I don’t want to give you the wrong impression. I mean just because there are more bright spots on the beaver horizon I don’t want you to think we’re in the sunshine yet. Lots of beaver trapping goes on in every state. Each morning I wade through piles of articles about beavers who need trapping. I only pick a select few to write about because they are special.
Especially bad. Or Especially good.
Four beavers lethally trapped in Mombasha Park
MONROE — After the Monroe Town Board voted to call upon a licensed outdoorsman to manage damage done by beavers at Mombasha Park, four beavers were lethally trapped this week. According to Town of Monroe Supervisor Tony Cardone, beavers had cut down more than 100 trees, creating a potential erosion issue, which would compromise the stability of the baseball outfield at the park.
When the beavers cut down the trees, they also create punji sticks, which are stumps formed in the shape of a sharpened pencil top. Cardone said the sharpened stumps create a potential safety hazard for people who wander off the walking trail through the park.
“Right now, he (Corrado) feels that (four) is a good number to manage them,” Cardone said. “He thought there was anywhere between eight and 12 beavers in the lodge. So he pulled all his traps out and he’s just going to visually observe the area on an ongoing basis. He is allowed to trap through April 7 if the need arises.”
Ahh David. Punji sticks notwithstanding, your great ecological concern for the well-being of this family brings tears to my eyes. Just killing off half the family members! How thoughtful. Here’s a thought, but when you come for my family can I pick which four?
But the plan has received backlash from a number of Monroe residents. Longtime Monroe resident Sharon Scheer started an online petition called “BEAVERS LIVES MATTER!,” which as of Thursday, had more than 470 signatures The petition suggests that the damage from the beavers is not severe enough to warrant killing four beavers.
“Can we not try to live alongside of wildlife?” the petition reads. “Must we eradicate 1 entire family a den! (4) in such cruel methods? Can’t we work with them and start a new trend to soften our approach on wildlife?”
In an email sent to The Photo News, Scheer said that “the chewing of trees will still continue and the killing of beavers will continue in a vicious cycle.” A far more practical and humane response is to deter the beavers from chewing the trees, she said.
In her petition, Scheer suggests three non-lethal ways to deal with the situation, including an acrylic paint mix with commercial grade sand painted on base of trees as a deterrent, metal meshing surrounding trees at their base and planting beaver-friendly trees and bushes.
“My point is tread lightly; they are genius engineers and vital part of ecosystem,” Scheer said in the petition.
Sharon Sheer, you may not know it yet, but you just made friends for life in Northern California. I’m thinking we need to sit somewhere and share a beer. You obviously saved half this beaver family, by putting pressure on the council to act like they were just ‘managing’ the population not killing all the beavers. If the world had TWICE as many of you beavers would be much better off.
Here’s how it plays out in Calgary..
When Calgary Has Beaver Problems, This is Who They Call
Local trapper Bill Abercrombie has been trapping in Alberta for nearly 50 years. His company is regularly hired by the city to remove beavers where they are causing problems.
“They cut down all the trees, they will dam up water courses and flood areas, quite often they’ll do things like move into the sewer system,” says Abercrombie. “If we’re going to have beavers coexisting with us, we actually have to take responsibility to [manage these issues] humanely and respectfully.”
Abercrombie says trapping discretely in such close proximity to people is the most challenging part of working in the city. Beavers can also become aggressive when caught on land and their long teeth can inflict serious wounds. Abercrombie says everyone on his crew has had a close call with a beaver and he advises Calgarians to keep a close eye on their four-legged companions at the city’s riverbanks. “If a dog is in the wrong place at the wrong time, he’s going to get it,” says Abercrombie. “Beavers are big; they’re strong. There’s no dog that’s a match for a beaver.
Is there a voice of reason in the city? Someone who sees can ‘see the beavers for the trees?’
City of Calgary Parks Ecologist Tanya Hope says while beavers can cause conflict, they also benefit Calgary’s urban ecosystems. Their dams create pond habitat for other species and even reduce the impact of small flood events. “Outside of humans they’re the only other animals that can change the way their landscape works,” says Hope. “We definitely want to have them here.”
To reduce deforestation and flooding Hope wraps protective wire around tree trunks and installs pond-levelling pipes through beaver dams. But the beavers help by eliminating non-native species, as well. “By carefully selecting which trees we leave unwired the beavers can actually increase the health of our forests,” says Hope.
When such strategies fail, however, the city turns to Abercrombie. He and his team remove the rodents using lethal traps placed underwater to ensure beavers are the only animals targeted. According to Abercrombie, his company traps about 50 beavers a year in Calgary.
Alright. At least someone knows that beavers have value and tries to protect the trees in other ways. I guess beavers aren’t without hope. But honestly, if you know that beavers matter, you should know how to protect trees and you should do it right.
It’s not rocket science.
