A family of clever beavers whose dangerous dam-building activities at Lords Lake confounded city workers was finally foiled after a university expert nabbed them by their noses.
For more than a year, city water officials received complaints from area homeowners that a number of beavers were chewing down trees in Lords Lake, on the east side of Fryelands Boulevard south of Lake Tye.
"They weren't chewing up any of the important trees, and they have to chew, so I kind of let it go,GÇ¥ said Vince Bertrand, stormwater coordinator for the city of Monroe.
This spring, however, the family of beavers had clearly grown.
"They started damming up the outfall to Lords Lake,GÇ¥ said Bertrand. "Well, you can't do that. You have the potential for possible flooding.GÇ¥
Flooding was just fine with the industrious rodents ' the deeper the doors to their dens are below the water, the safer they are from predators ' but none too attractive to area homeowners.
The city workers tried removing the sticks the beavers put over the mouth of the lake, but to no avail.
"We'd get the sticks off, but they'd be back three days later,GÇ¥ he said.-á
Bertrand and others were reluctant to use lethal traps to dislodge the beavers, although for a while it seemed to be the only option. But when a conservation worker got wind of the problem and explained it to her husband, an aquatic ecology researcher at the University of Washington, the beavers won a reprieve.
Ben Dittbrenner, who is also the executive director of the preservation group Beavers Northwest, was eager to help relocate the recalcitrant rodents. He was already involved with the Tulalip Tribes on the Sky Beaver Project, working to relocate problem beavers to suitable locations further up the Skykomish River valley.
Dittbrenner and his colleagues lured the beavers by putting a smelly substance on some non-lethal traps. Beavers mark their territory by scent, and they are keen investigators when a new scent enters their area. The beavers approached to take a sniff, and were nabbed in the netted traps.
Lords Lake residents and other locals had a chance to get involved, checking the traps for beavers and watching for signs of activity.
It took four nights to capture seven beavers, all of which have been moved to a spot on Money Creek near Skykomish.
"Wildlife cameras show that they had a good first night and they are already tearing up the site ' exactly what we are hoping for,GÇ¥ Dittbrenner reported to the city on July 11.
An eighth beaver got away, but after gnawing a few trees at Lake Tye, it seems to have made its way to more hospitable waters. There have been no reports of beaver activity in the last two weeks, said Bertrand.
"One thing I can say is that this has been an exciting experience for the residents of Lords Lake,GÇ¥ said city water quality expert Jordan Ottow in an email. "The team from UW who is doing the trapping/relocating of the beavers has been great at educating those who have come out to the site and making them feel part of the process.GÇ¥
To learn more about beaver conservation, visit www.beaversnw.org.
Photo courtesy of Vince Bertrand Beaver conservationist and University of Washington researcher Ben Dittbrenner shows a trapped beaver to locals near Lords Lake along Fryelands Boulevard. Area residents were very involved in assisting conservationists to remove the beavers.
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