Beaver comeback continues in Windsor-Essex on Turkey Creek

Nearly a century after they all but disappeared, beavers continue to make a comeback in Windsor-Essex County.

The latest sighting has come in LaSalle, along Turkey Creek.

Ron Harway found the beaver in his backyard.

Earlier this year, Harway noticed the bark from a tree 60 centimetres in diameter in his backyard had been torn off.

Now, wood chips lie in a pile on the ground.

At first, he thought it was a deer or muskrat chewing on a big tree by the creek.

"I had a closer look and I looked at it, and I said, 'Well, maybe some kids were out here, playing around,' and so I gave up on that," Harway said. "Then, a couple of days later, I noticed that the bark was completely gone, and there was little chew marks on it.

"I've been keeping an eye on it there, and each day, I'm getting more and more [wood] chips. I got a feeling that within the next two or three months, we're going to see this thing come down."

Harway is still trying to get direction from the Essex Regional Conservation Authority on how to deal with the tree and the beaver.

According to the Ojibway Nature Centres website, two beavers were present along the Grand Maris drain near Howard Avenue in 2007 and 2008.

Although the animals are not in the Ojibway area, beavers could be present here along the drain or Turkey Creek, the site says.

The most recent sightings in the area include a pair caught on surveillance tape in 2009 at DTE Energys Conners Creek Power Plant in Michigan.

In 2012, Point Pelee National Park recorded its first mating pair of beavers in nearly 100 years.

Biologist Dan Lebedyk with the Essex Region Conservation Authority says more beavers may not be a good thing in Essex County.

Fifty years ago, the region had some of the lowest amount of tree cover in Southern Ontario. It's been a long, slow recovery.

"So our resources are getting better but it's not good to have an animal like this because we don't have the actual resources to sustain a [beaver] population yet," he said.

Beavers can cut down up to 200 trees per year.

Lebedyk is also concerned about the local watershed.

"Because all of our water courses are basically drainage systems for our agricultural industry, we don't want to see dams created on our water courses. it would create flooding and damage property," he said.