The Beaver Dam in Bond Park
Story by Hal Goodtree. Photo by a CaryCitizen reader.
Cary, NC – A reader sent in the picture up above with the following note, “I saw this truck in Bond Park this morning and wondered what he was doing. The side of the truck said Beaver Control.”
The Beaver Dam in Bond Park
I spoke with Stephen Brown, Director of Public Works and Utilities.
He said the recent heavy rains had caused some flooding adjacent to the park. An investigation turned up a beaver dam on a small stream leading to Bond Lake.
The beaver dam was removed by a license wildlife expert and the Town is keeping an eye on the situation.
Beaver photo by Brett.
I live on the lake and I saw one of the beavers in the water around 9pm about a week ago. About 5 or so years back we had an issue with the beavers coming and chopping our trees down. The only issue was that my family had young children and the sharp points of the stumps left by the beavers were dangerous.
The beavers have mostly rebuilt their dam, and wildlife is teeming around the ponds. There is an upper and lower dam that this family of beaver have constructed.
The beaver dam now has its own Facebook Page so you can keep up-to-date with the activity at the dam.
Post pictures of the wildlife you see in the ponds!
Super cool. Thanks for sharing Ian.
Love to hear what you find out, Ian.
I’m an avid birder and Bond Park happens to be my local patch for birding. I was hoping that the beaver pond might last through, at least, the end of May. By then, the best birds of Spring migration would have peaked. Some of these visiting warblers love a beaver pond. Prothonatary Warblers are a wonder to behold and I’ve seen one there before.
I suspect that a resident complained about the beaver pond. Probably worried about mosquitoes. I talked to the Bond Park manager and he said that he would take no action unless someone complained.
It’s sad we can’t find ways to live with nature. Instead, we marginalize it so that it accommodates our every whim. Instead of viewing the beaver as destructive (the common view), I see the beaver as primarily creative, making new habitats for more living creatures, increasing the natural diversity, and bringing joy to a few folks who do appreciate the wild places of this world, however small.
Steven Brown told me that the dam had caused flooding at a nearby tennis court.
To go with your metaphor Eddie, the beaver is a primitive developer. He just didn’t have the proper permits :)
Seriously, though, from what I heard, no beavers were harmed in this exercise of storm water management.
Hal, I am a resident and member of Oxxford Hunt and I walk my dog frequently by the Oxxford Hunt tennis courts by the “swamp”. I cannot confirm that there was ever any flooding of our tennis courts but that the water was well away from the mostly unused courts, ie. they were never in danger… I’ll be in touch with our Association Managers as they sure are quick to point out flaws in our upkeep. Maybe they need to be more tolerant of our nature neighbors…
I wonder too what will happen to the beavers mentioned in your story. When I worked for the town at the tennis center behind GHHS, I witnessed the brutal clubbing of several on at least one occasion.
Hmmm… Beavers are highly attuned to flowing water which is why they are so good at damming up creeks. So how do you remove the dam without the beaver going into high gear to rebuild the dam? Usually a beaver is relocated or skinned to correct a flooding problem. Only sometimes are creative measures used to relieve the stream flow well away from the dam so that the beaver does not detect a flow at the dam location and keep building higher (thus increasing the flooding).
I’ll be on the lookout for the beaver. Good to know that they are still in the area.
Looks like the Town of Cary has taken our input and is trying to live with the beavers. Too bad they had to tear a hole in the dam and drain it in the process… (Story on that other news source.)
http://www.carynews.com/2012/12/04/67471/cary-looks-for-peace-with-beavers.html
Far as I know, the beaver was not removed.
So is this why the “swamp” leading from the Oxxford Hunt Clubhouse was recently drained?? I wondered why the level had dropped so suddenly. Why did the beaver have to be removed? Can’t we find alternative solutions than removing the beaver or the dam?