Beaver pipes are a non-destructive

flow device Flow devices or beaver deceivers are man-made solutions to North American beaver, beaver-related flooding problems. Traditional solutions have involved the trapping and removal of all the beavers in an area. While this is sometimes necessary, it ...

s, a way of controlling

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

activity in an ecosystem. The process of building beaver pipes is quite simple, and often serves as a permanent way to prevent beavers from damming water.

Enzo Creek Nature Sanctuary

Managers of the watershed of the

Enzo Creek Nature Sanctuary Enzo Creek Nature Sanctuary, named after the creek that divides the sanctuary North to South, is a privately managed wildlife sanctuary located in Mecosta County, Michigan, near the city of Big Rapids. The objective of the sanctuary is to enhance t ...

experienced the all too common problem with beavers: their tenacious desire to dam water. The water level at Enzo Creek Nature Sanctuary had been growing year after year, impacting the

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

in Hunt

Marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

, an

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

which serves as both a

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

nesting area and refuge. Managers physically removed the dams from Enzo Creek, the only outlet to the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

; however, beavers would quickly work to rebuild them. Lethal removal of beavers from the marsh was contrary to the mission of the sanctuary, so the non-lethal method of beaver pipes was approved and adopted.

Overview

The construction of these beaver pipes at

was a two-day project for one person and involved the following steps: # Slowly lower the water level behind the dam. # Insert pipes across the notch. # Allow beavers to complete the project.

References

{{reflist

External links

Beaver Damage Control and Management Information
* http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/psicc/leadville/Beaver-Document.pdf Beavers Rodents and humans Wildlife conservation