WILDLIFE
Killing of persistent beaver provokes outcry
Surrey homeowners who feared flooding due to beaver dam now wonder if there was a more humane way to handle the problem
WENDY STUECK
June 7, 2008
VANCOUVER -- Damned if they do, dammed if they don't.
Such is the fate of city managers who deal with the pesky beaver, the plus-sized rodent whose image adorns the Canadian nickel and whose buck-toothed business can result in damage that is considerably more expensive.
In Surrey this week, a male beaver was trapped and killed following months of unsuccessful attempts to persuade the persistent animal to move to another area and stop building - and rebuilding - a dam that resulted in a sizable pond edging up to within 10 or 20 metres of nearby homes.
That may come as a relief to homeowners who were worried about potential flooding of their basements or backyards, but residents want to know whether it was really necessary to kill the beast.
People are also upset that a female beaver and its kits were left behind as a result of the city's decision to eliminate the troublesome beaver.
"A lot of people get mad at us. They either get mad at us because we are doing it [beaver control], or they get mad at us because we're not doing it," said Carrie Baron, drainage and environment manager for the City of Surrey. "Our staff is making a judgment call. Nobody likes to do this."
Beavers, trapped for their pelts a century ago when beaver hats were the height of European fashion, are plentiful in Surrey and other municipalities in Metro Vancouver.
In Surrey, they gravitate to streams, creeks and ditches where they are usually left undisturbed unless their den- and dam-building results in the possibility of floods or other damage, Ms. Barron said.
Bringing in trappers - who must be licensed by the province - is a last resort.
Over the past six months or so, staff tried to persuade a beaver that had picked a dam site on Surrey's Cougar Creek to move by making noise around the site, repeatedly dismantling its dam and clearing brush and debris.
Those efforts failed, so the city hired a trapper.
"We tried every method we could and we tried it for quite a while," Ms. Baron said, adding that the area being flooded is one the city relies on to sop up extra water in the event of heavy rains.
Under B.C.'s Wildlife Act, regional managers can issue permits that allow beavers to be trapped and killed. Unauthorized damage to beaver dams or dens is an offence under the act.
There are more humane ways to handle problem beavers, including relocation and water management said a spokeswoman for Vancouver-based Fur Bearer Defenders. Beaver specialists use various systems, including pond levellers that create leaks in dams that beavers can't fix, to prevent or minimize damage from dams or dens.
It's not feasible to relocate trapped animals because most suitable beaver habitat is already occupied and the animals tend to be territorial, said John VanHove, fish and wildlife section head for the Lower Mainland region of the Ministry of the Environment.
Surrey kills a small number of beavers each year, Ms. Baron said. Other municipalities also occasionally kill the animals, which are plentiful in B.C.