From Western North Carolina-When beavers at Kanuga Conferences started flooding a lake loop trail — as well as threatening the habitat of endangered species in a nearby bog — he worked with Kanuga staff to design and install two pond levelers to lower water levels in the 1-acre bog.
"Water is their security blanket," Williamson said. "When they run out of food, they built their dam higher and that raises the water to bring them closer to food. They want an escape path (to water) that's really close."
Kanuga was home to roughly 20 to 30 beavers in 2007, said Environmental Projects Manager Clint DeWitt. He said the Episcopal Church-affiliated retreat didn't want to eliminate the web-footed animals, only the damage they were wreaking on the bog habitat and the Daisy Lake Trail.
"They're integral to the bog itself, so we want to maintain the beavers," DeWitt said. But he added that spending 10 hours a week breaking up their dams wasn't sustainable. The pond levelers allow water to flow through the beaver dams, without being stopped up by beaver activity.
Relocating beavers is not an option, Williamson said, since that would just shift the nuisance to other areas and perhaps spread disease. He added beavers are highly territorial and would, if transplanted into a new area, likely die from fights with resident beavers or trying to cross roads on their way back home.
More here-
http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/fe96e985677548358e9c7e175f6bd35b/NC--Returning-Beavers/#.Um5VmxaznfY
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