Four beavers were captured off of the Larkin State Park Trail after the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection recently issued a trapping permit to address flooding concerns in the Oxford area.
“We purposely walk that way just to see them,” said Carrie Bartomeli, who walks the trail weekly with her husband and two dogs and enjoys the beavers.
She said she was devastated when she heard the DEEP issued out a permit to trap the beavers that have made the area their home.
“I think that they’ve just made such a beautiful environment, there’s so many birds, there are turtles, it’s just beautiful,” Bartomeli said.
In a statement Monday, the DEEP said in part, “ongoing flooding by beaver activity along the Larkin Bridle State Park Trail made a particular section of the trail impassable to hikers, bikers, equestrians and park and emergency vehicles, which created a potentially dangerous situation to the public.”
A DEEP spokesperson could not confirm what happened to the beavers.
Even though the areas washed away by the flooding have been filled in and trapping in the area has stopped for now, trail-hikers like Carrie and her husband Chris feel there has to be a solution moving forward that fixes the flooding problem and keeps the beavers safe.
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“If you wear sneakers you get your feet a little wet but it’s not like it’s inches deep you know it’s like the edge of your sneaker height,” explained Carrie, “a couple days goes by the rain stops, it stops.”
“Maybe run a couple pipes across the trail for drainage and leave the beavers right where they are,” said her husband, Chris.
