Growing beaver population creating new problems

(Editors, note: Lance B. McNew is a Mount Carmel native and the son of Doreen Russell of Allendale. He earned a bachelor's in biology at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.)

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- What kind of neighbor would move in, cut down your favorite tree and flood your land by building a dam?

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Yep. A beaver.

Each year, about 20 percent of the beaver population begins roaming around, looking for new homes, says Alan Woolf, director of the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory.

These 'dispersing' beavers are juveniles, usually one- to three-years old, who strike out on their own after being forced from their natal lodges.

For them, it's just a natural part of growing up.

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But when they start re-contouring landscapes, they can create expensive conflicts with farmers, timber growers and others, explains Lance B. McNew, a master's student working with Woolf and other lab staff on a project aimed at better predicting movements, minimizing damages and managing beaver in Illinois.

Right now, McNew is monitoring movements of nine young beaver, four males and five females, on whose tails he attached lightweight radio transmitters over the winter.

The beavers all grew up on wetlands on AMAX Coal Company's reclaimed Delta strip mine, which straddles Williamson and Saline counties in Southern Illinois.

"I'm trying to get a feel for what time of year they disperse and where they settle in order to make our census-taking and management decisions more accurate," says McNew. "Beaver dispersal has been studied in other places, mostly far northern systems, but that data isn't applicable here."

For one thing, it warms up sooner here and beaver appear to begin moving around earlier than they do up north, he says.

McNew hones in on his furry subjects through radio telemetry at least three times a week. Next year, he'll tag and track even more young beaver to get a more complete picture of their movements and motivations.

All this beavering around, McNew explains, can cause millions of dollars in damages.

On the upside, beavers' construction projects can create valuable habitat for waterfowl, fish, otters, muskrats, upland game birds and of course, other beaver.

Trapped to near extinction in the United States and much of Canada by the 1900s, beaver populations have rebounded, thanks to government reintroduction programs begun some 75 years ago.

By 1930, only 100 beaver were left in Illinois. Now, they're in "every nook and cranny in the state," says McNew.

"They're the only species besides humans who alter the environment to suit their needs. That's why I especially like them," he says, smiling.

"If you just sit and watch one, you'll fall in love with the thing. They never rest. They're always fixing something or storing food. You've just gotta love a hard worker like that," says McNew.

So far, the young furbearers McNew is following have shown they're real movers and shakers.

All but one - - a female yearling - - have left home. And because there are no waterways leaving their home sites, they've had to do it the hard way - - crawling over scrubland, not paddling through streams.

McNew's project, along with related research being done at the lab, will help provide an accurate census of beaver, their distributions and methods for detecting changes in their populations in Illinois.

Down the road, McNew says, "we hope our data will help minimize nuisance situations associated with high beaver densities and help maintain healthy beaver populations in Illinois."

The three-year study is being conducted in collaboration with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources with funds from the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act.

CAPTION: Photo #1 Tail spin - - Wildlife researcher Lance B. McNew snares a young beaver as part of a multi-faceted project aimed at better predicting, monitoring and minimizing potential damages caused when these young furbearers launch out on their own. Southern Illinois University Carbondalešs Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, in conjunction with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, is conducting the project. .
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CAPTION: Photo #2 Branching out - - Beaver-built lodges, like this one, and dams can create problems for farmers, timber growers and homeowners. Scientists at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are studying beaver dispersal to better understand when, where and how young beaver choose to colonize new areas, which could lead to improved beaver management strategies .
Photo provided