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Beaver battle lines drawn at roadsides
(by Joan Demirjian - January 04, 2012)
Beaver battle lines drawn at roadsides
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
Beavers are attracted to the streams, tributaries and rivers of Geauga County, as one local road department is well aware of.
Auburn Road Superintendent Emerick Gordon said beavers recently filled a concrete overflow structure, causing water to collect in a roadside ditch.
The problem occurred in a subdivision with a retention pond off Valley Road, Mr. Gordon said. "The beavers had filled the concrete overflow structure, and it caused water to collect in the ditch."
The homeowner went to pull out the debris, and the road department also responded, he said. A trapper was hired by the owner to remove the beavers.
In addition, the beavers had filled the center of the pipe with debris in a cross culvert on Bartholomew Road, Mr. Gordon said.
"Auburn has a lot of waterways, creeks and streams," he said, which feed LaDue Reservoir, which is owned the city of Akron in Auburn.
The township receives at least one call a year regarding beavers, but it can get involved only when the beavers' work affects or encroaches on the roads and ditches, Mr. Gordon said. Any water backing up in the ditches can affect the roads, he said, but homeowners have to take care of their own ponds.
"It's amazing what beavers can do," Auburn Trustee John Eberly said. "We have some active beaver ponds in the township," he said. "As long as they don't flood the roads, we're OK."
When the overflow of the pond off Valley Road was plugged by beavers placing branches there, it caused the pond to flow over into the township ditches, which threaten road structures, he said.
Amy Brennan, director of the Chagrin River Watershed Partners, said she has seen frequent problems caused by beavers that flood properties. "Beavers can cause a lot of damage. We see it all the time, and we get phone calls," she said.
"Beavers diverted water at Holden Arboretum, and Geauga Park District has had some problems," Mrs. Brennan said.
"Russell Township has some of the most creative beavers," she said. "They build dens in stream banks." An entire area of stream bank fell because it was hollowed out by the beavers, she said.
"There's a healthy beaver population in the watershed area, and they can change the landscape very quickly."
Landowners can enjoy the change or find a certified trapper, Mrs. Brennan said. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has a list of licensed trappers, she noted.
Young beavers leave the family when they are about a year old, and they seek new habitat, Mrs. Brennan said.
While out on the former Ivex property along the Chagrin River in Chagrin Falls, she has seen the beavers at work, she said. Young trees are being planted at the upper dam in the village's Whitesburg Park area, and they are looking at how to protect them from beavers, she said. "I saw one of the beavers moving a branch across the river."
Geauga Park District naturalist Daniel Best said beavers have a strong work ethic, and they build dams because they are aquatic animals. They are more agile in the water than on the land, he said.
However, their food sources, including the inner bark of trees, are on land, he said. They take down the trees to get at the branches, and they use the branches to build their dams, he said.
By raising water levels, beavers create ponds that spread out, bringing the water closer to their food sources, Mr. Best said. "Once they have eaten all the food, they'll abandon an area," he said. "The tree stumps then produce sucker growth, and it becomes food for more beavers."
The park district occasionally has to do some beaver dam removal, so they don't flood trails, roadways and trees, he said.
"The upside is that, by impounding streams, beavers create more wetland habitat for other species," Mr. Best said. "They are a 'keystone species' with a major effect on their surroundings."
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