Tom Kacich: Beaver colony gone from Meadowbrook — for now
A colony of beaver, which numbered at least eight a year ago, is gone from Meadowbrook Park in south Urbana. So is their dam. And so, temporarily, is the damage — easily visible to the human visitors along the park’s trails — that they did to trees and other vegetation along McCullough Creek that bisects the park.
But the beaver likely will return, according to staffers with the Urbana Park District.
“What we’ve noticed in the past is that the beaver presence has been cyclical and they have come and gone over the years,” said Derek Liebert, a project manger with the park district. “We think it’s likely related to food source.”
Ahh the cyclical migration of the beavers! Like the undaunted swallows returning to Capistrano, or the mighty monarchs clinging to the branches in Pacific Grove. Who hasn’t been sad to see beavers go and thrilled to have them return? Over and over? You know how our beavers love to go away and come back, right? I mean they are such nomads!
Informal surveys by the park district show that there were beaver in Meadowbrook from 1995 to 2002, that they disappeared for a time and then reappeared in 2009.
Very often I speak to someone who fondly remembers when there were beavers in Martinez. “I used to watch them!” they say as if they’re reminiscing about an exciting first date. When I say the beavers are still HERE they narrow their eyes. “They were washed out” or “Their dams were broken” or “Their lodge is gone” they argue. “Yes. Yes . and yes.” I reply, but they’re still HERE.
Our beavers have been in basically the same section of creek with the same limited food supply for seven years. They have shuffled their habits but they haven’t disappeared. Same church – different pew! Never mind. Here’s the very best part of the article so let’s stop to savor it before we get down to the gristle.
“We’re happy to have the beaver there. We feel like they contribute significantly to the park, in terms of the ecology,” Liebert said. “There’s a number of birds that became associated with that stream corridor that wouldn’t be there otherwise. And there are frogs and turtles because of that beaver habitat. Even plants. We had an inventory done of the plants at Meadowbrook Park the summer before last, and there was abundant beaver activity at that time and one of the more diverse areas was the stream corridor where we had beaver ponds.
“The term you often hear in ecology is that there are keystone species that dramatically alter the environment, and in our opinion benefit the habitat. There almost certainly will be a loss of diversity with the loss of the beaver.”
Almost certainly. Nice summary. Still trying to figure out why your population comes and goes…
Last year at least seven beaver were found dead in the park, possibly from an outbreak of Tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, that was reported in animals throughout Champaign-Urbana. The remains of three of the beaver were tested at the University of Illinois veterinary clinic, but results were inconclusive, according to the park district.
Oh. That would explain where the beavers went, by golly. Except it wasn’t last year. This was reported in March 2013, which by my expert calculations was two months ago.
Liebert said the first dead beaver was found in January 2012. It was taken to the University of Illinois veterinary diagnostic laboratory, where tests were conducted, with inconclusive results. Then in June and September, two adult beavers were found dead, but were too decomposed to be necropsied, he said. The biggest spate of deaths occurred in October, when three beavers were found, two of which were necropsied. In November a seventh beaver was found. Liebert said the most recent sighting of a live beaver, a single individual, occurred Dec. 19.
Oh, they died off OVER the year, and just reported it in March. I guess they didn’t want to alarm the public until they knew what it was. It definitely sounds suspicious. I’ve been on this beat for too long now, but no where in the report does it say that they were able to rule out human causes.. They must have looked for bullet wounds before they rushed them off to the pathologist?
THE EFFORT TO ISOLATE the cause of the deaths was hampered by several circumstances, Mateus-Pinilla said. One is that decomposition sets in rapidly, and sometimes there is not much a pathologist can do because of the condition of the body. The “gold standard” for a confirmed diagnosis, Mateus-Pinilla said, is the ability to grow a culture of the suspect bacteria. The Meadowbrook beavers were tested for several pathogens, including tularemia, salmonella, leptospira and canine distemper. No cultures resulted.
So no proof of tulerimia. But they’re pretty sure that’s what it was. And an entire colony – except for one lone ‘island-of-the-blue-dolphins’ beaver found swimming away to look for new family. And bodies of dead beavers that were too decomposed for necropsy because you didn’t know where they were. But for goodness sakes protect the pets!
Health district planning director Awais Vaid said people should not let their pets roam and should take them to a veterinarian if they exhibit symptoms such as loss of appetite or difficulty with movement. People who see sick animals in the wild or along trails should not approach them, Vaid said, not only because of the risk of tularemia but of rabies.
Am I too cynical?
Derek Liebert, project manager at the Urbana Park District, said a wildlife biologist suggested to him that if tularemia is in fact the cause, the die-off may be a corrective measure for a population that grew too large.
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District issued an alert notifying residents of tularemia in the area. The alert cited a Meadowbrook beaver diagnosed with clinical symptoms of tularemia and an unrelated 2011 outbreak among five pet cats in Champaign, Urbana and Savoy.
No word yet on whether the Ubana house cat population had grown also too large.
Where have all the beavers gone – long time passing Where have all the beavers gone – long time ago Where have all the beavers gone? Killed by trappers everyone. When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?
