Gosh, it seems like only yesterday I was laughing at the CT county that was trying to talk their way out of fixing a beaver problem by proclaiming how interesting and beneficial the animal truly was on someone else’s property. I argued that they were just avoiding the cost of having to do anything about it. I wasn’t the only one who saw through their lazy admiration. Now there’s an Editorial on the subject.

Dealing with the beavers of Black Hall Pond

While beavers generally are considered beneficial, they also can cause flooding and destroy trees. So, as beaver populations continue to grow, also increasing is the likelihood of sometimes unpleasant human-beaver encounters of the type now occurring around Black Hall Pond in Old Lyme. Such encounters, much as those that occur between humans and coyotes, black bears, fishers and other wildlife that also are reclaiming their natural habitats throughout the state, are inevitable.

There are instances when more intervention is warranted to manage damaging wildlife, however. We think this is the case currently in Old Lyme. Black Hall Pond resident Dave Berggren has lived in his house for nearly 60 years and told The Day that beaver dams built on property at the opposite end of the pond — property he doesn’t own — have caused the pond’s water level to rise so drastically his back yard is underwater, his septic system is failing and his house is sinking. 

Berggren claims neither local nor state officials have provided him any assistance in solving the problem. Generally, officials have said there is little they can do. If their hands are tied, what is an individual homeowner supposed to do?

I guess you can’t install a flow device if the dam isn’t on your pond. You probably could still get a permit to kill them if they are causing flooding, and no one would ask for their address. Apparently this land owner tried to paddle to the dam and rip out the beaver dam himself. Hmm, guess how well that worked for him?

Because of what is apparently extreme damage in this case, we urge public officials to take a more active role. Locally, for example, officials should assist Berggren in pinpointing who owns the land on which the beavers have built their dam — it is only that property owner who can seek a trapping permit — or provide Berggren permission to secure such a permit. Trapping could alleviate the beaver damage. Connecticut laws allow beaver trapping and in cases in which property damage is severe, it is warranted.

On the state level, officials at the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection should visit the property. Water level control devices installed on beaver dams can keep water level rise to a minimum. DEEP personnel can determine if such measures would be effective in this instance.

We agree that it’s not advisable nor likely would it be effective to break up the beaver dam in the swamp near Black Hall Pond. Neither is it acceptable, however, for local and state officials to take a completely hands-off position here, when a resident’s home appears at risk and a possible public health issue could exist.

Check your watches, ladies and gentlemen, because when a widely read editorial starts tossing about concepts like liability, I predict the sleepy county commissioners are going to wake up very fast. Those poor beavers aren’t long for this world.

And do you think that once their killed the problem will never ever happen again?

Nope. The vacancy sign left with their departure will find another family living their soon, just wait and see. I’m thinking the county will move quicker next time but I could be wrong.