Beavers, like tides, come and go

This is a much better headline than it is an article. A more accurate title would be “Doing nothing and complaining about it anyway”. Or maybe “Learning nothing and blaming others for your ignorance”.

Engineering A Balance Between Beavers And People

Sixteen years ago, when Cherie Ackerson and her wife moved out to their country home in Pompey, they were thrilled by the creek flowing through their new property. They found evidence of beaver activity, which struck them as interesting and wonderful. They built a wooden boardwalk along their creek to enjoy it better.

Then the beavers multiplied. Females can have one to nine pups and young stay with their parents for up to two years. The large rodents, which weigh 45 to 60 pounds, or even more, took out more saplings, enlarged nearby ponds, and changed the course of the creek. Eventually the boardwalk was affected by the changing water levels. “We had a plan and they had a plan,” said Ackerson.

Could your plan possibly be to look up information on the internet and learn that a flow device could control your water issues once and for all?

Wherever water enters an area, beavers can start damming it up, explained Matt Sacco, director of programs at Cayuga Nature Center. Valleys, small drainage creeks, wooded ponds – all these places, he said, have the potential for a colony. Sacco hears about flooding a lot. One farmer who called him had lost five acres of corn. Tree loss is another problem, either because the trees are desirable or because the trees cause damage or block roads when they come down.

In general, “The beaver population is pretty steady,” said Tiffany Toukatly, a fish and wildlife technician with the DEC. She didn’t know for sure because the population size in the region is not being tracked and the numbers of permits vary every year. The beaver has to be present and causing damage for a permit to be issued. Toukatly said sometimes people with recurring problems will try to call to get a permit before a new family moves in, or people will call when they see a beaver on their land even though there is no evidence of damage.

Last summer three adult beavers were trapped out of the pond, but young beavers were left behind. Even if managers wanted to, “we can’t trap them all out,” said Widowski. Where there is beaver habitat, there will be more beavers. Like other rodents, beaver populations can grow quickly, Sacco pointed out, and two-year old beavers who have left home are always on the lookout for vacant territory.

We like beavers so much we only kill the parents. How thoughtful. In case you couldn’t tell already, this article bugs me.

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And finally, a memorial for the kit that Cheryl found last night, dead on the shore. We retrieved it and were ready to bring it for necropsy but found it had been long dead, and would offer little information. Since we saw four on July 1st, and not since, its reasonable to assume it was the fourth. Although it could just has easily been a fifth that no one knew about. We will have to watch and see. And hope our other kits fair better. It has been so long since we had four, I had completely forgotten what its like to have one die. I remembered soon enough.

For comfort I offer this beautiful healthy kit footage from Robin Ellison of Tulocay kit in Napa.