Two recent stories have new information that I’m grimly going to share. To start with the mayor of “Tom’s River” who was going to “consider humane alternatives to trapping” turns out not to have considered them very long. Times up! Beaver trapping season is open and no one should be surprised at his conclusion.
Activists angered by decision to trap Toms River beavers
TOMS RIVER — A state-licensed trapper has been hired by the township to remove beavers whose dam-building activities have led to complaints from neighbors who live near Lake Placid.
The township’s decision to hire the trapper — who began working in the area Dec. 27 — frustrated representatives from Gloucester County’s Unexpected Wildlife Refuge, who met earlier this month with Toms River officials in an attempt to convince them to use nonlethal means to prevent the lake’s beaver population from building dams that have flooded neighboring properties.
“Trapping is the only viable, long-term solution to provide a practical and financial means of responding to the presence of beavers on town-owned and managed lands,” a statement issued by the township reads. “Trapping ensures that property damage and human health and safety risks are minimized and that quality of life is preserved for residents.:
Township officials said that in spite of their efforts, more beaver dams have appeared in Lake Placid in recent years. Moving the beavers is not an option since the state Division of Fish and Wildlife does not allow relocation of the aquatic rodents, officials said.
The township says the beaver dams “alter waterways, destroy forests and threaten homes and roads.” Beaver trapping in New Jersey runs from Dec. 26 to Feb. 9.
Ugh. I’ve highlighted your “Proceed governor“moment. That’s where I’d start my response.
If I were there I’d try saying something like “I’m relieved to hear it’s a long term solution, Mayor.” Then follow up with “How long?” Brightly cheerful. “How long did you say the trapper is guaranteeing his work?” Wait a second, and then “Because Mike Callahan guarantees his installation for five years, I’m assuming that trapper will come back and do whatever is necessary for that long too?” See if you can get them to acknowledge that when new beavers move in the city will have to pay again. See if you can get them to talk about the payment for the trapper and how long it usually takes beavers to recolonize adequate habitat.
I agree that its rotten the city said they were pretending to look for solutions while the press was there. And then did exactly what they had always planned the second their backs were turned. But stop recommending compassion, because no ones listening. Talk about saving money. Talk about hiring a trapper four times in five years versus letting you install the culvert fence for free. And ask the mayor which he thinks is a better use of taxpayer funds.
Van Hof, of Unexpected Wildlife Refuge, said her group offered to pay for installation and maintenance of a trapezoid-style fenced beaver deterrent that she said has been proven to have “98 percent effectiveness in historically badly flooded municipalities.” She said the trademarked beaver deterrents suggested by the group, called either “Beaver Deceivers” or “Culver Clear,” require almost no maintenance.
She said the group offered to visit the site weekly to monitor the effectiveness of the beaver deterrent device. The longer beaver deterrent devices lead the beavers farther away from the culvert or pipe and prevent them from successfully damming it, Van Hof said.
Great work offering to do it yourself. Now follow up with the statement that “Rather than allowing us to carry this cost you’re saying its better make tax-payers do it?” And see if you can get that covered by the papers. They are being weasels, and not the pretty kind. Let slip the watchdogs of war. (In a very polite way.)
More news about the firecracker beaver from our longtime German friend Alex Hiller (posing here for photo with Skip Lisle at the beaver symposium a few years back). He researched the local papers and found that the tragic death really did happen about a week ago. He highlights that fireworks are illegal in Germany and these were probably purchased in Poland. He writes,
It is a sad story you forwarded to me. Unfortunately the incident is being approved by necropsy. The corpse of the female beaver kid of 6 months age was being discovered at the bank of a lake besides the castle of Koenigs-Wusterhausen. The wife of the local hunter had witnessed teens throwing firecrackers into the lake the day before. The incident happened about a week ago.
What was being discovered by necropsy were ear drums on both sides destroyed and ripped open. Its liver and brain had clogged blood vessels resulting from shock. Death was caused from drowing, because lots of water was found in its lungs and stomach. It was assumed that firecrackers could have caused an underwater shockwave resulting in the beaver kid`s death.
Alex is a trusted beaver researcher with boots on the ground. He even found a grisly article from B.Z. showing the ruptured eardrums. (Because German papers are like just that.) So this means it really happened and that when people blow up dams they occasionally blow out beaver eardrums. . (Which is quite upsetting to think about.) It makes me worried for our little beavers in retrospect. And now I’m thinking that maybe that ‘mourning beaver’ recorded by Bernie Krause also had his own hearing loss and couldn’t tell how loud he was being?
You can watch that if you dare, I never will again because it is just too sad. The bright spot in this gloomy follow-up is that Worth A Dam still has a generous beaver friend in Germany who is willing to do some research and translating for us when needed. Thank you Alex, for your valuable aid, and hopefully the next story I ask you to sniff out will be a more beaver cheerful one!
Regardless of how much the oddly named Tom’s River has spent valiantly hiring backhoes or throwing keg parties to discourage the beavers, it just hasn’t worked. Awww. Lucky for them New Jersey happens to be the home of the 
