One Point for Trees: Beaver Sent Packing

Politicians wish they got this kind of attention.

A pair of pesky beavers ravaging Washington’s beloved cherry trees--and the government’s inability to solve the problem--is the talk of the nation’s capital.

Nevermind that North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders are coming to town. “Where can I see the beaver? That has been the No. 1 asked question the last couple of days,” National Park Service Ranger Erin Broadbent said Friday.

The Washington Post ran a Page One story suggesting that two beavers, rather than the one suspected, appeared responsible for the damage. The paper also offered a Top 10 list of ways to catch a beaver, including: “Send Al Gore out to the Tidal Basin in a pink sombrero, with instructions to ‘stand very still.’ ”

A more practical method had some success: A professional trapping service bagged one of the beavers late Friday, park officials said. The animal is to be released in the wild.

A local radio station is sponsoring a “Name the Beavers” contest.

Wilbur and Fanne was one suggestion--a reference to former House Ways and Means Chairman Wilbur D. Mills (D-Ark.), whose companion, former stripper Fanne Foxe, was the last celebrity to jump into the Tidal Basin--around which more than 1,600 cherry trees grow.

George was another suggestion (as in George Washington, who, legend has it, was no friend of cherry trees) and Theodore (as in Beaver Cleaver).

Park rangers named one of the critters Rocky (they don’t care if that’s the name of a squirrel) but have yet to name the second.

Federal government workers joined hordes of tourists at the Tidal Basin Friday in hopes of catching a glimpse of the tree chompers, or at least seeing teeth marks on trees.

“We thought we saw a beaver, but it was a stick,” said a Virginia woman who, in the true spirit of Washington, would speak only on condition that she not be named.

“We’re from Florida. It was all over the news there,” said Mark Mayer of St. Petersburg as he stood near a gnawed stump.

The Park Service, however, is serious about its man-, er, beaver hunt. The agency hired the trapper to set “humane” traps.

“There are a lot of nice places I think they would be happier,” said Julia Long, a biological sciences technician for the Park Service.

Added Long, sounding as if this is a national security matter: “I don’t disclose anything about the number of traps or their locations. It’s detrimental if we have people looking for them.”

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has weighed in on the matter, urging the Park Service to use “only humane methods.”

Meanwhile, some tree trunks have been wrapped in rubber tubing to protect them from surprise beaver attacks.

The story has upstaged the Cherry Blossom Festival, the time of year when the city celebrates the blossoming of cherry trees at the Tidal Basin. The original trees were a gift from Japan in 1912. The basin is an inlet from the Potomac River where the Jefferson Memorial is located.

The beavers--indifferent to signs saying: “Please do not pick the cherry blossoms”--as of Friday had destroyed four cherry trees and damaged four others. Five cedar trees also have been damaged. So far, none of the 150 trees remaining from the original gift have been damaged.

“I have seen the beaver up close,” Long said. Noting that the animals can stay under water for 15 minutes, she said: “It’s not easy to catch a beaver.”

Before Friday night’s trapping, no new teeth marks had been sighted Friday morning, giving park officials hope that the critters have moved on.