sometimes its enough of a hook to get the crowbar firmly placed an get them flipped in the right direction. You never know.
Well Nova Scotia needs to realize that what a beaver wants when it digs into the ground in January is a bathtub sized hole with an entrance that won’t freeze where they can sleep with their entire family until spring and not get eaten by bobcat..
They don’t want your sewage treatment plant.
