By Glen Wunderlich

When we think rodent, most of us may envision mice, rats, squirrels or 10-pound groundhogs.  But, what if rodents grew to 50 pounds or more and lived right here in Shiawassee County?  Well, lock your doors; they’re here!

Castor Canadensis is even known to kill humans, as evidenced this month when a fisherman in Belarus, Russia bled to death after being attacked and bitten by one, which severed an artery in his leg.  If you’ve yet to picture the beast, it also goes by the moniker of North American beaver.

Weeks ago I discovered a poplar limb cleanly stripped of its bark lying alongside the Osborn Drain near home.  Closer inspection revealed it had been chewed off by a beaver. I walked the edge of the waterway looking for more clues such as a dam or lodge but none was found, so I blew it off.

Weeks later, when a number of poplars were found chewed off at the water’s edge, my concern grew.

Poplar cut by beaver

We’ve got enough flooding already with all the spring rain and a beaver dam would be less than welcome.  Oh, I know how useful the busy buggers are to the ecosystem by maintaining wetlands, but aren’t humans already required to do so by law?

A few years ago, the DNR had to remove them from the same drainage, because some homeowners’ needed a boat to get to their front door. Read more