Beaver battle: ‘We’re trying to work with nature’
A young family has moved into the Fraser Heights area of North Surrey and has been causing problems for the city parks department. And according to Carrie Baron, environmental planner for the City of Surrey, the new tenants have been causing headaches at city hall by jamming a nearby creek with sticks and causing it to flood surrounding fields.
“We’re well aware of the beavers at Fraser Glen,” said Baron. “We are planning to put in a new outlet control structure that the beavers are unable to block.”
Since the city has a no-kill policy when it comes to beavers, Baron said the idea is to build a structure that the beavers are unable to block, allowing the creek to run freely, while at the same time providing a safe habitat for the beavers to live in.
City parks workers have also been installing wire fencing on tree trunks around the pond to protect them, as many have been chewed down.
Although relocation of the beavers is an option, Baron said, new beavers would only move in, causing the same issues again.
I had a dream like this once, but it never came true. Have I suddenly died and gone to heaven? Are there really such cities as this in the world? Do employes from public works really wrap trees with wire? Surrey British Columbia is right across the water from Vancouver, so I think we owe Fur-bearer Defenders a heap of gratitude for educating Fraser Heights.
Thank you! And Ms. Carrie Baron, environmental planner extraordinaire! Let’s hope there are lots more like you at home.
There’s more good news to put on your calendars. Michael Runtz is a photographer, educator, and beaver lover from way back. I first connected with him through Donna Debreuil of the Ottawa-Carlton Wildlife center. His brilliant photographs are in the beaver documentary on PBS. I knew he was hard at work on his book about his decade+ beaver observations, but it’s FINALLY going to be released February 1. His interview with Michael Howie for Fur Bearer Defenders Radio airs monday. This is an excerpt from Michael’s review.
About dam time: new book showcases the remarkable world of beavers
Michael Runtz Dam BuildersA perfect mixture of science, poetic anecdotes and gorgeous photos makes up the foundations of Michael Runtz’s Dam Builders: The Natural History of Beavers and Their Ponds (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, February 2015).
Runtz, a renowned naturalist and photographer, and an instructor at Ottawa University, has taken all that is incredible about beavers – from their long evolutionary history, to their social structure, to their aquatic engineering skills – and compiled it in his new book.
It is the combination of these three passions of Runtz that make this book such an essential part of any animal, nature, history or photography lover’s collection.
Preorder the book for your very own here. And listen to the interview on Fur Bearer’s Radio Episode 212 available Monday January 19th, here. I’m sure we’re in for a dam good time!
