Do you remember playing “telephone” when you were a kid?
A first child whispers something through their cupped hand hotly into the ear of the child next to them. No repeats or clarifications allowed, that child needs to repeat the best they can to the next child beside them, in progression so that, eventually, (with all the giggling and spitting) the words get get slightly more garbled with each telling. By the time the message got to the end of the line it usually made zero sense so that when you repeated it aloud the room burst into laughing.
It was a fun classroom activity for rainy days. And I think describes as well as anything what happens with animal advocacy in Prince Edward Island.
Beaver evades capture, Summerside residents concerned for its welfare
SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. —
Users of a Summerside park have been sharing the space with a beaver for the past few weeks. Trees chewed down make for a telltale sign. What didn’t have a sign were the traps set nearby to remove it.
The traps are gone for now, thanks to some Summerside residents who spoke up.
Jane Pitre and Jamie Donovan-Gallant found the two conibear-style traps just off the edge of the trail in Heather Moyse Park.
“No beaver should die like that, in a conibear trap,” said Pitre. “There’s other ways to get the beaver out of there.”
Scaring him away? Closing all the liquor stores? It’s a long way across the length of Canada to P.E.I. Messages are bound to get slightly muddled along the way. The “Conibear bad” message made it through. That’s a start.
“A licensed trapper was hired, and I was advised a live trap would be used, however we’ve learned that the live trap method was not successful and the trapper under direction/approval of the department of environment was using a snare method,” Desrosiers wrote in an email. “Once we learned that a snare method was implemented, we asked the trapper stop this practice.
“What we are doing now is reconnecting with the department of environment on what options exist, what considerations should be given, what level of risk and damage could occur if not dealt with and we will go from there,” said Desrosiers. “This is very much outside of our area of expertise.”
He added, “We do need to ensure that tree destruction in this park is limited and public safety issues aren’t created.”
Of course you know that if the primary issue is protecting your trees the answer is not to put the beavers in a wire cage but to put the TREES in a wire cage. Surely that made it through the telephone game?
While not a wildlife expert, she has also read about other options like wrapping the trees with heavy wire mesh or modifying the dam to let a channel of water pass through.
“I understand they want to save the trees and the trees cost a lot, I get that, but I kind of just think the wildlife have a right to be here and we need to live with them better.”
Well that is as good as you can expect, but hey maybe you could lead with that next time. Not “conibears are horrible” but “Here’s an easy way to protect trees“.
It’s just a thought.
Some what less unclear is Kate Lundquist’s beaver presentation to the Escondido Creek Conservancy talking about the importance of beavers in our state. It’s a good overview on the issue and deserves a listen.
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