Busy beavers are headache for town

AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB) - There is a conflict between nature and civilization in Amherst, and nature appears to have the upper hand since animal cruelty complaints stopped the practice of drowning the beavers.

Beavers are prolific builders, chewing down and dragging whatever trees they can to build a dam. They do most of their work at night and chopped down trees were a morning surprise on Bywater Court off Heim Road in Amherst.

Karen Ginsburg said, "I planted this tree, I loved this tree, it was beautiful. It had really pretty flowers in the springtime."

And her tree wasn't the only one.

"Just last night alone, I think at least six trees that I counted this morning," she said.

Beavers were building in a small drainage channel, so town highway crews came hours later and broke up the dam.

Highway Superintendent Bob Anderson said, "In a few days, we'll be back busting up another dam. They'll be back and we'll just keep spinning our wheels and busting up these dams until there can be a final resolution."

Amherst used to trap and drown beavers under the advice of the DEC. The state doesn't want them trapped and moved because they become someone else's problem.

But after beavers damaged memorial trees along the Amherst bike path last month, the publicity surrounding the trapping and drowning led the Town Board to adopt a no-kill policy.

"They should sit down with the DEC, sit down with the animal advocates and let them decide what the best policy is," Anderson said.

Ginsburg added, "I love animals like the next person, but animals are more important than people it seems right now. It's causing much damage here and somebody has to do something."

Homeowners can either pay a private trapper themselves, or the town can put them in touch with volunteers who offered to come and wrap the bottoms of trees with a protective shield. Supervisor Barry Weinstein tells News 4 he wants to give that more of a chance before going back to the town trapping.