When the beaver gnaws every day

Created: 06/07/2022, 18:00

By: Sabine Fleischer

If the beaver gnaws on private property, it can become a problem.

© Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/Archive

Landsberg – Animal lumberjacks have been around the Hungerbach for a long time and like to snack in the neighbor’s garden.

What sounds harmless is annoying for many a property owner.

Despite various protective measures, trees along the stream and river in the city and district of Landsberg fall victim to beavers time and time again.

It is not uncommon for the victims to lose out financially.

The beaver is strictly protected by the Nature Conservation Act - and that has its justification.

This allowed the rodent, which had been exterminated in Bavaria, to be successfully reintroduced, in some places with a less pleasant side: damage to trees caused by feeding, flooding from beaver lodges, dams and meadows undermined.

What can be desirable in the wild causes considerable problems for farmers in the district, but also for garden owners such as those at Hungerbach in Landsberg.

And that can also weigh heavily on the wallet.

That is why the Free State has designated a fund as part of its beaver management, in which 550,000 euros are available.

Damage can be compensated for by up to 70 percent.

However, while only beaver damage in agriculture, pond management and forestry is taken into account, private individuals do not receive any financial aid from this pot.

In Landsberg, for example, the beaver is busy at work in the Hungerbach near the sports center.

And has long since become a problem.

That is why the district office there issued the year-round shooting license and has since extended it to 2024.

The municipal forestry office also takes the issue of beavers very seriously and is doing "full throttle" to avoid damage, assures forestry office manager Michael Siller.

One of his employees is at the Hungerbach almost every day to clear the beaver dams.

In addition, gnawed trees have to be felled - if only for reasons of traffic safety.

Despite intensive trap hunting, the beaver population in the city is hardly reduced, as animals keep coming from the Lech.

The affected property owners will therefore continue to have to reckon with possible rodent damage.

After all: Preventive help is available from the beaver management in the district office.

According to beaver expert Stephan Wenning, the Lower Nature Conservation Authority receives around 50 consulting orders from the district every year - including from private individuals.

Those affected could request a beaver protection paint for endangered trees free of charge, and electric fences would also be used, informed authority spokeswoman Anna Diem.

She emphasizes that damage to private property will not be reimbursed.

Role model for Landsberg?

The district of Erding shows, among other things, that this can also be handled differently.

There, on the initiative of District Administrator Martin Bayerstorfer, the procedure for settling damages was changed: After checking, the district not only takes over the complete beaver damage in agriculture, pond management and forestry and thus pays up to 30 percent out of its own pocket.

He has even expanded the group of beneficiaries: The district is now also paying for beaver damage on private property.

After all, a financial program of 15,000 euros was set up in Erding, based on the damage reports from previous years.

This pragmatic handling of beaver damage should have a positive effect on the public image of the beaver and increase its acceptance.

The beaver is part of nature - with disadvantages, but also with many advantages.

For example, the rodent helps “for free” in the renaturation of wetlands and creates unique ecosystems – according to the Lower Nature Conservation Authority, municipalities and the state would have to spend a lot of money for this.