Unusual number of beavers killed along busy Mill Creek road.
By Eric Stevick, Herald Writer
Biologists speculate the animals were looking for a new home after their old one was destroyed by heavy rain. MILL CREEK — It was a gruesome scene that awaited morning rush-hour commuters. Seven beavers were struck and killed by cars Tuesday on a busy Mill Creek thoroughfare.
Mill Creek Washington had a beaver tragedy on Tuesday. 7 beavers were struck by passing vehicles along the 132nd street. Seven. By the time rush hour came around cars were already weaving among the bodies.This horrible story would hardly be worth a post, but it was brought to my attention by a fairly compassionate article and I guess maybe these beavers deserve a eulogy. Not to mention a ‘Caution: Wildlife Crossing” sign in their memory.
Each beaver was run over in a roughly 50-yard stretch near the intersection of 132nd St. SE and 35th Ave. SE.
“I was wondering, ‘What in the world happened?'” said Matt Posivio, who spotted the dead beavers while driving to work. “To see so many of them. My first thought was, ‘I hope this isn’t foul play.’ “The sheer size of the beavers, which average around 40 pounds as adults, made it look like a road strewn with dogs, he said.
Foul Play indeed. Drivers on a deadline with their attention divided between their cellphones, lattes and traffic reports. Very foul. I can’t imagine seven family members moving in a cluster. Maybe the lodge was getting more and more flooded, and they were cramping together for dry space, and a yearling went first to look for other digs. Then a brother followed. Then the parents, then the kits. A horrible ‘ten-little indians’ massacre unfolds in my mind, but I’ll spare you the details. As violently as I hated the drivers of those vehicles when I read this article, it is true that it was dark, beavers are dark, and are very low to the ground. Also reader comments from the article make even the guiltless drivers sound pretty traumatized by the sea of tails on the road, which in a oddly comforting.
It is clear from reading the article and reviewing the lovely graphics that were created for it that the incident caused quite a stir in Mill Creek. As it should be. It’s a horrible story and no one should drive through that intersection in quite the same way anymore. I’m thinking that residents and commuters might pitch in for a “Caution sign” in their memory. I’ll personally throw in the first 20 bucks.
In the meantime, let’s hope that the sight of seven accidentally killed beavers will prevent the next seventeen beavers that Mill Creek decides to kill on purpose. Let’s hope it raises awareness of beavers in general, reminds people that they exist in family units, and generates more patience on the roads for wildlife. Let’s hope the community remembers the morning of the magnificent seven.
