A beaver dam at the Carriagetown Marketplace in Amesbury.Jim Vaiknoras/Staff

Hotel plan faces unusual foe in beavers

by: Lynne Hendricks

It’s a rainy sunday so lets go to Amesbury, Massachusetts where a fine developer known as the “True Homestead Partnership” wants to build a Hampton Inn near a shopping mall. Sounds delightful. Problem is there are some beavers living in a drainage ditch near the mall and the owners of the complex have not thought them to be a problem. They’re making one of those dastardly ponds and the water is interfearing with their building plans.

Their trouble is not from the Planning Board or Conservation Commission, which are currently reviewing the plan. It’s not from angry neighbors — at least not the kind that walk on two legs. It’s coming from a family of beavers living next door. The beavers live on land owned by Carriagetown Marketplace LLC, 15 acres that encompasses Stop and Shop and a number of retailers. It’s the plan of developers True Homestead Partners to use the parcel of land east of the marketplace for the hotel, a 10,000-square-foot retail complex and parking. But working within the confines of their 2.5 acre site, the beaver-made swamp may make it difficult to accomplish that. Mayor Thatcher Kezer said the town’s hands are tied when it comes to the nesting family. “Unless we determine it’s a public health hazard, it has to be the landowners who bring it forward,” Kezer said.

Well now that’s the start of exciting and unfolding drama. Lets get the popcorn. You’ll want to replay this every Christmas. Remember that Massachusetts is a state where body crushing traps are outlawed unless certain conditions are met. The trappers association is constantly whining about how hard it is to kill beavers now and twisting arms in the statehouse to get the law overturned. The argument in this article seems to be that the city can’t do anything unless public safety is at risk. That isn’t true. They could hire a trapper to use the  woefully inconvenient and body-pampering traps if they wanted to.  The beavers would be just as dead at the end of it. So what gives?

Does Kezer want to foce a big favor from Homestead before he’s willing to kill some beavers? Did someone from Carriagetown have a bad breakup with someone from Homestead? Does everybody in Amesbury love beavers? Or is there nobody willing to go in the water this time of year? I wrote the Mayor, the spokeswoman from Audubon and the paper that Beaver Solutions are waiting just two hours away.  I guess I’m not complaining that everyones throwing up their hands and saying we can’t trap.  It’s just confusing. Trust me it gets worse

It is illegal to tear open or disturb an active beaver dam unless one obtains a permit, which isn’t easy to obtain. But while the beaver’s mass of bundled sticks and mud can’t be destroyed, the law allows landowners some options. Unfortunately for the animals, those options for the most part involve killing them.  There’s only one method that provides a win-win for the beaver and developer. Water-level control devices, for instance, make the beaver habitat less desirable, as long as one has a permit. The theory behind the measures is to alter the dam in a way that can’t be fixed by the animals, and hence ultimately persuades the critters to move on. But this option can be tricky since beavers are attuned to the sounds of water escaping their dam and by instinct will move quickly to shore up any weaknesses in their home. Other than that, the law does not provide any other means of relocating the animals.

Did you get that? This article begins with a flourish worthy of the 1812 overature. There’s only one method that provides a win-win for the beaver and the developer. WATER CONTROL DEvICES!!!!!!!!!Wow I got all excited and for a minute there thought I was in love. The next sentence changed everthing, as we dropped from 1812 overture to ‘theme from Hee-Haw“.  Flow devices”Make the beaver habitat less desirable. and ultimately persuade the critters to move on”. Is there a mark on my forehead? I keep slapping it when I read STUPID articles. Ahhh Lynne, you were this close.

I’m not sure where you got that misinformation from. Did Mr. Kezer tell you that water control devices make beavers go away? Did Ms. Rines from Audubon? Did you read it on a cereal box? Just so you know. If flow devices made beavers move on, they would be a complete waste of time and a wasted investment. Because new beavers would just move in. Just like when you trap. The point of flow devices is to preserve the conditions that the humans need (lower dam, unblocked culvert) in such a way that the beavers can tolerate it. Then they stay in the area and mark the territory and keep any other beavers from moving in.

Oh and Lynne? beavers do walk on their hind legs.

That’s mom carrying mud and sticks onto the old lodge, BTW. This footage was shot by Moses Silva about two years ago  Ahh mom, we miss you. Nice to see you again.

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