Paul Lurie, a resident of Woodland Pond in his late 90s, enjoys the breathtaking view of the **beaver pond** from the scenic viewing platform. / Courtesy photo

Woodland Pond adds viewing platform for senior community residents

NEW PALTZ — Residents at Woodland Pond, a senior living community, oversaw a project to create a scenic viewing platform by a small pond at the end of a nature trail behind the community. The committee that executed the project will host a dedication ceremony at 3 p.m. today as part of National Active Aging Week.

Now the article doesn’t mention the word beaver but look at the caption on the photo. That’s a beaver pond they’ll be enjoying and benches to stop along the way. That means the retirement community spent money to value beavers. And all these seniors will be enjoying turtles, frogs, herons, wood duck and the occasional otter or mink too. If I worked for this particular New York retirement community I’d definitely update the brochure. Of course I sent it to our friends at the 4 seasons beaver-killing central. Do you think they’ll be building an overlook to their destroyed beaver pond any time soon?

Now from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Beaver damage relief available to landowners

Ellis County landowners and land managers experiencing pond and pond dam damage resulting from beaver activities can sign up to receive trapping service from Wildlife Services, a part of the Texas A & M AgriLife Extension Service.

Nice. Texas A & M providing Wildlife Services to kill animals at your beck and call. I had to go look at the website to see the list of stewardship services they offer. This was a particularly vivid photo from pages.

The mission of the Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services (WS) is to provide Federal leadership in managing conflicts with wildlife. WS recognizes that wildlife is an important public resource greatly valued by the American people. By its very nature, however, wildlife is a highly dynamic and mobile resource that can cause damage to agriculture and property, pose risks to human health and safety, and affect natural resources. WS conducts programs of research, technical assistance, and applied management to resolve problems that occur when human activity and wildlife conflict with one another.

Ugh. Traumatized yet? Two consolations. California Congressmen were spurred by Tom Knudson’s shocking articles into working to challenge the WS sadism club. And secondly, allow me to offer this antidote which is the very most comforting thing I have yet seen on the internet(s). The little girl woke up frightened from the fireworks. Dad is showing her how to offer herself musical distractions and reminding her that she is safe.