On Tuesday, Oct. 18, volunteers braced the decidedly cold waters of Grafton Lake in an effort to prevent local beavers from getting into trouble.
"Weprotect the dam with specialized beaver-exclusion fencing. The beavers can't get to it and they simply move on," says Lesley Fox, executive director of the Association for the Protection of Animals.
The group of local animal protection advocates were joined by Bob Robinson, who is the superintendent of utilities at the municipality, and worked to secure the dam at Grafton Lake. In the past, beavers had been damming and plugging a spillway connected to the municipal water supply. As a result, they were identified as nuisance beavers, trapped and killed. Mike Braraten of Harding Road had brought the issue to the attention of the municipality and council and had asked to find a humane solution.
The fencing is made from timber and galvanized wire and will prevent the beavers from blocking up culverts. It wasn't an easy job to secure the fencing and the group had to return to Bowen Island on Wednesday.
"There was a complication because of an existing pipe that was there that added extra time to the project," Fox said. She also mentioned that similar projects have demonstrated a high efficacy rate and are also more cost-effective than trapping. The funding for the Grafton Dam fencing and similar projects comes out of a partnership of the non-profit group and Groupon Vancouver that raised over $1700.
Fox said, "Trapping and killing beavers does nothing to solve our flooding concerns for the long-term. Available food and prime habitat mean more animals will simply return to the site. Traps are also cruel and a safety concern for residents. There are non-lethal options to dealing with beavers and we applaud the community of Bowen Island for implementing these measures."
