To banish beavers, Greensboro needs help of lawmakers
GREENSBORO — Perhaps it’s those adorable buck teeth.
Or maybe their industrious nature and ability to reconstruct their environment reminds us, well, a little of ourselves.
Whatever it is, something makes the rodents so lovable that Greensboro residents and City Council members just don’t have the heart to give death sentences to the city’s bothersome beavers.
Unfortunately for city staff members — who have been tasked with keeping the city’s culverts and waterways flowing and free of beaver dams and dens — state law doesn’t provide for a much more humane method.
Hence a solution, requested by veterinarian and Councilwoman Trudy Wade: Change state law to allow cities to send beavers off to greener pastures — or rather, to a more welcoming beaver pond somewhere else.
“It would help water resources if they were able to relocate the beaver,” Wade said, in explaining the recommended legislation to fellow council members.
City Council members agreed to ask the General Assembly to make that change.
Last year, when the city fought off a beaver colony that was clearing Latham Park of its trees, the staff discovered the state only allows two ways of dealing with beavers: bug them and hope they move on, or kill them.
The first option was a gamble. The second wasn’t popular.
“The beavers have sort of an endearing quality to them. The cutesy thing, the cute factor,” said David Phlegar, stormwater division manger with Greensboro Water Resources. “No one wants to see them killed.”
In fact, when folks found out the city might sentence the scruffy busybodies to death, some offered up their ponds as sanctuary, Phlegar said.
The state law, however, forbids that solution.
Beavers are considered nuisances. Moving them to a new location is considered bringing a problem to someone else’s neighborhood.
Plus, a good spot such as Latham Park will likely draw another colony when the old one is moved out, wildlife experts said.
State wildlife biologist George Strader said chances are, if there is a good spot for beavers, they probably already live there.
“Available suitable habitat for beavers is essentially all occupied,” said Strader, who is with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission District. “Although you may not have a beaver in your pond, it doesn’t mean that your pond is good habitat.”
That may be an issue local legislators will have to research when they consider the City Council’s request to change the state law.
“Well, we don’t want to abuse the beavers,” state Sen. Don Vaughan said. “We’ll certainly take a look at what the current law says and see what we can do to accommodate Greensboro’s beaver population.”
State Rep. Earl Jones said he would sponsor the bill for Greensboro.
“There are better human ways to deal with earth’s creatures,” Jones said.
Staff writer Mark Binker contributed to this report.
Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com
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