Belgrade will continue removing troublesome beaver dams
By Mechele Cooper: Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
BELGRADE — The town will continue removing troublesome beavers that build their homes in culverts, a problem that has gotten worse this year and can lead to problems for landowners and costly road repairs.
“Beavers have become a serious problem,” said Selectman Ernie Rice. “Not only are they a hazard on roads when they flood, but also they do a lot of damage.”
Rice said the town has put up barriers to discourage beavers and are sensitive to people’s feelings toward the animal. But beaver dams in the culverts can cause flooding and washouts that can lead to costly road repairs, he said.
Road Commissioner Kevin Hawes said the town has had a number of problems with beavers returning to places they were removed from.
This just in. Beavers block culverts. Even though it annoys us. They could, of course, build a long dam across the inlet or outlet and leave the culvert entirely protected so that our roads drain the way they were meant to drain. But do they, even once, think of our traffic needs? No! Beaver selfishly think only of the most direct route to getting the pond of their dreams. They look at all their options and choose the culvert to build a dam in because its easy. EASY! Those lazy, slacker rodents! Then the good souls at Belgrade Maine (who know that bleeding hearts don’t want them killed) pay a trapper to pick up the rodents and move them somewhere else! And the ungrateful creatures come BACK! How’s that for thanks?
MacCabe charges 50 cents a mile to move a beaver to another location. His invoices include fees for catching a beaver, baiting traps, the removal of animals and transporting them.
For example, May 12 to 14 removed a beaver on Knowles Road and charged $170, including $35 to trap the beaver and mileage to and from the job, and then 70 miles to the release site.
From May 15 to 21, MacCabe dealt with several other beavers, catching and rebaiting traps and bringing them to other locations. His invoice for those jobs was $340.
Just curious. How did you get the DNA results to know that they were the same beavers that came back? You know beavers are hard to tell apart, so it wasn’t just looks right? I mean because if you were going to pay 340 to move some beavers out of habitat that looks so alluring that new beavers move IN and set up shop then that would be kind of a waste of money. Gosh, is that what you did? Hey, I know what you could do instead! Talk Mr. MacCabe into building one of these at that pesky culvert, or you know, every culvert connected to a waterway with a nice stand of trees.
Then the beavers can stay and keep other beavers away. The culvert will keep flowing freely and the road won’t flood. The huggers won’t be mad at you, the transit authorities will be pacified and since this will last a good long time you might just save some money for next time! Wouldn’t that be a great idea?
“We’d rather not kill them. Most of the time we relocate them to another floodage,” Christianson said. “We have people on waiting lists who prefer to have beavers on their land.”
Christianson said there are non-lethal beaver management methods available, including a mesh wire fencing at the culverts’ outlets. His department prefers to work with landowners and highway departments to find out why beavers build in particular spots year after year.
Maine is obviously a LOT smarter than Martinez. There are people who want beavers on their land! They don’t want to kill them! They even know about ‘wire fencing at culvert outlets’. Wait a minute. What’s that called when you know the right answer but keep doing the wrong thing over and over again and hoping for better results?
I’m sure it has a name.
