BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 13, 2021
Nobody really wants a family of beavers to take up residence in their backyard. The responses I’ve received since sharing my tale of woe a week ago have largely fallen into the vein of “trap ’em,” “whack ’em” or “hire someone to trap ’em and whack ’em.” A couple of others reached out to tell me that they had other ideas. The basic flavor of those responses: When life gives you beavers, make — well — arts and crafts, I suppose. One reader suggested “cutting the gnawed section of the tree off with a little of the trunk attached. Then split it vertically. Sand the pieces of wood and use poly or oil to finish. You will now have very unique bookends.” That sounded great. The problem: I’m one of about six (as of last count) adult Mainers who have not yet learned how to use a chainsaw, and I’m pretty sure that if I tried to create something like beaver-wood bookends, I’d succeed in cutting off one of my legs in the process.