Town Takes Action to Lower Water Level at Mills Pond
Licensed wildlife officers [i.e. trappers] employed to assist in reducing beaver population.
Looks like the water’s too high at mill pond. Time to kill some beavers again. Apparently that’s the kind of forward thinking they are proudest of in the nutmeg state. Mind you they don’t appear to kill all the beavers, just a few. Because you know, if the dam is high it means the population is getting too large. Get it?
Like that wall in China.
Town officials said some beaver trapping is generally done every few years and said increased water levels were causing drainage problems on Simonds Avenue. The water was also encroaching on the high school property and a little league field, officials said.
“It’s gotten to the point where we had to do something,” Public Works Director Robert Martin said. “We don’t take it lightly and follow the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection procedures.”
The town of Avon has two DEEP certified nuisance wildlife officers that trapped the beavers, Martin said.
Mind you the acronym DEEP does not signify their level of emotional maturity and isn’t a reference to how far they are in the pockets of taxpayer dollars. It refers to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. (Because, you know, the two things just ‘go together’ and who else would you put in charge of beaver non-solutions?) So DEEP came in and killed a few beavers (hopefully a pregnant female with this spring’s kits) and now the town is happy again.
Martin said the action is unfortunate and feels beavers help create ponds that benefit many other species but as the population grows, it’s harder and harder to control the water levels, he said.
“At some point you need to control the amount of beavers in there,” Martin said.
While there are Water Level Control Devices that allow increase flows through a dam site, town officials said they followed the most practical solution.
If by PRACTICAL you mean TEMPORARY, I completely agree with you. Wouldn’t wanna use one of those silly pipes that actually solve the problem when you put on waders and can kill a couple beavers every couple years instead!
Canton resident Gary Laviana said he is upset by the activity. Laviana said the beavers are remarkable animals but agrees that the population was likely too large. But the town should have done a study, with public input, on the issue rather than rush into action, he said.
Laviana said his biggest concern is the pond. He said the water level could drop too much and the town may have done “irreparable damage to the dam,” causing it to fail given the right circumstances, such as a heavy rain.
Gary, Gary, Gary. Let’s have a little chat shall we? Come over here and take a seat. Comfy? Now this may come as a shock, so brace yourself. But sometimes cities don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to beavers. Shocking, I know. Have some water. Better? It gets worse. Sometimes they KNOW BETTER but they still lie, because it’s easier and they can get away with it. They can get away with it because no one challenges them. Because YOU don’t challenge them. Here, watch this video from 45:00 and see what happens when people do their homework. The beavers need you. You, Gary. This pond and every wild living thing in it needs you to learn the facts.
Young beavers disperse before they become adults. So even though the dam is higher it doesn’t mean the population is growing. The only way you’ll be able to tell if the population is growing is to come down several times bundled up warm toting coffee and bacon sandwiches and sit in the shadows and count what you see all night every night. Do you think your city did that?
Me either.
Tomorrow’s GOOD beaver news will include NOAA asking for public comment to restore coho habitat on the rogue river. And I’ll give you a hint about the solution. It has a flat tail.
Oh and guess whose back? full plumage male and 2 females!
