Glenview residents rally to save beavers living in local pond

Efforts to remove two beavers living in a Glenview retention pond have led to a wave of concern over their welfare.

Now, members of a Facebook group are working with the Concord at the Glen Homeowners Association to find a solution agreeable to all parties, including the animals.

Controversy erupted during the last several days after it was learned that the beavers might be captured with the use of underwater traps that would drown the animals. The beavers, who live in a den at the edge of the privately owned pond, have chewed through the bases of 20 trees.

The Facebook group, originally called “Glenview Residents Against Drowning Beavers in Underwater Traps!” was created last Thursday, and in less than a week over 700 members joined. It has since been renamed “Glenview Beaver Fan Club.”

A protest against the plan to trap the beavers was held Sunday near the pond.

In a letter from Cagan Management Group dated Saturday, Concord at the Glen homeowners were told that the homeowners association and Cagan had not made any decision regarding trapping and disposition of the animals. “Any previously stated plan has been reevaluated,” the letter stated.

In the letter, a cost of $25,000 was given for removal and replacement the damaged trees, and for the protection of trees with the installation of a wrap.

Concerned about the plight of the animals, Rachel Siegel of Glenview became an administrator of the Facebook group and spoke at the protest. While she does not live at Concord at the Glen, she became involved with residents who do live there, and together they formed the Facebook group.

Siegel said the group is communicating with the homeowners association and has offered to help replace the damage trees at little or no cost to the association with the help of contacts in the landscaping industry, but with the hope that the beavers remain on the property. The group's intention is that existing and newly-planted trees will be covered with a type of paint that includes sand, and wire meshing at a height of four feet to deter the beavers from damaging trees.

“We would like, first and foremost, that the beavers remain where they are,” Siegel said, “but if the homeowners association is committed to relocating them, we're hoping that they are relocated to an area that is properly vetted so our Glenview beavers are safe in their new home.”