Busy beavers caught on camera fixing dams in Durham's Sandy Creek Park

ByBranson Kimball WTVD logo
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Busy beavers caught on camera fixing dams in Sandy Creek Park
Several busy beavers at Sandy Creek Park in Durham are trying to build their best dams, but their work is being gently sabotaged to prevent damage to the park.

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Several busy beavers at Sandy Creek Park in Durham are trying to build their best dams, but their work is being gently sabotaged to prevent damage to the park.

John Goebel, the president of the Durham Parks Foundation and a volunteer with The Friends of Sandy Creek Park, put up motion-triggered cameras to record the back and forth.

The main point of contention is that the beavers' dams recently contributed to flooding problems in the park.

Goebel said the park needs some form of pond levelers that will help keep the water level lower than its paved greenway. Those levelers cost between $1,000-8,000.

If you're interested in helping the park fund those levelers, use the Facebook post below or contact Durham Parks Foundation.

No matter the outcome, Goebel insists no beaver will be harmed.

"We have three beaver lodges on two of the ponds at Sandy Creek Park, and we are working on a plan to coexist with them and still protect the park's trails," Goebel said.

Durham's Sandy Creek Park is special to ABC11. Our friend and colleague Larry Stogner was a fixture at the park. While he was fighting his battle with ALS, the park started building a paved greenway to be named in his honor.