City busy as a beaver finding humane solution
Two residents concerned with Fredericton’s wildlife policy in wetland areas are praising the city for its decision to stop killing beavers that have been damming the culvert and flooding the Gibson trail. Gabriela Tymowski, a year-round trail user, said the city’s installation of a beaver baffle – a device designed to confuse beavers and stop them from building dams in wetland areas – is a positive step toward sustainable beaver management.
“The beaver baffle works by tricking the beaver into thinking that they are successfully damming a culvert, when in fact, they can’t because water can still successfully get through the baffle,” she said.
Tymowski, who’s been using the Gibson trail year-round for the last 12 years, said she contacted the city after coming across a dead beaver that drowned after getting stuck in a trap. After it was confirmed the city hired someone to kill the beavers, Tymowski said she requested a meeting with staff to come up with an alternative.
This article starts out with such a bang I got very excited. Fredricton is over at the very edge of Canada in the area that’s looks like Maine’s hat. Just miles away from Vermont & Massachusetts, it’s not very far from real solutions, but clearly accurate information has a very hard time flowing up hill.
“This means that the area will no longer flood, and because the beavers need a certain amount of water in order to survive – their entrance and exits to their lodge must be underwater – they will be forced to relocate.”
Since installing the baffle, Murray said the city hasn’t had any problems with beavers. “We put that in and they packed their bags and left,” he said.
Ahhh, Gabriela & Don you were THIS CLOSE!!! You were almost beaver advocates manque! Well, listen up young grasshoppers. The point of installing a flow device isn’t to get them to leave. The point is to control the water at the height you can tolerate so that the beavers STAYYY. If they leave, new beavers will move in and put a new lodge in a different area and dam the whole thing all over and you will have wasted your time and money. Let the beavers stick around, maintaining valuable wetlands, augmenting fish population and improving habitat for birdlife.
And always remember, to paraphrase Hamlet
“Better to bear those beavers you have than fly to others you know not of.”
In the mean time can you get me the name of that expert at UNB? (I’m assuming University of New Brunswick!) I clearly have some education & explaining to do.
