Remember the beavers that were trapped and lied about in Oshawa Canada? The one’s that “went to live on the farm”? Well they got a pocketful of angry letters and promised they would hire a beaver management consultant next time. Only the trapping of course didn’t get ALL the beavers. There are four left. So “next time” is “this time” and Oshawa is reporting that they are hiring an expert now. No word yet on the name of said expert, but I’ve connected with the reporter and told her to get the name to me when its released so we can say whether the helper is truly helpful or just designed to give the appearance of being helpful.
“We asked the trapper to remove all the traps until further notice,” he said, adding the City is working quickly to find a wildlife expert to weigh in on the situation. “All options are open. We will be looking at ways to remove the beavers and ways we might be able to let them stay.”â?¨ Bill Slute, the City’s manager of parks services, said this isn’t the first time beaver dams have posed potential problems and that humane tactics, such as the use of “beaver bafflers,” have worked well in the past.
“A beaver baffler looks like a sewer pipe, it runs through the dam and helps manage the water level to control negative impact on roads, or drainage or nearby houses,” he said. “They have been effective for us in the past but that doesn’t mean they’re always the right solution.”â?¨ Mr. Slute hasn’t been to the Goodman Creek site and can’t say whether a beaver baffler would work at that location.
Wow. A sudden recognition that water problems can be solved by a few strategic investments. I guess this pretty much solves the problem. Any city that can install a baffler or flow device surely knows how to be solution oriented. Game over. Unless….oh….
He said sometimes population control is just as important as water level management, noting too many beavers in one area can cause significant tree damage and the number of lodges and dams can get out of hand.
Ahhhh, the second chorus of the classic beaver killing refrain. Hum this to the tune of “She’ll be comin’ round the mountain” Verse one of course is
They’ll be flooding in our city, if they stay if they stay
They’ll be flooding in our city if they stay.
They’ll be flooding in our city
And it will not be pretty
They’ll be flooding in our city if they stay
It is all of the song you usually need to hear before the residents agree to hire an executioner. Sometimes verse two is necessary
They will eat up all our Aspen if they stay if they stay
Yes they’ll eat up all our Aspen if they stay
Oh they’ll eat up all our Aspen
With their chewin’ and their graspin’
Oh they’ll eat up all our Aspen if they stay.
” (or willow, or poplar or whatever) But, in those very rare situations where the residents insist on building a flow device to take care of part I and wrapping trees to take care of part II, then you get verse three. And this threat usually frightens people into allowing them to be killed.
Oh they’ll breed like little rodents if they stay, if they stay
Yes they’ll breed like little rodents if they stay
Oh they’ll breed like rats and rabbits
And destroy us with their habits
Oh they’ll breed like little rodents if they stay
Never mind that beavers are monogamous, and that the female can get pregnant for exactly 12-24 hours once a year, or that they are territorial so that the offspring must move at least four miles away to start his own life. But the fear of beavers taking over is always a good one to toss around. Just you wait. When they find out that population explosion isn’t the great terror either, they’ll start on verse four.
Oh they’ll interfere with salmon if they stay if they stay
Yes they’ll interfere with salmon if they stay
With their building and their dammin’
They’ll block the moves of salmon
Oh they’ll interfere with salmon if they stay
Our city is working on verse fourteen…but I’m sure there’s more.
