Beaver Causes a Stir in Duke Park

Duke Park neighbors rallied around a beaver whose dam was turning Larry Crabtree's residence into waterfront property.

On January 21, neighbor Marty Jarrell alerted the email listserv that she had received a letter from NCDOT regarding a beaver inhabiting the wooded area bordered by Glendale, Washington and I-85. The beaver's dam was clogging a drainage pipe, and the water was forming a pond in several backyards. The letter requested permission from Jarrell—whose home borders the wooded area—to remove the beaver. Methods cited included "crushing traps, necksnares and explosives," but no humane alternatives. Several other neighbors chimed in to say that they, too, had received the letter.

Even the neighbors most adversely affected by the beaver's activities did not favor killing the beaver or blowing up the dam. Due to our neighborhood's past interactions with NCDOT, there was little sentiment for trusting them to make recommendations in our interest. There was also suspicion that perhaps there were other factors involved—neighbors had complained about flooding in that area when I-85 construction began two years ago. It was also brought up that perhaps more yard waste was getting into the system as people have dropped out of the city's yard waste program. Touring the area, DPNA president Barry Ragin saw evidence of leaves and debris being dumped in the area, too.

The drainage pipe was ringed with rocks by NCDOT in the hopes of discouraging the beaver, but he just built his dam in front of the rocks.

Your trusty webmaster, ever the internet geek, did a google search on resources for beaver control. She discovered that the state of NC has a Beaver Damage Control Advisory Board, which manages the Beaver Management Assistance Program. This program helps citizens with beaver control with an emphasis on non-lethal and environmentally friendly methods. Unfortunately, the county needs to join the program for a fee of $4,000, and Durham was not with the program.

Herald-Sun reporter, Ginny Skalski, monitors the Duke Park listserv and wrote an article for the Jan. 25 edition of the newspaper about the beaver controversy. That caught the eye of WTVD, which left messages with Ragin and other neighbors trying to get someone on camera. They did a broadcast on the issue on Jan. 26. Neighbor Nancy McNabb reported that she saw a piece about the beaver on The Weather Channel on Jan. 27. She said "Two of the weather readers were trying to coax Jim Cantori into doing a beaver imitation. He declined."

In the meantime, Ragin contacted county commissioner Ellen Reckhow about the beaver management program, and arranged a tour of Duke Park's new pond for interested parties. Reckhow contacted the county manager, Mike Ruffin, and Soil and Water Conservation Director Eddie Culberson. Durham County has now joined the Beaver Management Program.

The smaller of the beaver's lodges is shown here. An even larger lodge—more than 5 times the size of this one—can be seen in the upper left of the photo.

As of this writing, Culberson is working with NCDOT to bring the latest in beaver dam containment technology to Duke Park. The plan is to lower the water enough to drain neighbors' yards, but keep the beaver happy, too. As it turns out, the experts at Beaver Management don't recommend killing or removing the beaver after all. They said that if a location is desirable, another beaver will find it soon enough and move back in.

But we already knew that Duke Park was a great place to live.