There are very few advantages to the thankless job of writing about beavers every day – (I mean there isn’t free beaver merchandise given at conferences, or drinks on the road with the team, or eager secretaries wanting to make a good impression) -there aren’t what you’d call “Perks”.
But there is this: which apparently even the multi-million Canadian Broadcasting Corportation cannot boast:
A sense of HISTORY and the ability to see when things happen over again and again.
Rural Sask. municipalities look to solve big beaver problem
Beavers are burdening rural areas of the province, and now the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities is looking for solutions — including the restoration of funding for a program cut in the last provincial budget.
Beaver numbers have boomed to a point of overpopulation and the critters have been destroying infrastructure, according to several municipalities. At the association’s midterm convention in Regina on Tuesday and Wednesday, two of the matters on the agenda touched on the nuisance beavers are creating in rural areas.
“Problem beavers” and the structures they build can lead to road and property flooding, according to the SARM website. In response, the association created a beaver steering committee, representing a coalition of rural municipalities, associations and government.
Now doesn’t the article make it seem like this is a brand new solution that will tackle the problem in a brand new way and rid the poor folks once and for all of these pesky beavers? Except for I wrote about SARM and its coalition of 16th century tools to tackle the ‘exploding beaver population’ back in 2011. In fact, that column had some of my earliest graphics that still make me smile fondly today.
“Exploding beavers? Now that does sound dangerous! No wonder you found 500,000 to fight it! I guess America has seen shoe bombs and underwear bombs in the last few years, so why NOT an exploding beaver! It’s insidious!
Ohh. I just received a wire from the Ministry of Dangling Participles clarifying that the population of beavers has exploded, not the beavers themselves. Whew. That’s a relief! I was going for my beaver-proof vest. I’m curious though, how do you know the population has exploded? I mean when is the last time you did a regional count and how do you know the numbers have increased?”
Funny thing about Beaver trapping. When governments rush in to take out massive groups of beavers, populations have a way of recovering. In fact they often rebound, with more food available for fewer beavers and female caloric intake increasing so that brood size increases. You end up doing the same thing all over again in 1-2 years.
Hopefully you set aside another 500,000 dollars to take care of that problem?
Ahhh, I was so young and naive in those days. I actually thought Saskatchewan could be shamed into fixing their beaver problems with reasonable and proven techniques. Silly, silly girl. What did I know? I didn’t realize that they were the MOST BACKWARD and BRAZEN region on the entire planet when it comes to beaver management. They had the infamous kill contest two years ago that resulted in terrible press for the entire region. Literally hundreds of beavers were killed. And it didn’t help.
CBC might act like this is a “NEW” problem. But we here at beaver central know better.
In response, the association created a beaver steering committee, representing a coalition of rural municipalities, associations and government. At its conference, the association tabled a resolution calling for the restoration of funding for the Beaver Management in Provincial Parks program, which was cut from this year’s budget.
It also called for a special permit to control nuisance wildlife within a specific distance of threatened fields or infrastructure. SARM hopes the government will restore funding for the beaver management program in the 2018-2019 budget. It also called for a special permit to control nuisance wildlife within a specific distance of threatened fields or infrastructure.
Good luck convincing folks to spend money and not solve the problem again. I’m sure you’ll get it. I mean someday they’ll probably realize that the amount they have been spending over and over again has been useless. Some bored intern will crack open the budget book for the last 20 years and realize how much money they’ve handed you to throw away over the years and someone with a brain will demand actual accountability for the contract.
But don’t worry, I’m sure that day won’t come anytime soon.
Speaking of young naive things that have zero idea what’s ahead of them, It seems like a good time to mention that today is our 32nd anniversary of wedded bliss. Who would allow these children to be married? What on earth were those foolish babies thinking?
Happy Anniversary Jon!
