Should We Leave It to Beaver?

Last year my friend, Dave King, told me that you could see trees taken down >by beavers behind Dogwood Park. His family discovered this during a baseball game. You had to walk down the Monroe Street right-of-way along New Mark and make a left down to the stream. Sure enough when my sons and I went exploring, we saw that a beaver lived in our neighborhood. Several months ago, I saw the beaver at Stoneridge Pond while out jogging.

As autumn arrived and the leaves fell, a white band around a large tree on the far side of the Pond caught my eye. About six small trees disappeared on the opposite side. The Saturday before Christmas, the large tree was down. When we went to see it, there was another large tree also being gnawed.

Initially I was excited about a beaver in my neighborhood, but now I’m wondering if the beaver’s lifestyle is sustainable. If I was down in the park with a chainsaw, I think I’d be in trouble. Our forested areas are limited in the City.

The Montgomery County Parks and Planning website indicates that beavers are a good feature. They clear pockets in the forest and create ponds which attract a variety of wildlife for a diverse ecosystem and their dams help reduce sediment in the water. Beavers are vegetarians and during winter they eat the wood just under the bark. The beavers are just feeding down at the Pond.

Beaver removal companies will only refer to them as “rodents”. These companies detail all the terrible problems created by beavers such as polluted drinking water and lowered property values.

A recent Mark Trail comic strip told the story of a man trying to get rid of the beavers on his property even though his son liked them. Would they be shot? In the end, the beaver pond saves the day during a fire, so the beavers were a good thing.

Having beavers, foxes, coyotes, groundhogs, and raccoons in my neighborhood is enjoyable (notice I didn’t mention the deer) and I love seeing them. All the animals in my neighborhood make Rockville seem even more special, even though some persistent little fellow keeps knocking over my garbage can.

The City has a management company that comes regularly to the pond. I see them testing and treating the water. City workers just drained a section of the Pond into the stream. I’m curious how the beaver fits in with our pond management plan. As they reproduce and spread, will we reforest? Is there a limit to how many trees we are willing to lose?

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