Isn’t it nice when people STOP KILLING BEAVERS long enough to realize they do really useful stuff when they’re alive? This story mad it onto YAHOO news this morning and even the local radio station. Good.

Greene’s taxpayers have an unlikely hero to thank: a local beaver

Do you suppose somebody makes a fireman’s helmet that will fit a semiaquatic rodent? Because as far as the Greene Fire Department is concerned, there’s a certain beaver along Bull Run Road that deserves a spot on the roster.

The department’s fire pond was brought up to level recently, and town taxpayers were possibly saved thousands of dollars, when a beaver constructed a dam in just the right place at just the right time.

Who needs a crew of engineers when you’ve got buck teeth and a long flat tail?

“A couple years ago we had noticed the level in the fire pond on Bull Run Road was very low and actually got to the level where the hydrant was out of service,” Greene Fire Chief John Soucy explains. “We thought it was due to the drought and the water level never had a chance to recover. This past spring we had noticed that the spillway had eroded to the point that it would not allow the pond level to rise.”

For years, the department had been using the pond to haul water to areas where there are no fire hydrants. The pond water is considered a crucial part of the department’s firefighting efforts in rural areas. So, with that in mind, fire officials glumly went about trying to deduce what they’d need to shore up that eroded spillway and to bring the pond up to snuff.

Now wait just a dog gone minute. The town relied on this particular pond to keep their fire hydrants full and the that had needed repair for a couple of years? Ummm… I guess they’re not that worried about fires in Maine? Well I’m glad they got the help they needed anyway.

By some estimates, repairs would have cost up to $4,000. But that was before the unnamed beaver, a member of a species best known for its dam building abilities, went to work for free.

“Recently we began to make plans to fix the problem,” Soucy said, “but noticed that the pond level had risen suddenly, and when we looked into it further we noticed that a beaver had built a dam at the spillway, raising the water level to the point where the hydrant is now in service. The beaver saved the town of Greene thousands of dollars in repairs to the fire pond.”

The hero beaver has yet to be spotted in action, yet there is evidence that his or her work continues in service to the fire department.

“He is currently maintaining that dam,” Soucy said, “and the department’s plans to fix the spillway have been canceled.”

Well sure beavers can do a hell of a lot more than that too, if we just let them. I wish every city that noticed beaver benefits made it into the news cycle.

Here’s their headline on yahoo news where the very same article will be read by millions: