Another exciting “Dog bites Man” story; this one from Robeson, Pennyslvania in the Reading Eagle. It starts with the Titanic-worthy ominous passage “
A dam built on the Allegheny Creek has caused flooding in Robeson Township. Part of the waterway that was 10 inches deep is now more than 6 feet deep.
It goes on to say the usual: Residents tried other solutions but nothing worked and now the troublesome beavers will have to be killed. Would you want your home underwater? It gets kind of repetitious after a while. Honestly, is there a mad-libs out there some where for beaver reporting?
Headline: (___________________)
City name + immature beaver pun
The town of (_________) is worried that beavers could (____________) if something
Insert name insert alarming behavior
isn’t done. A dam has caused (________) flooding in the past and property owners are
insert hyperbole
concerned it could get worse. Mr. (___________) who lives on the creek says that the beavers
Name of rich, selfish man who’s never been outside.
are (___________) and have been taking trees and damming streams with no end in sight.
Verb meaning destroying
.
No one wants to harm the beavers but there is (____________). The city manager,
Synonym for No Choice
(_________________________), says if the beavers aren’t stopped (_____________)
Name of another man who went outide once to hunt. insert Pandora’s Box remark
The city has contacted (_________) for permission to bring in a (_____________).
Appropriate “wink & nod” Regulatory Body Euphemism for exterminator
Honestly, sometimes it feels like that….
Well the Reading Eagle got a written beaver-gram from me, and looks like a few other residents have responded as well. Lets see if we can add Pennsylvania to the list of converts.
Your article does a good job of showing how a community could enjoy the benefits of beavers, and still be alarmed about their potential problems. It is clear that the people of Robeson have tried to adapt to a challenging situation. Still, there seems to be a general feeling that with beavers you have only two options: do nothing, or call the trapper.
That’s like saying if your labrador jumps on your dinner table every night you can either decide to let him eat what he wants, or take him to the pound.
Any township smarter than beavers, can manage beavers. Three minutes on the internet will teach you that beavers are triggered to work on the dam by the sound of running water, which allows clever humans to lower ponds without beavers knowing about it. If the community is truly worried about flooding their are a dozen nearby experts they can hire to install a flow device that would cheaply control the height of the water, allow the beavers to stay part of the community, and let these animals continue to improve the habitat. Concerns about tree harvesting can be met by tree-wrapping or painting the bark with sand.
The city of Martinez California had a similar challenge, with a public that was highly motivated to keep the animals. I served on the subcommittee studying beaver management and we hired Skip Lisle from Vermont to install the flow device that has safely maintained our downtown creek for over a year now. In the meantime we have benefited from this keystone species by increased bird and wildlife, public interest and a stronger sense of community. Robeson has a great opportunity to demonstrate that creative and humane problem solving benefits everybody.
Oh and please remind Mr. McMenamin that the water height inside the lodge is the same as the water height outside the lodge, so unless the beavers have built some massive upper stories, they don’t want the height to continue increasing forever either.
Heidi P Perryman, Ph.D.
Founder & President
Worth A Dam
