South Charlotte Residents Upset With How Beaver Colony Is Being Handled

CHARLOTTE, NC – A group of residents in the Thornhill neighborhood in South Charlotte say the home owners association trapped and killed a family of beavers without seeking humane solutions.

The pond through the neighborhood is a central point of the Thornhill community.

It’s where kids can play and people can walk. For the last several months; it’s also been home to a family of beavers.

“They do things for us. They clear the water. They reduce sediment,” said Angela Hynum.

Hynum is a Thornhill resident and wildlife advocate.

“I feel like we need to make a place for nature and for our wildlife here,” said Hynum.

But the beavers are also causing trouble. According to Hynum, the HOA sent an email explaining the situation. Saying the beavers had chewed up nearby trees, caused an increase of debris in the pond that threatened the rock damn. And impacted trees on other people’s properties.

It’s illegal to relocate beavers in North Carolina. They’re considered a nuisance. So Hynum says the board made the decision to trap and kill them.

“We weren’t allowed to discuss the other options. We weren’t informed of it until the day it happened,” said Hynum.

Hynum took a video of a trapped and killed beaver being hauled off. She says the traps being used aren’t effective and can be considered inhumane.

“There are non lethal ways of managing the damage without killing the beavers. In other words, there are options to cohabitate with them,” explained Hynum.

She says they can break up beaver dams and wrap trees in chicken wire.

She’d like to see a wildlife committee established to handle future situations.

“When situations like this come up that they have a group of volunteers who are willing to do the work to find a humane, no lethal result,” said Hynum.

WCCB reached out to the Thornhill HOA for a comment and did not receive a response by the time this story was published.