Angry Norfolk Group Acts to Save Beavers

Published: Thursday, January 21, 1993
Section: LOCAL , page D3
Source: By Tony Wharton, Staff writer

Wildlife advocates reacted angrily Wednesday to news that the City Council had decided the day before to continue killing a small colony of beavers at two city lakes.

Save the Beavers, a quickly assembled group planning to stop the lethal trapping of beavers at Lake Whitehurst and Lake Wright, will meet Friday evening to hear from a wildlife expert and discuss strategy.

City officials "did not tell us there would be any discussion of the beavers Tuesday,'' said Penny Vaughan, a member of Wildlife Response Inc. in Chesapeake who is active in wildlife rehabilitation. "We told the city that we would pick up the expense of moving the beavers if necessary, although we would prefer to leave them in the lakes. We have found private land for them.''

Michael Rau, also of Wildlife Response, said in a news release that the group may sue to stop the trapping. Rau said he hand-delivered a letter to city officials before Tuesday's council meeting offering alternative ways to manage the beavers, but did not get an answer.

The Nature Conservancy, which has bought thousands of acres in Hampton Roads for conservation, will consider taking the beavers, Rau said.

Shoreline residents began complaining to the city last fall of trees apparently toppled by beavers. The city found four active dens and believes there are 10 to 20 beavers in the area.

A few dozen trees, some more than a foot thick, have been gnawed in two by the animals. The council cited this as the main reason to trap the beavers.

Vaughan and others said the trees can be protected.

Guy Hodge of the Humane Society of the United States will speak at a meeting of Save the Beavers at 7 p.m. Friday in the Virginia Marine Science Museum, 717 General Booth Blvd., Virginia Beach.