KINGSTOWNE, Va. (DC News Now) — A petition drive is underway to save an animal that resides at Kingstowne Lake.
“Wally is, we think, a wonderful addition,” said Peter MacDowell as he talked about “Wally the Beaver.”
However, the Kingstowne Residential Owners Corporation (KROC), which owns the lake, feels differently. It’s set up an underwater trap to catch Wally to get rid of him once and for all.
“People can coexist with beavers, beavers can coexist with us,” MacDowell said.
He is part of the Friends of Kingstowne Lake, which organized the petition to save the animal.
“He’ll be swimming by the pool tug on the branch,” MacDowell said. “And, if he gets nervous, he’ll flap his is big tail with a big flap with his warning sign.”
Wally is typically seen around dawn and dusk.
“Wally is a creature just like us,” said Andrew Berman, another member of the group trying to save the animal. “And he just came here to make a home around September.”
KROC said in an email that an inspection on Tuesday found 60 trees were either chewed down or chewed on by a beaver.
“While we respect and appreciate local wildlife, this activity poses risks to our stormwater infrastructure and the surrounding landscape,” KROC said in its statement.
“Killing Wally just because he chews juice and saplings down does not seem to me – does not seem to us – to be, equitable,” MacDowell said.
Supporters of the beaver want the trees protected instead of having Wally killed and having him moved elsewhere once he’s caught. Unfortunately, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources does not allow that.
