Category: Beavers elsewhere

BELLEVILLE IS STILL ‘HELLVILLE’ FOR BEAVERS

Well Monday night the city council in Belleville Ontario revisited the beaver issue and got an earful from its residents demanding the city stop their failed trapping program. I heard from Doug that they were adamant there were no other alternatives and can see from this article that it was a frustrating repeat of prior efforts.

Belleville beavers lose fight with City Hall despite calls for change

It’s been written countless times, “You can’t fight City Hall.”

Local beavers who can’t read unwittingly lived and died the adage in 2022 the hard way.

According to a new city report submitted to city council Monday, 18 nuisance beavers were trapped by the City of Belleville this year before the animals could do any more shoreline damage or flood wetland areas near city homes.

There was no official confirmation at the council meeting that all of the creatures met their demise although city officials indirectly said there was unfortunately no way to properly relocate them long term to safety after trapping.

The report by Joe Reid, city general manager of transit and operations, follows several years of attempts by Members of Friends of Bell Creek to lobby the city to deploy alternative ways of saving beavers through new methods without killing them.

Well sure we tried but you know how it is with old habits. They’re hard to break. You might be calling for change. But we’ve blocked your number, have a nice day.

New measures such as flow pipes to de-flood beaver dams were brought in by the city to save the animals after international headlines condemned Belleville municipality in 2018 for not doing enough to prevent euthanizing of trapped beavers.

Pressed by city councillors Monday if all beavers trapped this year were euthanized, Reid did not confirm all were disposed of after conventional trapping and removal.

Instead, he informed council mitigating measures introduced by the city in response to Members of Friends of Bell Creek concerns in 2019 to release water from flooded wetlands was a failed exercise despite best intentions to save the animals.

“What is the policy on our removal of beavers? Are they to be euthanized and relocated and if relocated where do they go?” queried Coun. Lisa Ann Chatten.

Yes I have a few questions about that too,

Reid replied, “through best practices that were provided as a guideline through the Ministry of Natural Resources, unfortunately beavers can only be relocated up to one kilometre in distance. So, they are very territorial. What happens is that if they are moved to another beaver’s area, they are unfortunately going to fight to the death.”

In remote areas where there is no flood concerns of built-up area, Reid said the city can sometimes leave the beavers in peace “and let Mother Nature take its course. But there are other places that unfortunately we can’t.”

For example, at South George Street along the Bayshore Trail, Reid said beavers were “cutting down trees and so forth. We did try to put some fence up to try and mitigate that. It was becoming quite hazardous, trees were falling. We were worried about somebody walking and using the trail and a tree coming down on them.”

So you wrapped the trees with wire to protect them and the trees were still falling down on peoples heads even though they were protected? Did new trees grow in the interim or did beavers use pliers to cut through the wire? Or are you maybe lying and wrapped on or two and then had to do something else and forget about it?

It sounds very hazardous.

“Unfortunately, it got to the point it was unmanageable,” Reid said, and the beavers had to be removed from the area.

Reid said beavers were also removed this year from Stanley Park Marsh, 502 College Street West, Mudcat Lane and Harmony Road.

Naturalists in the city say the city is not living up to its wildlife policy that prescribes the municipality take a hands-off approach to animals such as beavers unless last-resort measures such as trapping are needed.

Heavy criticism of the city has been ongoing since September 2018 when residents Doug and Carolyn Knutson and Chris and Susan Finkle appeared in a delegation to city council to present a video of their July 2018 rescue of a beaver in a leg-hold trap set by the city.

Oh those crazy naturalists with their nature demands. You know how they are. Always asking cities to do the right thing even though it takes 5 minutes more than doing the wrong thing over and over. They are so demanding.

At the time, the residents said beavers in Stanley Park Marsh were being trapped inhumanely and drowned triggering a www.change.org petition that garnered more than 70,000 signatures internationally.

In 2019, the city approved its revised wildlife policy to end indiscriminate trapping to save beavers.

Documentary filmmaker Doug Knutson and friends penned a letter to city council ahead of Monday’s meeting expressing concerns more beavers are being killed.

“The report claims that, ‘Over the last year, 18 beavers were humanely trapped and moved.’ We very concerned about what ‘moved’ actually means. Where were these beavers moved to – and what happened to them once there? Moving beavers at certain times of the year or at certain ages can be very detrimental to beavers. Besides, Ontario law prohibits moving beavers more than 1 km away – so a pointless effort. We believe that the fate of these “moved” beavers is far more grim,” the friends wrote.

Okay. You got us. We didn’t actually mean removed. We meant killed. You finally got the truth out of us. Feel better now?

“We highly suspect that “moved” simply means taken to some location and killed. What does “humanely euthanized” mean? These are difficult things to consider but they are being done continuously on our behalf. Adding 18 beavers trapped (killed) this year to the 10 beavers trapped (killed) in the previous two years, gives a total of 28 beavers trapped (most likely killed) since the policy was adopted! It’s hard to conceive how this could be construed as a success story – rather it is a mark of shame on Belleville’s reputation,” wrote the friends.

“We call on you to look again at the Humane Wildlife Conflict Policy/ Trapping of Nuisance Animals policy. We feel that it needs a complete overhaul with input from experts being considered. The issue is NOT (sic) going away and killing our way out of it is NOT (sic) acceptable. Belleville can do better. Belleville NEEDS (sic) to do better!” Knutson and friends said.

Oh Doug and everyone. You are doing SUCH a great job of keeping the pressure on. I know it is beyond frustrating and you feel demoralized and enraged every time you limp off the field. We’ve been there. I have left city meetings where it felt that my entire mouth and throat was filled with ashes. It is hard soul draining work. But just you remember this.

First they ignore you
Then they laugh at you
Then they fight with you
Then you win

NOT EVERYONE IN WASHINGTON STATE LIKES BEAVERS

heidi08 Who's blaming beavers now? November 25, 2022

Everyone knows that Washington is the smartest state in the country when it comes to beavers. Hardly a week goes by when I don’t see a headline boasting about all the wonderful things they do to help salmon and how they are going the extra mile just to keep them around. So when I saw this headline I was kind of means-spiritedly bemused. Like when the teachers pet in your fifth grade gets in trouble for smoking in the boys’ room.

How the world turns!

Big Lake residents fear another mudslide caused by beaver dam

With fears of another mudslide growing, many west Big Lake residents are tired of waiting for answers about what can done about a beaver dam uphill of the lake.

Memories of last fall’s mudslide, caused by a breach in a massive beaver pond uphill of homes, are fresh in the minds of residents, and their frustration about the lack of a fix came to the fore at a neighborhood meeting Monday.

Jim Beckett, who since last fall has bought the property on which the 17-acre pond sits, has no plans to do anything to fix the problem without a guarantee that he won’t be held responsible in the event of another mudslide.

See last year was an actual flood that wiped out the road which was widely believed to cause by a beaver dam washout. Even though NOAA predicted that the river was going to crest that weekend because there was a load of rain.

“On Friday, the National Weather Service put out a warning that the river was expected to crest in Mount Vernon late Friday night. According to NWS, the river reached 28.86 feet Friday which is considered minor flooding”

But still, why NOT blame a beaver dam if you get the chance? I mean making the county pay to kill some beavers is a helluva lot easier than reading a weather report and getting the neighbors together to lay sandbags or something.

County leadership has been aware of the threat the pond poses for years, but has failed to do anything, he said. Skagit County should be the one taking responsibility here, not a private landowner.

“The county, they dropped the ball,” he said. “I don’t want to get stuck with a bill.”

Neighbors have proposed pumping water out of the pond to reduce the immediate risk, then installing a pond leveling device to keep pressure from building behind the dam.

But little progress has been made to fix the problem since conversations started last spring.

Carolyn Bennett, one of the west Big Lake residents, said the neighbors have put forward a proposed solution, and she doesn’t understand why no one seems to be able to help.

So big Lake is a BIG LAKE with lots of streams feeding it. I can’t find a photo of a beaver pond but I assume there could be one. Not sure why beavers would live in one of those little streams when they have a big lake right near by. But okay, sure. Let’s say there’s a pond.

If mud and water again comes down the hill, “our houses will be in the lake,” she said Monday. Shelia Dodd said just pumping water out of the pond isn’t going far enough, and she’s tired of knowing that another mudslide could come at any moment.

She said she doesn’t want to hear about half-measures such as reducing the size of the pond, and feels the only way to solve this permanently is to remove the beavers and the dam entirely.

“If the beavers come back, take them out again,” she said. “It would make me sleep a lot better.”

Well she seems nice. Kill em all and if there are any survivors kill em again! The xena of beavers.

County Commissioner Peter Browning maintained that Beckett, as property owner, would be held legally liable, because flooding caused by the beaver dam is clearly a predictable problem.

“Once it’s predictable … you now own that liability,” he said.

At Monday’s meeting, Browning urged residents to put together a proposal for the commissioners, saying there may be some funding available to help pay for a fix.

But any plan hinges on permission from Beckett, which he says he will not give.

“I’m sure he will when he realizes he could potentially lose his property if there’s a lawsuit,” Browning said.

“That’s part of the neighbors’ job, to work with the landowner,” he said.

Alright Mr. Beckett, Let’s have a talk shall we? You are clearly a wise man who knows that beaver on the landscape make better wildlife and actually help slow down flooding. You installed a flow device to minimize the pressure on the dam and that was great. Your neighbors are still freaked out.

Maybe you are a hermit who would rather spend time with beavers than anyone in your neighborhood. I understand. Bit this is going to take beer. Lots of beer. You are going to have to have a lot of barbecues and talk about this over and over.

AIRDRIE BEAVERS HAVE A CHAMPION

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver ecological impact, City Reports, Who's saving beavers now? November 19, 2022

If you traveled north of Montana and kept on snow plowing until you passed Calgary you’d come to the city of Airdrie, And you have dropped into a most unusual presentation to the city council there. Meet champion Barbara Kowalzik who I suspect is going to be our very good friend soon.

Resident lobbies council for better wildlife management practices

With the City of Airdrie putting a pause on trapping and killing beavers of the Waterstone community, an Airdrie resident presented to council asking that the City adopt a policy to co-exist with beaver populations on November 7.

Summerhill resident Barbara Kowalzik, who has lived there for 13 years, made a presentation to council offering some information to consider as the City explores alternative to trapping and killing destructive beaver populations in the community.

While she presented as a concerned resident, Kowalzik holds a bachelor degree of sciences, and has over a decade of experience in wildlife conflict management.

Kowalzik said that the continued destruction of public and private properties has shown that Airdrie’s current management methods have been ineffective.

“The beaver lodge in my community has existed long before I moved here, and over the last 10 years I’ve seen these beavers relocated unsuccessfully and managed a number of times. I feel that I can say with confidence that we have an opportunity here to make a change because what we are doing is not working,” said Kowalzik.

Ohhh hoo hoooo. I am liking Barbara! What a celestial entrance! I wish I had known enough once upon a time to be able to march in and present to the city council that they should do it better.

“Many trees in my community have been wired, but unfortunately most are wired insufficiently or the cages aren’t properly secured which allows beavers access,” she said.

“I think the fact that beavers have taken a number of large poplars over the last few months speaks to the fact that there’s room for improvement.”

She added that she believed aggressive behaviours demonstrated by beavers were an overstated concern.

“Although beavers are social animals, they’re not aggressive and attacks and bites are exceptionally rare. I can say this from first-hand experience working with wild beaver populations,” said Kowalzik.

“I’ve heard the beavers in my community be referred to as aggressive a number of times, and implying this aggression as justification for trapping,” she said.

Beavers aren’t aggressive buddy. But watch out because I AM! Just putting chicken wire on a tree isn’t the same thing as protecting it. We know that.

“I would suggest that defensive behaviours, such as posturing and vocalizing, has been mislabelled as aggression, which can be very misleading as it relates to public safety.”

She suggested preventative measures as a solution. Those included a proposal to paint tree bases in sand mixures, and a practice called ‘diversionary planting,’ which equates to placing specific plants near beaver colonies to attract them so they don’t turn to other publicly or privately-owned trees and shrubs.

Another proposal was to explore pond levellers to manage water levels and mitigate beaver activity in certain areas.

Kowalzik’s presentation cited a study conducted by Stella Thompson published in the January 2021 edition of the Mammal Review, which estimated that environmental services provided by beavers can amount to $179,000 USD per square mile annually.

The big guns. Cities waste money by trapping beavers. Everything else falls on deaf ears. Keep going Barbara,

She said that could be taken into consideration when looking at the 2018 Nose Creek Watershed Water Management Plan, which highlighted the unhealthy ecosystem of the watershed.

“It’s polluted with phosphorus, nitrogen, and fecal coliform. Not only do beavers on the landscape help increase water quality, but they also help enhance biodiversity,” she said.

“It has a ripple effect, and I think the riparian habitat in Waterstone is a great example of this. There’s mink, muskrat, neotropical songbirds, numerous invertebrates, and numerous species of wild plants.”

She said the challenges presented could potentially be leveraged into new opportunities for innovation.

“Mutiple beavers in my community have been trapped and killed over the last month, but beavers still remain in the lodge and trees still remain accessible,” said Kowalzik.

Ohh hoo hoo Barbara. You got ’em on the ropes now! Don’t let up. Keep wielding that sword until they say uncle.

“I’m hoping we can leverage some of the resources available to us in order to make some well-informed decisions moving forward.”

Councillor Ron Chapman said he was somewhat divided on the issue because of the costs and liabilities they were presenting within the City.

“In the wild they are great, but the City of Airdrie is not a wild environment for them. In a municipal setting, I don’t see it different than having a mouse in your kitchen,” said Chapman.

Hmm does the mouse save money on your water bill and fight fires? Asking for a friend.

“If you have a mouse in your kitchen, you have to get rid of it because it’s doing damage. It’s going to continue to do damage while it’s there,” he said.

“I’m not convinced that we’re going to be able to… co-exist with them.”

The City of Airdrie is looking to do some additional research with the insight of other wildlife experts on how to best approach the beaver problem.

Councillor Candice Koleson said she looks forward to seeing what comes from those discussions, but added that she recognized that there’s a very apparent problem for the municipality.

“They are incredibly destructive. Big trees have been taken down overnight, and it’s very difficult for us to be able to justify that destruction,” she said.

The week prior to the meeting saw beavers take down a tree along Main Street, which has only raised safety and liability concerns around the critters remaining in an urban environment.

Well yes it’s easier to Kill a problem than to solve it. I agree. But is it better for the community? Is it better for the green spaces in your community? Better for your water quality? Better for the mental health of your residents? I’m going to guess the answer to that is “NO”.

Barbara we need to talk.

12th Martinez Beaver Festival 2019. Photo by Cheryl Reynolds 6/29/19.

PERMISSION NEEDED TO INSTALL DECEIVER, BUT NOT TO TRAP?

heidi08 Beavers, Who's Killing Beavers Now? November 11, 2022

Well the world continues to be SHOCKED that beavers can help improve water quality even after we ruin the planet. I would remind them to read about how beavers made a difference in Chernobyl and after Mt St Helen’s erupted but that would just be me being reasonable again, and who wants that? Beavers are in PEOPLE magazine for this ‘discovery’ and everyone is talking about them so I’ll just try and enjoy the ride. This morning there’s a nice article from New Hampshire that gives me the feeling people are starting to notice their beavers or at least their ponds.

Bow proposes committee to address concerns after residents upset over beaver dam removal

The pond in back of Pine Crest Drive in Bow is now almost completely drained after a beaver dam was demolished last week.

Town officials in Bow accepted responsibility and apologized Wednesday night to neighbors for failing to communicate better before a beaver pond on public land was drained by members of a local snowmobile club.

“I apologize that we didn’t have some kind of other notification out to you and it’s our fault that we relied on how we historically dealt with beaver dams,” said Bruce Marshall, chair of the Board of Selectmen.

More than 25 people crammed into the Select Board meeting in Bow on Wednesday night to address the removal of the beaver dam along Page Road. It has been a while since the town meeting has had such a sizable turnout.

The episode felt like a breach of trust, between the town and its residents, said Page Road resident Nick Watson. The town’s biggest investment is in its people, he said.

“Your people rely on you and you should rely on the people. If you’re not communicating clearly and transparently, then you’re not building any bridges,” said Watson “You’re just tearing them down.”

The town-owned pond nestled behind homes on Page Road, Pepin, and Pine Crest Drive served as a wildlife habitat for frogs, birds, turtles and beavers who had constructed dams.

The beaver dam had caused the pond’s water level to rise over time, which left the Bow Pioneers Snowmobile Club, concerned about potential flooding that would harm the bridge that connects to the main trail system. The club asked the town for permission to trap the beavers and clean up the debris around the pond’s drainage system. Selectmen agreed in September by a 3-2 vote.

So we just trapped and killed the beavers and took out all that “DEBRIS” which was getting in the way of our muddy pond. We didn’t think you’d mind. I mean it’s winter for god sakes. When the snow comes you won’t notice anyway.

On Oct. 29, club members cleared away debris and a portion of the dam after receiving consent and confirmation from the board. The beavers were trapped and killed and the pond was drained.

Abutters and residents were not just upset about losing their recreational area, they were equally offended by how it was done.

On behalf of several neighbors, Kevin McCahan who lives on Pine Crest Drive, laid out two main concerns – the lack of oversight of the snowmobile club’s actions and a failure to communicate with neighbors.

McCahan asked board members if they were aware the dam was going to be removed and the pond drained since it wasn’t included in the meeting minutes from Sept. 27, when the approval was given.

Board members, with the exception of Marshall said they did not realize that clearing the debris also meant removing the dam. Marshall said he had been assured that the club would follow the state’s Fish and Game regulations when they remove the dam and beavers.

Selectmen acknowledged that the verbiage in the minutes did not clearly distinguish between debris and dam.

“What happened exceeded what I thought was going to happen,” said selectman Angela Brennan. “I did not understand that it was going to be a removal of the entire dam.”

Oh that old “Debris-Dam‘ canard! Many a ship has been lost on the rocky shoals of that mistaken identity. Hey did you know that the beaver debris can improve water quality and the benefits have been in the news week?

Holy guacamole. Apparently before the town installed a beaver deceiver everyone was notified. They just didn’t tell them when the beavers were going to be KILLED.

In 2016, two weeks before a meeting to discuss the installation of a beaver deceiver, a device to maintain the water level in the pond, the town sent written notices to each abutter. It gave them an opportunity to come to the meeting and give their input. But this time, residents said that they were kept in the dark and were unaware of what was going on until they noticed the pond being drained.

Others asked about possible punitive action against the snowmobile club.

“If I asked you for an inch and I take a mile, what is my repercussion for doing that?” resident Eleana Colby said.

Board members voted to form a committee to look into pond restoration and future beaver pond management in light of the beaver dam removal on Page Road. It will be adopted as a subsidiary of the conservation committee.

Selectman Christopher Nicolopoulos said the committee will involve the town’s people and make recommendations when a beaver issue comes up.

“When somebody comes and says they want to deal with beavers, you know what to expect from us and people know what is sufficient and how we’re going to deal with them,” said Nicolopoulos on the committee’s role.

You know I bet our buddy Art Wolinsky was involved with the deceiver in 2016 and maybe contacted over this recent about face. He says he didn’t know anything about this and will do some checking.

‘BEAVER GATE’ IS AN ACTUAL THING?

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver ecological impact, Who's Killing Beavers Now? November 7, 2022

The Mildred Peterson Preserve is a suburban city park on the east side of Lake Michigan outside Grand Rapids in Suagatuck, It is a nice place to visit the shoreline and see the colors but it is not, apparently, a nice place to be a beaver. So few are really.

‘Beavergate’ reports true, kind of’

Reports of beaver trapping this fall at Saugatuck’s Peterson Preserve are true, said city manager Ryan Heise.

Rumors they were secret, ad hoc and might have even involved larger bear traps, less so. But it was lead-up to elections.

“The City of Saugatuck,” Heise said, “has been placed in the unfortunate position of removing beaver from the Peterson Preserve for the last three years.

“It’s my understanding,” the second-year manager went on, “that in the early 1960s pond work and stream alterations were made to Moore’s Creek, originating from Goshorn Lake.

Placed in the unfortunate position? Seriously? Like “This hurts me more than it’s going to hurt you,but it has be done. You made me do it”. Swear to God they said that out loud with their mouths parts because they truly thought it would make their position better.

Go figure.

There are stories that this creek historically was spawning habitat for native fish, and later salmon/trout introduced to Lake Michigan in the late 1960s.

“We are aware of concerns about the trapping and the dam, which triggers an interesting discussion on the relevance of the dam from an ecological significance perspective.

The trapping is a permitted activity necessitated by need to maintain native habitat, prevent damage to the existing dam, and assists in mitigating damage to surrounding road base and other infrastructure upstream.

“The trapping is complete for this year,” Heise said.