Remember the “best-ditch ever?” and the story of the oddly titled “oligarchy ditch?”. Well they’ve decided to take some action with the beavers living there, and maybe because they’re 45 minutes from Sherri Tippie or maybe because of the Estes park bruhaha, or maybe even because I wrote them when the article appeared last year, the news ain’t all bad.
LONGMONT –– These furry vandals didn’t leave any fingerprints behind, but their teeth marks are everywhere.
Beavers have wreaked havoc along the Oligarchy Ditch near McIntosh Lake, bringing down trees and using them to build sizable dams across the ditch, prompting city officials to put together a plan to get the water flowing again.
Dan Wolford, the city’s land program manager, said Friday he was putting the finishing touches on a communication his department will be sending to City Council in the next day or two outlining what those plans are, and he expects crews to begin dismantling the dams either next week or the week after.
“We’re developing a citywide standard operating procedure plan,” Wolford said.
I’d like to pause a moment and say that sometimes in life you are given information that includes both good news and bad news, and depending on what kind of day you’ve had or how tight your shoes are or or what sort of life curve you’re grading on, you could feel either hopeful or grim about it. Sometimes the opposing forces could be of such equal weight that they cancel each other out so you end up feeling nothing much at all. I’m not sure what I feel when I read this story. Here’s an example:
After the dams are removed, city forestry crews will either wrap the trees or use another method to dissuade the beavers from their chewing habit, Wolford said.
“Another technique that’s out there is painting it with some gritty sand, some water-based gritty sand, because they don’t like the taste,” he said.
Okay then.
I have just two corrections for Longmont, and then I’ll wish them god’s speed.
- Stop using staff hours to rip out dams. Install a flow device instead.
- Beavers dislike the TEXTURE – not taste. Last time I checked beavers don’t chop down trees with their tongues.
