700 miles away from Burlington VT, the beavers of Burlington Ontario are also making headlines. Apparently they consider themselves too humane to trap, but the regulations say no relocation more than a kilometre away, so that doesn’t leave a whole lot of options.
Busy beavers in Burlington
As winter approaches, Burlington residents may see increased activity around beaver lodges near creeks and waterways within the city, according to a press release sent by the City of Burlington.
Beavers are nocturnal creatures that do not hibernate. They are most active during the fall, working to store enough food, piled outside the lodge, to sustain them throughout the winter.
Hunted to the brink of extinction in the early 1970s, the North American beaver has made a comeback and is now found all over Ontario, most commonly in forests, and are protected and regulated by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).
Beavers have also expanded into non-forested areas, where waterways are bordered by trees or shrubs. This can bring beavers into parks or green spaces created by people. Consistent with the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act and the recommendations of the MNR, the city accepts that beavers are part of the natural environment and as such does not engage in lethal trapping.
I’m guessing this means they engage in live trapping and then kill the beavers with a gunshot or a trip to the gas chamber because I can’t imagine relocating a beaver down the block is any body’s idea of a good investment. I know that our old friend Donna DuBreuil of the Ottawa-Carlton wildlife Centre was hopping mad when the “mile-limit” rule was passed, because it means if an animal is rescued from the freeway it has to basically be returned to the freeway.
Beaver diets include the bark of trees, water plants (pond lilies and cattail roots), shrubs, saplings, grasses, herbs, leaves and fruits. Their eating habits change with the seasons according to what food sources are plentiful at that time of year.
They favour poplar, willow, cottonwood, aspen, beech, alder, hickory, and birch trees. A family of five or six beavers may require in excess of one half hectare of dense poplar trees for its winter food supply.
In some beaver habitats, the city wraps selected trees with a wire fabric to protect them. For more information on beavers, visit the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources website.
I just had to go look for myself, and was surprised to see advice about wrapping trees, flow devices and culvert protection! I have to assume that’s a newer addition and thank our friends in Ontario and Ottawa for forcing its inclusion! Do you wanna bet there is nothing like this on the CDFG website? Well, 11 more days and it will turn into CDFW which will be the first step in the right direction!
