The city is responding to what they say are multiple reports from residents about beavers causing damage to public and private property along Nose Creek over the past two years and more recently, acting aggressively toward residents and pets.

While Mayor Peter Brown said that environmental protection is a focus area for Council and something they work with the administration to ensure harmony between wildlife and humans, he did underline in this case, the safety of residents and protection of property are the top priorities.

“Removing beavers is always our last option,” said Eugene Lund, Operations Manager. “We have implemented a variety of preventative measures to protect mature trees, such as wrapping wire mesh around tree trunks. Unfortunately, this wasn’t successful in Waterstone and we made the decision to trap and remove the beaver. To date, we have successfully trapped and removed one beaver.”

Preventative measures such as pond levellers, beaver bafflers and beaver deceivers are used to prevent beavers from damming culverts, which according to the city, is not the issue the City is experiencing along Nose Creek.

"The beavers along Nose Creek are destroying mature trees that they use as a food source. In 2022, beavers caused $9,000 of damage to mature trees, with additional damage done to private property."

In addition to the preventative measures that are already in place, the City of Airdrie will be contracting an environmental expert to conduct an assessment to determine if maintaining an active beaver population in the Waterstone area is sustainable. This should be completed by March/April of 2023.

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