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TELLTALE SPIKES along the ban
Beav
BY SUSAN USHER
Forty years ago it was hard to find
a beaver anywhere in Brunswick
County?or across North Carolina.
After a comeback nothing short of
remarkable, beavers are today one
of the most common furbearing
animals in the state, according to the
N.C Wddlife Commission. They can
be found in all but 10 or 12 counties,
all in the foothills
In Brunswick County, there is
evidence of beaver activity on almost
all waterways, says Fred Taylor, an
N.C. Wddlife Commission enforcement
officer whose work lakes him
throughout the county's woodlands.
"They're all over the waterways in
the county?the Waccamaw River,
Alligator Creek, Wet Ash. almost
down to Southport. l-ockwood Folly
River's got them. Town Creek has
them," he said. "We know it's beaver
because they're the only one that eat
the bark. Muskrats don't."
Thetr presence has proven a mixed
blessing and only recently are most
property owners learning to tolerate
the beaver
For some landowners, coping with
a resident beaver population is a running
battle of wits and skill For
others, like Auburn Dutton ol
Regan's Crossroads, beavers are
fascinating creatures worth the compromises
involved in sharing UKland
Areas along the Waccamaw River,
which borders Columbus County,
were the first to show signs of beaver
activity in Brunswick County. Their
inarch has conUnued steadily toward
the coast
While serving as chairman of the
Brunswick County Board of Commissioners,
Exum farmer Pearly Vereen
complained regularly of beaver
damage to his fields by their natural
instinct to dam running water
"How can you harvest corn when
it's standing in six inches of water'"
he asked
Toward the opposite end of the
county, Carl Williams of Iceland has
voiced a similar complaint about the
beavers who live along Town Creek
near his rustic fishing camp At
times, the beavers' damming efforts
flood the narrow, rutted dirt road
that leads to the camp
HAPPY NEW YEA!
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( show where beavers arc active.
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CARL WILLIAMS of U-land shows on
lodges near Town Creek, where the rodi
"Them beavers are going to have (
to slow down," he said as he led the
way to one large lodge. "That's all t
there is to it." t
The heavers built a dam more than i
four years ago near the Sunny Point \
railroad track near Kunston, then
moved it. But the pine and hardwood f
stands between Williams' fish camp \
and the tracks-a distance of about c
100 yards?are all flooded and the t
number of beaver lodges continues to s
increase along the creek Per- t
manently flooded timber will even- t
tually die. t
Known by scientists as Coiitx i.b?r, s
beavers are the world's largest landbased
rodent and the second largest
rodent in the world V
The) reproduce easily, have few ri
natural enemies and are known for v
their engineering feats /\
Even the taped sounds of running
water can trigger their instinct to cut
trees and build dams
Beavers live in areas not readily J
accessible by man. but also (are well
m close proximity to man This can
* anywhere from backyards in
Kaleigh to (arm ponds at Keyjan's
TO ONE & ALL
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AN EXPERT ENGINEER, a few well-plat t
all a beaver ueeds to fell a young tree. The i
bark used for nibbling and the trunk for d?
ings and a pointed stunm nn? left behind
Mi^d^
c of the beaver flooded the access road
fnts' dams have Koad.
'rossroads and Ash. hea'
They weigh up to CO |x>und.s, streteli ther
hree to four feet in length including
heir broad, flat tails, and stand H'VI
ibout 15 inches high at the shoulder, h?a'
vith reddish-brown fur lowi
The aquatic rodents live on plat- halt
oims in lodges or dens built on the '"m
vater, with underwater entrances A die
uiuii; IUIUI3W UI <1 Liumur (II ICXI^(?.S,
iach containing; a family that con- Hem
ists of parents and their last two lit- of w
ers. The young -two to eight per liter?stay
in the lodge for two years bear
icfore striking out to form lodges and how
tart housekeeping on their own how
Overnight Comeback "t
In response to complaints in the havi
V'aecarnaw Hiver area, county water "Co
luinagement crews snagged several with
waterways, including Jumper and to hi
litigator creeks, clearing away Bt
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Wi DO IT All - LOT CLEARING, *
MV/Y 130 HOlDfN BtACM ROAD
PHONE 642 4903
MON SAT9 6 SUN 1-6
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d bites with stay-sharp teeth are
ree Is usually dragged away. Its
m-building. Only a pile of shavBless
|iy s|i(' i
' V ? **11
PDVWWTliBL ! fi VJ
tlAI I VHOK)'. i? UJIAM litMl *
to hi* fifth ramp nil Governor'*
/cr lixUtt's and danus only to see
ii reappear overnight
11 the other side of the Wuccamaw
r In Columbus County, an the
jvr population .steadily advanced
ird the southeast, landowners
led one of the largest concenlras
of I leavers In the eastern part of
state
; one point the N.C. Wildlife
ources Commission held a series
orkshops on beaver iruinagernent
covered all angles how to use
ler dams for Irrigation control,
to trap and skin them, ami even
to eat them.
t couple of years ago we didn't
s this problem," said Taylor,
lumbus Cou.lty lias a tag problem
them and I'm afraid we're going
ave one."
it from Columbus ami Brunswick
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V?Ll, SEPTIC TANK, ELECTI
East Co;
THE BRUNSWICK BEACON. Thui
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THIS BULLFROG may be sale on Its p
unwary beaver in I Kb t not bo so lucky. 'I
frustrated landowners are apt to try an
ing At I
I counties the complaints are be^inn- i
U ..... ?.. 4WLJ ?
IIIK IU UIIIUIUSI1, SUyS 1X0001*1 11)17.01, I
an N.C. SUite University extension I
forest resources specialist currently 1
studyinK beavers. i
"The workshops apparently did
some good," ht. said. "More and I
more people want to keep them (the I
beavers 1. '
"When they first appear In an area, I
people net alarmed. They don't know <
much about beavers," he said. "But i
after a year or two they don't seem as
concerned. They begin to see the i
pond environment develop and they
realize the beavers aren't K'?l'>tl to
flood their fields entirely.
"They begin to sec them In
perspective."
In some cases, he said, beavers do
constitute a genuine nuisance and
need to lie removed. Hut In many Instances,
he said, It's a question of
uuinagement.
Study Underway
Hut landowners and beavers don't
always share the same Idea about
how the land around thorn should t>e
used. 1'hls fuel prompted the sUite to
begin a study now In Its second year
Zoologists and forest resources
specialists at N.C. Stale University
are working on tlie N.C. Kxtenslun
Service-sponsored project that will
examine the status of heavers
statewide and the economic on the I
people and the environment, In terms I
of both !>encflt and damage.
Their studies show that with a
small Investment In time and I
materials, a landowner can turn
beavers Into an undisputed asset.
NCSU zoologist (iary San Julian, I
for Instance, says that beaver ponds i
provide areas for hunting, bird wat- I
ehlng and a good diversity In wildlife
habitat They also create new I
wetlands as marshes are being filled i
up i
Julian and Hazel say beaver ponds *
can be used as forest and farm <
I END INVENTO
RES DRASTICALLY REDUC
ER ON THE HOME OF Y0<
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>K AT OUR WIDE SELEC
ES NO REASONABLE C
(ICAL WORK. A!R COHDITIONIH
ist Housing
i
sday, December 26, 1985?Page 7-B
r?rfr?r.gvTr 4E
ereh atop ? submerged trap, but nil
"ho submerged traps arc Illegal, but
yihing that works.
Best
mangetnent tools as a source ol
field irrigation, recreational development
and.b because the ponds hold
water, for flood and sedimentation
control.
a pond comil Im' drained In winter
tor plantliiK and harvest of crops - or
tor planting millet to draw birds to a
waterfowl impoundment When the
millet is ntown, the pond is flooded
iiKnln. Similar techniques can he used
in hardwtMKl stands.
The N.C. Wildlife Commission
I'redits (leavers' ponds as nuijor factors
In the comeback of the wish I
duck statewide In recent years
County by county statistics are still
to be published, alonu with an extension
bulletin on la-aver mannttement
now In preparation.
Initial results of the sludy by
llnrel, San Julian and Dave Woodward
show tluit la-avers populate all
but about 10 or North Carolina counties,
with heavier concentrations in
the east and nlonit the coast.
lla/.el said the second phase of the
study Is a concentrated look at four
streams and landowners' experience*
witli la-avers aloii|{ them
Swift and Middle creeks In Johnston
County and Moon and Motion's creeks
In Caswell County.
Not Worth It
Hut local trappers say Its not worth
the price of u pelt to trap and skin a
la-aver.
Supply trapper and furbuyer Hotter
llewclt, for instance, says he doesn't
know of anyone In Brunswick County
who traps beaver
Because winters aren't very cold
here In North Carolina, (a-ILs take 4i
minutes to skin and Drenare ordv br
In# $8 to $10 on the market
Instead of the 3,000 to 4,000 ticavrr*
that could lie harvested In the state,
Duly alxiiit MO to 800 jx-ltn ore tukeri
each year, reports the NWildlife
or omission, a fait not likely to
'hangc In the near future
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C. FINANCING AVAILABLE.
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