CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Another north suburban community has been thinking about going the non-lethal route to deal with beavers that cause flooding.
Midwest Beaver Management is being considered by South Barrington to take care of the village’s beaver issue in Poplar Creek. Midwest Beaver is already being hired to deal with a similar issue at Manitou Creek (formerly Squaw Creek), which empties into Long Lake in Lake County.
Co-owner Jeff Boland-Prom said his system saves taxpayers money, lessens the chances of flooding and allows the beavers to live in a location year-round.
“If you trap the beavers and kill them, that solves the problem for a year but, if you’ve got a good site the beavers are attracted to, there’s likely to be another family move in there the next year or two and then you have to repeat the cycle,” Boland-Prom told WBBM Newsradio.
Boland-Prom said his company puts 40-foot long, double-walled pipes through beaver dams which allow the dams to remain in place but allows river and creek water flow through so no flooding occurs.
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When it comes to costs, Boland-Prom said, “Our flow devices cost between $1,500 and $3,000, depending upon which type of flow device we’re installing but the cost to remove a beaver dam just one time can easily be $3,000.”
Then, there’s the cost of getting rid of the beavers.
Boland-Prom said downstate the cost is about $30 per head while in northern Illinois, the cost can be $200 per head.
Boland-Prom said he and his son, Edwin Prom, started the business about two years ago because of their love of nature. He said Midwest Beaver Management has done work in various nature preserves in Illinois and Indiana, including putting a flow device in the Reed-Turner Woodland in Long Grove last year.
The company has done proposals for the Lake and Will County Forest Preserves but has not yet received much interest from them, Boland-Prom said.
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