Yesterday’s labor of love. I wanted to send this to our UK beaver friends. Simon Jones of the Scottish beaver trial wrote back this morning that it was such fun he was sending it to their educational department because he thought it would be a great idea for a classroom activity!

Just imagine, the children of Scotland learning about beavers while doing an art project from Martinez!

In the meantime there’s lots to catch up on, as this article from Prince Edward Island shows us that opinions can thaw even in the coldest of climes.

Beaver killed on Brownsmill Road

Debbie Miller is furious to learn that a beaver on Brownsmill Road near her Merigomish home was killed as a result of a permit given to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

The beaver was one of two that had a dam in the area, but a little over week ago on Aug. 2 she found it dead. She called to report it to Department of Natural Resources and was told it had been shot. She said the beaver’s dam had actually been destroyed the week of July 20. The following week she saw someone throwing something into the water.

Keith MacDonald , who is acting area manager for the Department of Transportation confirmed that his department had applied for a permit from the DNR and then hired someone to get rid of the beavers because they had blocked off a double culvert in the area. He said the DOT often have to deal with beavers because of their tendency to cause destruction to infrastructure. He said all the proper procedures of going through DNR were followed and the trapper chosen from an approved list.

Miller does not believe that the deaths were truly necessary, however.

“If anyone states that killing the beavers had to be done because they were being destructive, well they did not do any proper assessment of the area,” said Miller.

She said eroded banks in the area were from streams of water coming down the road due to lack of ditching, not because of the beavers. She said the beavers had developed a nice little wetland that was used by other animals, including ducks.

Beaver advocacy is in SUCH early days in this region that there is no mention of a flow device to protect the culvert instead. She even concedes that it would be okay to kill large populations but notes that in this case it was unnecessary because “There were only two!” Never mind, PEI is a tough area for beavers. The island insisted for years that they weren’t present historically and forced our own Rickipedia to do a little research and prove them wrong. They still regularly kill beavers to protect fish and this practice inspired one of my all-time favorite graphics, which I’m still delighted with.

I’m happy that Debbie is starting the conversation and upset about trapping. Maybe she will even find out that the culvert can be easily protected without dead beavers! Once she believes it she can make others believe it. All advocacy starts with compassion, remember.