Beavers remain a pest
The flat-tailed, long-toothed rodents making dams across MetroWest are causing headaches for homeowners, even as environmentalists say beavers are a precious part of the local ecosystem.
Across the region, dams made by these champions of gnawing cause water levels to creep dangerously close to sheds, septic systems, swimming pools and sometimes homes themselves. The stagnant water topples trees and breeds mosquitoes.
Among those frustrated by beaver handiwork is Michael Riley, in Bellingham.
In Hopkinton, Cecilia DelGaudio and her neighbors eventually took matters into their own hands, pooling money and hiring a trapper when water started inching onto their backyards and popping out lights at an in-ground swimming pool.
Officials in Holliston denied a permit to Janice Miller, who has a 6-foot tall beaver lodge a few feet from her property line.
Reporters remain uneducated. Property-owners persist with their ignorant trend. Beavers continue to selfishly live and support their families. I give UP!
Where hast thou been, trapper? Killing beavers. Trapper, where thou? A tailor’s wife had beavers on her land, And wailed, and whined, and moan’d:– ‘Kill them,’ quoth all: ‘Aroint thee, rat!’ the flame-fed reporter cries. Her job to foster fights, master o’ the Tiger: But in a conibear I’ll thither sail, And, like that rat without a tail, I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do.
I’m sorry. I’ve used wit and wisdom, sarcasm , humor and lore to lure the MetroWest daily news in Massachusetts onto saner shores. I’ve left a trail of breadcrumbs and letters and phone numbers that they can climb to safety. But as of this morning I’ve officially given up. They are committed to the myth of their invincibility. Only Macbeth is fitting fodder for their Haley’s comet of fevered futility.
If you will remember Macbeth was convinced it was his right to overturn government (by killing the king) and appoint himself the new head of the monarchy. (That’s not so different from overturning the will of the voters when you think about it.) And he was persuaded by some very compelling ‘weird’ forecasts. (Which is not so different from 6 news articles in the past two months pretending that this was really going to change any minute.)
Hmm. All we really need to find out is who is playing the role of Macbeth’s wife? Someone in the background is thickly whispering murderous stage directions in this little drama, but who? Since we haven’t weirdly haven’t read his name, seen an op-ed or heard a mention of his organization, I’m going to guess our old friend Herb Berquist is pulling the strings, gently prodding the issue from the rear. Looks like he got his old job back with Fish and Wildlife so he can’t use the microphone aymore. The whispers sound like this:
Yet do I fear the will of the voters; it is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it.Ahh Herbie, we missed you. Just remember things don’t turn out to great for Lady M. (Although I would admittedly pay endless sums of money to see you in a white nightgown trying to impossibly wash the beaver blood off your hands.) There were just a few sticky (umm) obstacles to overcome and the future would have been golden. You do know how well that worked out for Macbeth, right?
One reason beavers are so easy to spot in MetroWest is because a ballot question passed 17 years ago made it harder, and less lucrative, to trap beavers. Between 1996 and 2000, the state’s beaver population tripled and complaints about flooding increased.
Again! The howling about the voters! Could conversation inside the Bastille have sounded very different during the french revolution? King Louis XVI had nothing on you! Speaking of voters, I just heard from a very good Worth A Dam friend Cindy Margulis, (of the Oakland Zoo) that she was living in Massachusetts in 1996 and proudly cast her vote to outlaw crush traps that day.
Oh, wanted to mention that years back, when I had lived in Massachusetts, I voted to stop horrible inhumane animal trapping…just because it was cruel. I didn’t realize, even then, that banning inhumane AND stupid approaches would create “necessity” which led, instead, to truly ingenious use of grey matter, such as Skip Lisle’s Flow Device! Every step a person takes can count… and reverberate with positive karma in unforeseen ways.
Ahh Cindy. Apparently the good folks at MetroNews say you were misled by those POWERFUL animal rights lobbies. You thought you were voting to outlaw double parking or biscuits with gravy that day. In this instance (but no others ever) the voters were tricked. You know, on account of how that ballet measure was so misleading and every single other measure is stated so clearly. Never mind. How many attempts will still be made on this particular voter decision (i.e. regents life)?
Thrice to thine and thrice to mine And thrice again, to make up nine. Peace! the charm’s wound up.And if you can’t remember what the heck Macbeth is about, here’s a great summary supposedly from a High School student who I imagine will be the next Ian?
