Despite all the good news about beavers they still aren’t winning any popularity contests any time soon. Today is a mixed bag of beaver news. A county in Iowa is launch a bounty to get rid of beavers. A beaver believer in Utah has a beaver he wants removed in the winter and may need to trap it offered with a photo of you know what. And all of this comes with a new look at the 15 year old beaver story in Martinez from a lost interview with sub-committee member Julian Frazer suddenly turning up in my feed. I guess you should never say you’ve seen it all.
I would embed the charming bounty video for you to watch but I can’t figure it out. I’m sure you get the idea and if you want to see more click on the headline,
“Beavers can place a lot of stress on many areas of our infrastructure, with dams preventing water to flow to designated areas,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Brian Shea said in a statement. “Pottawattamie County is responsible for maintaining many roadways and drainage ditches in our area, and some of these dams can end up causing a lot of damage, costing our county a considerable amount of money to repair. We hope this program helps in minimizing the possibility of that happening.”
I hardly know what to say. I guess Iowa doesn’t need clean water for farms or fields and I guess Iowa doesn’t need fish or birds or otters or ducks. I wonder how they’ll feel when all the dead beavers increases the forage for the next crop and they end up with a population rebound?
Let’s move onto Utah where this short report from a self described beaver believer is featured with a fine photo of a nutria. Because why the hell not?
I won’t post the photo of the nutria because it will just show up as another photo of a beaver one day. You can trust me or follow the link your self. I’m glad they said they wouldn’t relocate the beaver in winter, but I’m dreading what’s going to happen next.
I’m now waiting to hear from my neighbor for the rest of the story. May it be favorable for this remarkable aquatic mammal, so essential for creating healthy watersheds, which equals abundant, high quality water!
Nice interview with Julian, the part about the beavers starts around the 6 minute mark. i can’t believe I never saw this before, but it starts with a mention of this website!
How about a mystery to puzzle through this weekend? I heard about this a couple days ago and apparently it still hasn’t been unraveled. I have my primary suspect list involving the phrase “plausible deniability” of course, but the city denies involvement so I’m curious what you think.
SHELTON, CT — Shelton officials are asking for the public’s help determining why a beaver dam at Boehm Pond was destroyed.
According to Teresa Gallagher, the city’s natural resource manager, the relatively new beaver dam was likely constructed around 2019 off Winthrop Woods Road and was a favorite sight for hikers in the area.
“Some people, especially hikers, loved seeing the pond and the dead trees, viewing it as a normal cycle of nature,” Gallagher said in an email to Patch. “It was a favorite spot for people to take pictures.”
In mid-December, Gallagher announced on the Shelton Trails Committee blog someone brought heavy equipment into the area and ripped the dam apart.
Well now I’ve surely known public works crews to do their really unpopular dirty work right before a holiday break so that no one will have to answer the phones until everything dies down. But maybe I’m hardened and too suspicious.
“Nevertheless, someone dismantled the guardrail on Winthrop Woods Road and brought in heavy equipment to rip apart the beaver dam, take out trees and move large rocks along the shore,” Gallagher said in the blog post. “People in the neighborhood assumed city crews had done the work, but no one at the city authorized or knows of any crews having done this.”
Will no one rid me of this meddlesome beaver? The misquote comes from Henry II who wanted someone to get rid of the archbishop of Canturbury Thomas Beckett without appearing to be directing folks get rid of Beckett. Four henchmen heard his cry and promptly dispatched the man of their “own” accord. Cities often function like little kingdoms. How many mayors have muttered under their breath for the problems to be “dealt with” so that someone could do in an unauthorized act what they themselves couldn’t be seen to do?
Gallagher said no further information about the beaver pond’s destruction has been received as of Thursday morning and the reason for it being torn up is still unknown.
“It was referred to the [city’s] Inland Wetlands Department since they have regulatory authority and can impose penalties,” Gallagher said.
The larger shallow pond created by a beaver also benefits nearby wildlife, including fish, herons, ducks, turtles, frogs and otters. The dead trees are also used by breeding birds, including wood ducks and woodpeckers, and filled with insects as they rot that are eaten by woodpeckers and other wildlife, Gallagher said.
It’s such a shame someone would take all that away, The selectman’s just sick about it. Doesn’t this sound like some hardy buck passing to you?
Though hikers in the area and others have enjoyed viewing and taking pictures of the beaver pond and the wildlife it attracted, Gallagher noted some people in the neighborhood, conversely, thought the dead trees were an eyesore.
“It’s important to understand that the best wildlife habitat often looks messy,” Gallagher said. “Dead wood has high ecological value. Conservation lands are typically meant to be left untouched, and that means they will not look tidy or manicured. This summer, the dead trees will allow light to reach the ground and a rich layer of plants to grow, providing food and habitat for species such as deer and rabbits.”
The willingness to pass blame along to anonymous nosy neighbors is pretty much TEXTBOOK in my experience when it comes to mayor’s getting rig of problems without appearing to.
Case in point: A life time ago there was an incident when I expressed concern that with all the public attention at the dam a young teen was “fishing” right near the beaver kits and a kit actually darted toward his line in curiosity. I had visions of kits with hooks in their mouth or tangled in fishing line.
The mayor appeared to be concerned saying over the phone “That’s too bad, I fear the beavers may become victims of their own popularity” and to this day I’d swear I could hear him rubbing his hands together wistfully at the thought.
Anyone with information about what happened to the beaver dam is encouraged to email conservation@cityofshelton.org.
I’ve got a theory. Do you think I should email them?
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
“Beavers can place a lot of stress on many areas of our infrastructure, with dams preventing water to flow to designated areas,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Brian Shea said in a statement. “Pottawattamie County is responsible for maintaining many roadways and drainage ditches in our area, and some of these dams can end up causing a lot of damage, costing our county a considerable amount of money to repair. We hope this program helps in minimizing the possibility of that happening.”
Reports of beaver trapping this fall at Saugatuck’s Peterson Preserve are true, said city manager Ryan Heise.
