Wildlife Rehabber Mobilizes Support for Unique Colony

      When Marti Brinson sent BWW an email “Beavers need help now!!!”  on Feb. 15, we called her at once.  Over a year before, she’d told us about a unique family of reddish-blond beavers with red eyes living near a Greenville, N.C. subdivision.  Now, we learned that traps were set to kill them.  We alerted HSUS among others, after calling the Pitt County official in charge.

        By Amanda Karr,

     County officials yielded to public concerns earlier this week, removing several traps set to kill beavers near the Westhaven neighborhood.

     Setting the traps is part of a program designed to minimize the flooding and property damage the animals can cause.  However, a local wildlife rehabilitation specialist said nonlethal alternatives should b ordering a used near residential areas.

     The beavers are believed to have eaten 10 bushes bordering a home that is next to a small pond in the neighborhood.  When the homeowner called the county seeking assistance, officials brought in a trapper who works through the county’s beaver management assistance program.  Monday, he set several traps adjacent to the home.

Marti takes action

  By Tuesday, Marti Brinson, a member of the Humane Society and Eastern Wildlife Center had heard about the traps, which the homeowner had marked with a warning sign, and visited the area – just off an informal walking path surrounding a field.  Brinson said she worried children, pets or other wild animals might happen on the traps and get hurt.  “Kill traps in a neighborhood are my biggest concern,” she said.

     Brinson began calling other animal rights activists in the area and a beaver protection organization out of New York to rally support for the removal of the traps.  Through Brinson’s efforts, a number of telephone calls were made to the county planning department, which organizes the trapping program.  The traps were removed Wednesday morning. 

     “Because of concerns and questions we removed the traps from the area,” James Rhodes, planning department director, said.  He said he feels the traps, which are placed underwater, were safe due to their location adjacent to private property.  The cold water also would deter people and their pets from jumping in, he said.  “We run this program knowing there are some people who have grave concerns about trapping in general.  We have researched and done our level best to make sure these traps are set properly  and don’t go on people’s property who don’t want these traps.  We try to trap only where it’s wanted and where it’s requested.  These are the types of nuisance animals that are causing property damage, he said.

 The county has contracted with the U.S. Department of Agriculture since 2002 to operate the program to limit the flooding and damage caused by beavers living in proximity to homes and roadways.  The county pays about $4,100 a year to the USDA for the trapper’s services.  Landowners who request a trapper pay the county a small fee to help cover expenses.

     “After Hurricane Floyd, with all the debris, the beaver population proliferated and we kept seeing more and more property damage as a result of that, Rhodes said.  “This is not an eradication program, this is to respond to people’s concerns about property damage.”

     In Westhaven, the homeowner, who asked to not be identified, said she was surprised by the complaint.  “I’m just trying to protest my property….  Just as long as they didn’t bother us we weren’t going to bother them,” she said of the beavers.

     Trapping is common around the county.  In the 14 months leading up to June 2004, 67 beaver dams were removed as part of the beaver management assistance program, according to the planning department’s annual report.  “Out in the more rural areas of the county, where people are more accustomed to hunters and trappers, there is not typically this type of concern, but this one is right adjacent to the city limits,” Rhodes said.

     Brinson said she would like to see less trapping in general and more use of alternative methods.  “I think people need to realize, if they have a problem with beavers, they can do something other than set kill traps.  I would love to see a lot more education done where these people would be willing to listen and learn,” she said.

     “Realistically, I know I’m not going to stop them from killing beavers, and I’m not even going to try.  It’s just so people who really wouldn’t want to kill them but just don’t want their property flooded or eaten down would have other options to consider.”

     Alternatives include running piping to alleviated flooding issues, placing fencing around plants, or using a special sandy paint mixture on the bottoms of trees, that beavers dislike, Brinson said.