Beaver dam destruction denounced
By Kate Irish Collins kcollins@keepmecurrent.com
SHAPLEIGH – Residents of Shapleigh are likely to remember a washout of Route 11 in early December. What they may not know, say officials, is that the damage resulted from the removal of a beaver dam, which also caused a large amount of silt and debris to flow into Mousam Lake.
The town is now taking court action against the men it believes are responsible for removing the dam on Dec. 2 – Shapleigh-based contractor Patrick Frasier and landowner William Elwell, whose primary residence is Rochester, N.H. Neither man could be reached for comment Tuesday before Reporter deadline.
My my my. Doesn’t that read pretty? What if every town where a beaver dam was removed hauled the offenders off to court for ruining the pond, or fish habitat, or mink bridge, or heron feeding or any of the myriad other uses a beaver dam offers? The story’s from Maine, which doesn’t exactly have a stellar record of defending the value of beavers. And in this case was really only annoyed that all the water and debris ripped out went ended up flowing over the road. Still, its a start.
Both men have appealed a notice of violation sent to them by Steven McDonough, Shapleigh’s code enforcement officer, that required each of them to pay a $5,000 fine for the destruction of the dam and to create and pay for a restoration plan.
Obviously they are hoping the whole thing just goes away. They couldn’t even be bothered to get attorneys for the hearing. And now Frick is claiming that Frack was never his employee and that he should be responsible for damage he did on his own initiative. Ahh the flailing of beaver-dam destroyers. I never get tired of it.
And if your week has been anything like mine you need some cheerful distraction right about now. I thought I’d share this list forwarded by Sarah Beesley of the Yurok tribal fisheries program of times beavers were mentioned in the Simpson’s. Its a lot longer than you’d think.
[8F01] State seal has beaver on it.
[8F14] Beaver is conductor of Wall E. Weasel band. {cl}
[9F05] Beavers making dam out of message canisters.
[9F05] Homer says he works like a Japanese beaver.
[9F22] State seal has beaver on it.*
[2F12] Chief Wiggum recalls setting beavers loose in furniture store.
[3F01] State seal has beaver on it.
[3F03] Beaver in food chain.
[3F06] Beavers attack Homer doll.
[3F13] Beaver on model recreation of Springfield.
[4F20] Simpsons play beaver family in comedy sketch.
[5F02]# Marge the Witch turns Chief Wiggum into a beaver. {ps}
[5F02] Ralph Wiggum dressed up as a beaver for Halloween.
[BABF10] Beavers by racetrack building dam out of discarded car tires.
[CABF01] Beaver trying to pull its tail trapped underneath Rich Texan’s car wheel.
[EABF13] Homer and Bart declare war on a dam full of beavers.
[FABF18] Seen on cartoon in Dr. Hibbert’s office.
[GABF02] Football player dresses up like beaver and gnaws down goal post.
Bongo #44: Principal Skinner uses a beaver to attack a Canadian RCMP officer.
Given my particular interests I had to go look at an episode describing Homer and Bart “declaring war on a dam full of beavers”. This is what I found. Since the site appears to be in Russian I’m not sure what to do to make it play exactly in the right place. But Homer and Bart are asked by the local indian tribe to demolish the dam at about 10:30. Enjoy!
