Mt. Holly — Leave it to beavers to kick off this summer’s popular “Know Your Wild Neighbors” series at the Mount Holly Town Library, Wednesday, July 24, at 7 p.m. Chris Bernier of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department will be the featured speaker at the workshop, which is sponsored by the Ninevah Foundation and free of charge.
Bernier will explain how beavers accomplish their amazing engineering feats: gnawing down large trees to construct dams that create the ponds where they live, and building domelike lodges of branches and mud that are home to several generations and are reachable only through underwater entryways.
The presentation will also cover how the beaver’s work benefits other wildlife, and what to do about unwanted beaver activity, such as a beaver dam that causes flooding. Beaver pelts, a beaver skull and a sample of “beaver-gnawed” wood will be on display, as well as beaver “baffles” – structures designed to control water level and protect culverts affected by beaver dam-building.
Did you catch that? Someone from Vermont Fish and Wildlife will be talking about controlling beaver problems by wrapping trees and installing bafflers. Someone bring me the smelling salts because I may faint. Vermont in particular should know their way around beaver issues better than most. It’s the home of Skip Lisle, inventor of the beaver deceiver. I suppose they are using the term ‘baffler’ just to show their fierce independence. But this is almost encouraging. Almost.
I knew Chris’ name looked familiar. Hope he has learned more about beavers than the last time he was in the news.
Chris Bernier, a specialist with the state Fish and Wildlife Department said the animals are particularly active this time of year. “There’s a lot of busy parents running around collecting food for their young in the springtime,” Bernier said.
Beavers running around in the springtime? You mean like months before their children are born? I’m glad you know there are ways to control beaver problems besides trapping but I hope you leave that part out of your talk.
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However, parents are active protecting young in the summertime. As this Massachusetts couple found out the hard way.
Mass. couple’s dog runs afoul of beaver in Brookline
A couple hiking with their dog in the northwest corner of Brookline near the power lines Saturday, July 6, had an unexpected detour to the animal hospital for emergency surgery after their dog was bitten by a beaver. – See more at: “The owner said the beaver was initially circling, it would go under and come back up,” Monachelli said. “This went on for 30 to 40 minutes, antagonizing the beaver. The owners heard the dog cry out and (discovered) two big gashes on the left front paw, bleeding profusely.”
Ow. Here’s a general rule. Dog owners everywhere jot this down. We don’t let our pets swim with beavers in June and July because they are worried protecting their little kits and will attack an intruder that’s capable of doing harm. Got that?
“The dog was rushed in on a human stretcher,” Monachelli said. “I anesthetized her, sutured and bandaged (the wound) and gave her antibiotics and pain medication. The bite punctured muscles and blood vessels, and there was a lot of bruising, but it wasn’t very extensive.”
Once she was patched up, Gracy was able to go home and is expected to recover. Her owners were unavailable for comment. Beavers are found throughout the area, but are bites common? According to the state’s Fish and Game website, beavers are strictly vegetarian and mainly nocturnal, appearing most often at dawn and dusk to repair their dams and gather food. Mo
Todd Szewczyk, Brookline’s Fish and Game officer, said the beaver was likely just trying to defend itself. “Coyotes prey on beavers,” he said. “The dog was just trying to play, but the beaver thought it was a predator. The two don’t come in contact very often, but (beavers) do meet coyotes pretty frequently.”
I’m glad the dog got better care than the man from Bellarus. And I’m glad the Fish and Game officer saw it in a reasonable way. Let’s hope the owners tell all their friends why its not a good idea to let your dog swim in a beaver pond in the summer.
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I confess I am no engineer, but I truly can’t understand how this works. Maybe you can help me?
SC environmental officials say pond must be drained so beaver damage can be repaired
Property owner Ramona Wesley says the water isn’t draining properly because beavers have built dams on the pond. DHEC officials said the water needs to be low enough so crews can access the holes the beavers have made and fill them in.
Lower the pond, fill in the holes so you can drain more water? What aren’t I understanding? Are they talking about a manmade dam that they think beaver dug into? Are they talking about lodges around the lake they are mislabeling as dams? I only understand it enough to realize it makes zero sense. You might assume the reporters noticed that it was illogical too, but I now know that reporters don’t think at all when they’re reading the teleprompter. Yesterday I heard a reporter read this OUTLOUD on channel 2 with no dawning realization whatsoever.
Sigh.
