The very best part of Voyageurs national park – I mean completely aside from all their “Wolves think beavers are tasty” research and the occasional “Wolves think beavers are so tasty they lure them away to eat them” research, the best part of voyageurs other than that is that it gives us a glimpse of the wild dammed and wildly dammed world we once had.

Last night they released a fantastic film of the use that wildlife finds for beaver dams.

Vignettes from a Northwoods beaver dam! We have said it before and will say it again: beaver dams are nice natural bridges that wildlife like to use to cross wetlands, swamps, and bogs. pic.twitter.com/nJUB2qWAx2

— Voyageurs Wolf Project (@VoyaWolfProject) February 2, 2022

[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/rutUDSEDYEo” lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]

Illinois is the newest beaver believer on the block but they’re catching up fast. Just check out this article from South Barrington just outside Chicago at the top of the state, There are only a few areas that need refining.

‘I don’t want to kill anything’: South Barrington looking for way to manage beavers

After a beaver dam caused Poplar Creek to overflow into nearby residents’ yards this past fall, South Barrington officials are considering hiring professional experts to prevent that from reoccurring. A company called Midwest Beaver Management has proposed nonlethal methods for managing beaver activity in the village.

Wrapping tree trunks with wire fencing to keep beavers from chewing on them is one option. Another would involve running pipes through dams so water can pass through and not disturb the animals in their lodges upstream.

Well that’s good. Isn’t that good? Although I kind of get the feeling that all this is VERY new territory for the state. They haven’t got it down just yet. Headlining the article with a photo of a muskrat and a running a quote like this one.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Obviously there isn’t water INSIDE the lodge. Beavers are mammals, not fish. The point of the lodge is being able to breathe safe from predators. Breathing being the operative word. For which the lack of water is required.

Obviously there’s a lot to learn about beavers. We’re just happy they’re starting the right way.

By clearing out invasive plant species that can clog creeks and filtering sediment from waterways with their dams, beavers increase biodiversity, improve water quality and restore the health of watersheds.

Their dams even increase habitats for fish, including endangered salmon and trout in some regions.

“Everybody should be happy” to see beaver activity on a waterway, said Midwest Beaver Management founder Jeff Boland-Prom, whose company is based is south suburban Beecher.

Good job Jeff. We like that a lot. Keep going in that direction will you?

Boland-Prom said Poplar Creek is an especially ideal beaver habitat. It has a low gradient that makes it easier to dam, he said, and the area has lots of young trees that provide plenty of food and building material.

Boland-Prom hopes to meet with village officials in February, and Palmer and others are interested. A meeting date hasn’t been announced.

Mayor Paula McCombie is eager to hear the company’s presentation. Taking steps to coexist with beavers while halting the ecological damage they can cause is preferable to killing them, she said.

Very Very good, Any city that starts here has a good chance of success. There’s just a little tweaking to do yet.

Boland-Prom takes pride in solving beaver-related problems humanely. Not only are such methods better for the animals, but they don’t require additional visits when different beavers subsequently form new dams in the same spots, Boland-Prom said.

That’ll happen over and over again, he said, because beavers look for unoccupied habitats to build their homes.

“It really saves communities money in the long term,” he said.

I’m not sure if this is an error in communication or a mistake in understanding. But obviously when you’re talking to reporters that are new at this you have to be very sure of your message. The point is that if you let your old beavers stay by installing a flow device so the water is a height you can both live with NEW BEAVERS won’t be allowed to move in. Beavers are territorial and they’ll keep out the competition.

It saves a city money because they aren’t paying to TRAP over and over again. Which they would have to because once a beaver has been killed there’s no one left to keep new ones from moving in. You got that, right?