Parks trapping beavers

A local parks group is battling a beaver overpopulation that’s already caused thousands of dollars in damages.

It cost the National Trail Parks and Recreation District about $4,500 to replace trees gnawed and cut down by a family of beavers last year.

It’s likely that at least that much damage has been caused to trees recently along Buck Creek in front of the Kissell Center on Warder Street. The animals also began building a dam across the creek, which could clog the waterway, according to the district.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources authorizes the trapping of beavers, which are considered nuisance wild animals per the Ohio Revised Code. Given the amount of damage the beavers have already caused, trapping the animals is the only way to stop the problem, said a National Trail trapper, who asked his name not be used to avoid harassment by animal rights groups.

In Ohio, beavers — along with other nuisance animals such as raccoons and skunks — cannot be trapped and relocated. They must be euthanized or released on-site. Releasing the animals in the same location wouldn’t stop the problem, the trapper said.

“The beaver situation in Clark County has sort of gotten out of hand. Too many beavers and they’re destroying the trees along the river and flooding the farm fields by backing the creeks up,” the trapper said.

Springfield resident Denise Tobias said she wished National Trail could find another way to stop the beavers.

“They were here before us and it’s nature,” she said. “I don’t believe in killing animals.”

While the agency places tiles around tree trunk bases to prevent beaver damage, that only works while trees are young, the trapper said. Trapping is also the only way to prevent waterway dams, which must be broken up by hand.

Two types of traps are used to catch beavers: a live-trap, which consists of a clam shell-style cage, and a water trap, which drowns the animal underwater. Both can be used according to Ohio regulations. In the past, the trapper said people have stolen these traps, valued at $500 each, to prevent capture of the animals. He said this only prolongs the process and adds to the cost.

“It’s not a fun thing but it’s something I have to do for my job,” he said. “They would have all the creeks jammed up and be flooding the area otherwise.”

Last year, ODNR reduced its restrictions for permits to trap beavers to make it easier and to decrease the population, which was last estimated to be at about 27,000 animals statewide.

“We feel providing fewer trapping restrictions, where warranted, will allow us to better manage beaver populations and provide a more fair system for all trappers with an interest in these recreational opportunities,” said Suzie Prange, furbearer biologist for the Division of Wildlife.

The official beaver trapping season begins Dec. 26, although National Trail is permitted to trap on an as-needed basis, the agency said.

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