Have you ever had an unruly neighbor? Did they try to flood your home?
That’s the threat Hutchinson city employees are dealing with in the Ravenwood neighborhood on the city’s southwest side. In a stormwater pond beside the backyard of a home there, beavers have built a dam and raised the water level by 3 to 4 feet.
“Beavers built the dam to create more water volume for their habitat,” said John Paulson, the city’s environmentalist. “With that, the pond doesn’t have appropriate capacity. A big rain event could flood neighboring properties. It’s already wet. That’s not helping matters.”
The beavers were discovered by an intern assisting with pond inspections. Hutchinson makes sure to inspect every pond once every five years.
“She was out doing a walk around of the pond, and noticed it was higher than it should be. She saw the beaver huts, and let us know,” Paulson said.
That inspection was a few weeks ago, and it’s likely the beavers had plenty of time in the pond before that. Paulson believes at least two moved into the pond, but perhaps more. To resolve the problem, the city is working with a trapper who has experience working with the county on similar problems. Traps are set in the water, and visible by way of a metal handle that pokes just above the surface.
“Before they even got the second trap set, the first had gone off,” Paulson said.
Because the beavers are out of season, they can’t be harvested for their fur. They must be disposed of on site, or by other methods approved by the DNR.
Once it is believed all the beavers have been killed, the dam will be destroyed. If it is rebuilt, city staff will know there is more work to do.
“This is a unique situation,” Paulson said. “It’s the first time in the almost 12 years I’ve been here that I’ve heard of a beaver in one of our ponds.”
SOMETHING FISHY AT ISLAND VIEW
Meanwhile, at another pond further west in Island View Heights, the city has discovered goldfish, and perhaps koi.
“Those are invasive species,” Paulson said. “Since they’re not native, it’s against the law to release them in the environment, no different than releasing an alligator.”
As part of the carp family, the goldfish propagate and spread quickly. There are already more than 100, Paulson estimated, adding that a full count is challenging because the pond is so murky.
“Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time,” Paulson said. “Back in 2009, there were goldfish in the same pond, so the city had to de-water it in the late fall, early winter. So it froze out and killed the goldfish in there. This year, an inspection of the pond found someone had put them back in there.”
The city will send a letter to nearby residents, telling them that releasing the fish is illegal, and that if a person is caught doing so, a conservation officer will write a ticket.
“That pond is connected to the Crow River,” Paulson said. “They are not so bad in a pond. It’s when they get in the natural environment, if they get in a river or lake system, they compete … In a pet store they look harmless, but all of a sudden you have a few hundred that proliferate and you have a much bigger problem. Once they are in a river or lake system, you can’t contain them.”
