it’s been a long time since I was reminded of the flurry of community objection to killing beavers and the grumble of public works staff when they explain at a city meeting why they need to go. I wonders, is it like riding a bicycle? Does it all come back to you once you out your feet on the pedals?
Beavers decimating trees in Nevers Park to be trapped, killed this spring
SOUTH WINDSOR — Licensed trappers will utilize deadly traps this spring to remove the two or three beavers living in a Nevers Park pond that have damaged and felled nearly 200 trees over the last six months.
Unless the beavers abandon the area before spring arrives, trapping will be used as an uncommon last resort to protect public safety and prevent further damage, town officials said.
A January Facebook post by a resident on a South Windsor community message board asked town workers to stop destroying the dams that beavers built in the northern section of the 157-acre park. The post received over 80 comments from residents who overwhelmingly agreed that the town should leave the beavers alone if they’re not harming anyone.
“We do not hate beavers,” he said, emphasizing that officials are in favor of peaceful and safe coexistence whenever possible. There’s beaver activity at about 40 park locations in South Windsor, he said, and town workers don’t typically disturb them.
Well, well, stop me if you know this one. A flurry of folks object to killing beavers! And the parks department says ‘we don’t hate beavers’ – that sounds so familiar! i think this is an ACTUAL QUOTE from our director of public works. Let me pull it up.
What do you know, I guess this really is like riding a bicycle!
Favreau explained that the beavers eating tree bark and building dams have destroyed over 187 healthy trees and caused trees to fall onto the Nevers Park trails. Flooding in the area from beaver activity also creates stagnant pools of water that serve as seasonal breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Ahhh the old song and dance! Mosquitoes and falling trees! i’ve heard that song before! Tell me, if you have beavers at 40 locations how is it that you haven’t learned to wrap any trees yet? How could you be saying that you actually installed a flow device and never learned to wrap trees? That’s like trying to do a lung transplant before you dissect your first frog in biology class.
While beavers can provide benefits to an ecosystem by raising the water levels of bodies of water and creating habitats for other wildlife, officials said their activity in Nevers Park has become hazardous, and trapping and killing them is the best option.
“In this case it’s in a high public use area,” Favreau said, “and we feel it’s the safest thing to do.”
Yes there are a few nice things beavers do but this is SERIOUS! A tree could fall on a child!
Town staff also tried several times to remove the dams the beavers built to encourage them to leave, but they persisted and rebuilt each time, Favreau said.
As a last resort, Favreau recommended trapping and killing the beavers, which is listed as the best option for their population management on the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s website. Relocating the beavers is a costly way of moving the problem from one site to another, DEEP research shows.
Beavers overpopulate Connecticut, Favreau said, reproducing in great volume and remaining unaffected by predators or diseases that could control their population naturally. Beaver damage complaints led to a regulated trapping season in the 1960s, according to DEEP.
I’d be very curious about the definition of the word ‘overpopulate’. I mean does it mean more than there used to be? more than is convenient? or more than can be sustained? I’m sure it’s not the last because if there weren’t enough food for them they’d die off on their own. I believe it’s just another case of using a word about beavers to mean whatever you want it to mean.
Been there. Done that.
