Syracuse officials a little surprised to see damage done by beaver along Onondaga Creekwalk
“We have a beaver situation,” said Andrew Maxwell, director of planning and sustainability for the city of Syracuse. “We were a little surprised by it. We knew the beavers were active back in November 2010, but it was short-lived and we didn’t know they were active again
A beaver situation? Really? Is it just me or do you immediately want to repeat that into a walkie-talkie? “Beaver situation in sector B. Arboreal damage with no known casualties yet. I repeat. Beaver situation in sector B“
What will Syracuse do with this ‘gnawing’ problem? Who will offer a solution? How can any city survive such an invasive attack? How about the DEC? Surely they know what to do.
Beavers eat the inner bark, or the cambium, and they want to get to the soft green part on the inside, he said. “But the cambium isn’t as tender and nutritious on the bottom of the tree as it is on the top,” he said.
To save the tree, the best strategy is to act quickly and wrap the tree in hardware cloth, which is basically woven metal, from the ground up to about three feet. Chicken wire won’t work because the beaver can gnaw through it, Clark said.
Hardware cloth? Um, well it’s better than trapping, but what exactly is hardware cloth? And why are your beavers so short? Doesn’t it ever snow in Syracuse?
W
ell, okay that looks like it would work but remember to wrap it a distance from the trunk or you’ll just girdle the tree and end up killing it with kindness!
I’m not very hopeful looking at the professionals quoted in this article. The only one I really admire is the arborist (and maybe the reporter for ending the article with his quote!)
Steve Harris, city/county arborist, said beavers chewing these box elms shows that the area is an attractive habitat for diverse wildlife. “The damage is to an infinitesimal small number of trees, and the beavers aren’t any threat to the public,” he said. “It’s just what happens in nature.”
Of course I wrote them all about the benefits of beavers and how to manage damage. Hopefully armed with this information Steve can make a few new converts!
