Beavers’ gnawing habits are triggering calls for more work to prevent downed trees from piling up.
Ed Skomro, who has been taking his dogs to Kilcona Park for more than two decades, said beavers have destroyed more than 100 trees there within the last couple of years.
“The beavers have always been there, but it was very controlled and they were cutting some odd trees here and there. … (Now) they are just out of control,” said Skomro.
He once looked forward to walking in the area but says he now dreads seeing the damage.
Skomro said he’s urged the city to install protective wiring along a canal in the park to deter the rodents, along with trapping and relocating them.
“There are so few trees in this park and there is no need (to lose them),” he said.
Coun. Janice Lukes said she’s also seen a significant number of trees felled in Maple Grove and La Barriere parks.
“At Maple Grove, swaths of trees are just mowed down. The battle of the beaver never ends,” said Lukes.
The Waverley West councillor said she’s concerned frequent beaver activity is hindering the city’s effort to plant more trees to help combat climate change.
“It’s a serious problem. We (made) all this effort to plant trees along the riverbanks and they literally mow them down,” said Lukes.
She wants the city to launch a campaign that encourages concerned residents to volunteer to wrap trees with stucco wire to protect them, suggesting the city could train people how to do so and provide the supplies.
Lukes said she’s noticed increased beaver damage to trees since about 2020.
City officials don’t formally count trees felled by beavers or the beaver population itself. However, they also estimate more than 100 trunks have been cut at Kilcona Park.
The city’s naturalist said the park’s tree loss may look worse than it is, since young trees can regrow quickly.
“It’s not actually killing the aspen trees … the roots are alive and they just sucker right back up, so it’s actually a pretty sustainable food source for beavers,” said Rodney Penner.
The city has taken some actions to protect the park’s trees, requiring mowing to stop further from the forest to allow more natural tree growth and wrapping many large stand-alone trees with protective wire, Penner said, noting some aspen trees were “sacrificed” to provide beaver habitat.
When responding to beaver-related concerns, Penner said the city’s main goal is to find ways people can coexist with the critters and mitigate damage they cause on a site-specific basis. He noted that policy has been in place for many years.
Beaver populations can naturally fluctuate, while the amount of tree damage in specific areas also ebbs and flows, which could be leading to more recent damage at Kilcona Park, he said.
Penner said beaver removal is almost always avoided because relocation is not effective, leading the animals to be put down if they are trapped. He said that option is rarely considered, though it is possible when they cause extensive tree damage or flooding.
Penner said wrapping more trees with protective wire is a good mitigation option, which has been effective in the past and could be expanded.
A provincial government spokesman said capture and relocation isn’t recommended because the relocated beaver would be at risk of spreading disease or being attacked by beavers already living at the new site. Relocation could also reduce the time a beaver has to prepare for winter, leaving the animal vulnerable to death by starvation or exposure.
Manitoba’s wildlife branch doesn’t have evidence that Winnipeg’s beaver population has recently grown, though it does not actively monitor the numbers, the statement said.
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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
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