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It's Canada's national symbol, but Red Deer beaver puts fear in pet owners
Warning issued as team attempts to find beaver
An aggressive beaver in a Red Deer off-leash park is believed to be responsible for at least two serious attacks on dogs, including one that led to the death of a husky.
Several other reported beaver attacks at Red Deer's Three Mile Bend off-leash park have not been confirmed, city officials say.
But an investigation has been launched to find the bucktoothed rodent believed responsible for the violent behaviour.
"It's a very, very odd situation," said Trevor Poth, Red Deer parks superintendent.
The central Alberta city has rarely had to deal with problem beavers, despite a large population of the rodents in Red Deer, he said.
A team is being called in to locate the beaver and determine whether to remove it and its family from the park.
"Right now we're a little unclear, whether it's one or more. Beaver identification is pretty challenging," Poth said.
"For us, this definitely was a first. It came as a bit of a surprise for us, and we're taking it really seriously," he said.
"We want people to feel safe in the park."
The city first learned of the beaver problem Monday from Alberta Animal Services, the agency contracted to enforce bylaw issues in Red Deer.
The agency had received reports that a husky died from a wound sustained in a beaver attack, said Don Elliot, a supervisor with the agency. Another dog was also injured in a separate incident with a beaver in the popular off -leash park, he said. Three further calls came in reporting attacks, though they haven't been substantiated.
Red Deer resident Heather Markiw regularly takes her 10-month-old German shepherd-cross dogs to exercise in the park.
Last Thursday, one of Markiw's pets, Sierra, had a run-in with a beaver that left the dog bleeding and injured.
Sierra needed more than 10 stitches on her underside and now needs a tube to urinate. Markiw reported the incident because she didn't want other dogs to fall prey to the beaver.
"I want to make dog owners aware that there is a beaver who's been quite aggressive lately," she said.
Red Deer has a relatively robust beaver population that currently includes about 30 beaver lodges along its river system, according to Poth.
For the most part, people and wildlife have been able to co-exist peacefully in the park. Poth said this is the time of year when baby beavers (or kits) are starting to emerge from their lodges.
If a parent beaver believes its young is under attack, it could go on the offensive. That is likely what has happened when dogs swim near the beaver lodges in the park, said Poth.
The city issued an advisory warning people to be cautious in the area.
Meanwhile, a conservation biologist is scheduled to examine the site of the attacks and meet with Alberta Animal Services to decide how to deal with the aggressive rodent.
The park will be closed down at night to allow the work to occur, Poth said.
The beaver and its family are likely to be removed from the area, though it's possible that traps will be used.
"Based on the condition and location of the lodge, age of family, we will make the assessment with the conservation biologist."
Markiw said she doesn't want the beaver to be harmed or its lodge removed from the park.
But doesn't want other pets to go through the same experience as Sierra.
"I just don't want other dogs owners to have to go through what we're going through with our dog," she said.
Warning issued as team attempts to find beaver
An aggressive beaver in a Red Deer off-leash park is believed to be responsible for at least two serious attacks on dogs, including one that led to the death of a husky.
Several other reported beaver attacks at Red Deer's Three Mile Bend off-leash park have not been confirmed, city officials say.
But an investigation has been launched to find the bucktoothed rodent believed responsible for the violent behaviour.
"It's a very, very odd situation," said Trevor Poth, Red Deer parks superintendent.
The central Alberta city has rarely had to deal with problem beavers, despite a large population of the rodents in Red Deer, he said.
A team is being called in to locate the beaver and determine whether to remove it and its family from the park.
"Right now we're a little unclear, whether it's one or more. Beaver identification is pretty challenging," Poth said.
"For us, this definitely was a first. It came as a bit of a surprise for us, and we're taking it really seriously," he said.
"We want people to feel safe in the park."
The city first learned of the beaver problem Monday from Alberta Animal Services, the agency contracted to enforce bylaw issues in Red Deer.
The agency had received reports that a husky died from a wound sustained in a beaver attack, said Don Elliot, a supervisor with the agency. Another dog was also injured in a separate incident with a beaver in the popular off -leash park, he said. Three further calls came in reporting attacks, though they haven't been substantiated.
Red Deer resident Heather Markiw regularly takes her 10-month-old German shepherd-cross dogs to exercise in the park.
Last Thursday, one of Markiw's pets, Sierra, had a run-in with a beaver that left the dog bleeding and injured.
Sierra needed more than 10 stitches on her underside and now needs a tube to urinate. Markiw reported the incident because she didn't want other dogs to fall prey to the beaver.
"I want to make dog owners aware that there is a beaver who's been quite aggressive lately," she said.
Red Deer has a relatively robust beaver population that currently includes about 30 beaver lodges along its river system, according to Poth.
For the most part, people and wildlife have been able to co-exist peacefully in the park. Poth said this is the time of year when baby beavers (or kits) are starting to emerge from their lodges.
If a parent beaver believes its young is under attack, it could go on the offensive. That is likely what has happened when dogs swim near the beaver lodges in the park, said Poth.
The city issued an advisory warning people to be cautious in the area.
Meanwhile, a conservation biologist is scheduled to examine the site of the attacks and meet with Alberta Animal Services to decide how to deal with the aggressive rodent.
The park will be closed down at night to allow the work to occur, Poth said.
The beaver and its family are likely to be removed from the area, though it's possible that traps will be used.
"Based on the condition and location of the lodge, age of family, we will make the assessment with the conservation biologist."
Markiw said she doesn't want the beaver to be harmed or its lodge removed from the park.
But doesn't want other pets to go through the same experience as Sierra.
"I just don't want other dogs owners to have to go through what we're going through with our dog," she said.
Beaver shot in suspected payback killing
Police investigate whether a vigilante killed a beaver that may have attacked dogs
Park officials and RCMP in central Alberta are concerned someone may have taken matters into their own hands by shooting and killing a beaver following reports last week that one of the rodents in the area had killed a dog.
Red Deer parks superintendent Trevor Poth said a dead beaver was discovered by a canoeist paddling in the Three Mile Bend recreation area this week, the same area where a beaver had been attacking dogs.
“The beaver had clearly been shot while in the park so we're just shocked and dismayed that someone would discharge a firearm within the city limits. Certainly within a park they're endangering park users and wildlife in the area,” Mr. Poth said.
A beaver had killed a husky at an off-leash park in the area earlier this month. That beaver might have been attempting to protect its young.
The city's parks department initially said it would fatally trap the beavers in the area, but later abandoned the plan when local landowners stepped forward and offered to have them transferred to their property.
Mr. Poth said there's no way to know whether the beaver that was shot and killed was the same one that killed the dog.
“Beavers do live in a colony and are very territorial, so the proximity of where the beaver was found to the active lodge and to the site of the other incidents with animals leads us to believe that it was a member of the same colony,” Mr. Poth noted.
RCMP are calling the shooting a serious breach of public safety, as discharging firearms within city limits is prohibited.
“It is very concerning that somebody potentially took this matter into their own hands and went after this beaver when there was much more humane ways the city was planning on dealing with it,” Corporal Kathe Deheer said.
The dead beaver has been turned over to Alberta Fish and Wildlife. RCMP are continuing to investigate.
Mr. Poth said the transfer of the beaver colony is being put on hold until the RCMP investigation is complete.
He said he's also renewing a plea to all dog owners to carry a leash with them at all times, and to be sure that their dogs can be recalled if necessary.
Police investigate whether a vigilante killed a beaver that may have attacked dogs
Park officials and RCMP in central Alberta are concerned someone may have taken matters into their own hands by shooting and killing a beaver following reports last week that one of the rodents in the area had killed a dog.
Red Deer parks superintendent Trevor Poth said a dead beaver was discovered by a canoeist paddling in the Three Mile Bend recreation area this week, the same area where a beaver had been attacking dogs.
“The beaver had clearly been shot while in the park so we're just shocked and dismayed that someone would discharge a firearm within the city limits. Certainly within a park they're endangering park users and wildlife in the area,” Mr. Poth said.
A beaver had killed a husky at an off-leash park in the area earlier this month. That beaver might have been attempting to protect its young.
The city's parks department initially said it would fatally trap the beavers in the area, but later abandoned the plan when local landowners stepped forward and offered to have them transferred to their property.
Mr. Poth said there's no way to know whether the beaver that was shot and killed was the same one that killed the dog.
“Beavers do live in a colony and are very territorial, so the proximity of where the beaver was found to the active lodge and to the site of the other incidents with animals leads us to believe that it was a member of the same colony,” Mr. Poth noted.
RCMP are calling the shooting a serious breach of public safety, as discharging firearms within city limits is prohibited.
“It is very concerning that somebody potentially took this matter into their own hands and went after this beaver when there was much more humane ways the city was planning on dealing with it,” Corporal Kathe Deheer said.
The dead beaver has been turned over to Alberta Fish and Wildlife. RCMP are continuing to investigate.
Mr. Poth said the transfer of the beaver colony is being put on hold until the RCMP investigation is complete.
He said he's also renewing a plea to all dog owners to carry a leash with them at all times, and to be sure that their dogs can be recalled if necessary.
Beaver: This rodent is the symbol of hard work and staying focused on the job. However, beavers actually spend most of their waking hours playing. They aren’t the sharpest teeth in the woods: About one in every five trees that they gnaw down, they just don’t know what to do with. A beaver’s calls are a series of pained grunts and moans. It mates for life, which always looks good. When European explorers arrived, beavers were active by day. Now they are mostly nocturnal. They have learned something over two centuries.
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