Friday, September 22, 2006 11:55 AM

Beaver: Trapping protest continues to grow

With beaver trapping season approaching in Langley Township, lines are being drawn between animal rights activists and trappers.

Matthew Claxton

"We use what is known as a quick kill trap," said Peter Alan. "The first strike renders the beaver unconscious and death usually follows within seconds."

Alan is one of the trappers who has worked for the Township of Langley during the past three years since lethal trapping of beavers has been in effect.

Local animal rights groups have called on the Township to review its beaver trapping, and the Township is set to take a look at the policy next week.

Before 2003, the Township used live trapping, catching beavers and relocating them to an area near Squamish.

The change came about because of a change in Ministry of the Environment guidelines. Relocated beavers were simply starving to death because there were no empty habitats for them to be relocated into, the ministry said.

While live trapping is effective at dealing with the problem on a local level, Alan, a trapper for 45 years, agrees that there is no good place to put live beavers any more.

Beavers are intruding into the settled areas of Langley because they are already overpopulated, Alan said.

But the public won't put up with lethal trapping for much longer, said Gail Martin of the Critter Care Wildlife Society.

Martin's non-profit group takes in wild animals from around the Lower Mainland and nurses them back to health after injuries or accidents.

The most common injuries are caused when beavers are struck by boats or cars, Martin said.

At this time of year, injuries are more common as young beavers move away from their parents' territory and try to find their own living space.

She said she has seen a number of beavers come through the doors of Critter Care's Langley shelter, about five this year.

Two of those beavers were too gravely injured to survive, but the rest will be rehabilitated and reintroduced to the wild.

Martin wouldn't say where she is releasing her beavers, but said there is room for live releases.

"If you can release bear cubs, you can release beavers," she said.

If the provincial government doesn't have the time or money to catch and release beavers into the wild, Martin said the Township should take up the slack.

But she said other options should also be looked at, to help people and beavers live closer together without conflict.

"Relocation should only be a last resort," said Martin.

Alan, who said he became a trapper because of his love of the outdoors and nature, said that beaver dams and the floods they create can be a threat to property and agriculture.

He emphasizes that the goal of trapping is not to wipe out beavers in Langley, or in the Lower Mainland.

There are numerous beavers around Langley in parks and rural areas that do not cause any problems, he said.

However, once they have filled up areas like Campbell Valley Park, Derby Reach Park and the Canada Forces lands in Aldergrove, they spill out.

Alan said he has seen a 40-acre field flooded by a single beaver dam. Other beavers set up shop in agricultural or industrial drainage ditches.

The Township is expected to trap about 30 beavers this year.

published on 09/22/2006