Department of Marine Fisheries Relocates That Dam Beaver

On the eve of Earth Day, 2023, Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA) got up close and personal with one of the species we study here on the River. A young beaver, who has fascinated and delighted residents by making a home at the top of the decommissioned fish ladder at the Mills Dam, had to be relocated. Eviction proceedings began in late March and this past Friday the beaver – known around the IRWA office as ‘Beebs’ – was moved above the Ipswich Mills Dam by the Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries (DMF). 

Beebs was by no means trapped and could have easily exited the bottom of the fish ladder into the river, but it is an unusual location for a beaver to call home. Beaver parents typically expel their young out of their lodge after a couple years, and Beebs is likely a juvenile seeking a life-long mate and territory of their own. Beaver lodges are usually surrounded by water but can also be found along river banks; in this case, crumbling concrete walls, leaves, and accumulated trash in the dry fishway was serving as a non-traditional river bank shelter, hardly ideal for the health and safety of a beaver. The timing coincides with IRWA’s efforts to educate the public about dams and how they can prevent many species from migrating properly. Could Beebs have been confused by the fish ladder, or unwell? 

After monitoring the situation closely since Beebs was first spotted and, fielding concerned calls from the public, IRWA contacted Dave Wattles, Black Bear and Furbearer Biologist at the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW). Dave assessed the situation and recommended that Beebs be relocated above the dam. IRWA called in the Department of Marine Fisheries (DMF) to help. After serving Beebs with an eviction notice, the DMF team carefully lifted the 25 pound beaver (beavers typically weigh between 35 and 80 pounds according to DFW), and released them just above the dam on the riverbank; with gentle encouragement from the small crowd of fans that gathered to witness the rescue, Beebs entered the water and swam upriver. Above the dam there is an abundance of beaver-friendly food like trees, shrubs, and aquatic plants for Beebs to feast on and flourish. 

Ben Gahagan, a biologist with DMF noted that this was an excellent, if unorthodox, example of the limited benefits of fishways, “Fishways can and do serve a purpose. They can be successful at passing one or two target species upstream. But they do not provide passage downstream and exclude most aquatic species. Dam removal, on the other hand, allows for the safe movement of all aquatic species, including beavers, and has many additional ecological, societal, and aesthetic benefits.”

“Outdated, crumbling infrastructure is not a safe or natural home for a beaver. We are grateful that state wildlife agencies recognized the need to move this wild animal. Getting Beebs out of public view and above the dam to many more miles of appropriate habitat will give them the ability to find a more suitable home,“ says IRWA Engagement Manager Carla Villa. 

For more information on beavers, please see DFW’s publication Beavers in Massachusetts. Learn more about the dam and how it impacts river wildlife at the IRWA downtown pop-up office at 24 Central Street, now through May 9th. 

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