The Watchdog: Mowing crews give beavers something to gnaw on at Fort Worth park

Leave it to beavers to wreak havoc on a group of trees at a city park in southwest Fort Worth.

But what do you expect from natural born tree-harvesters? In their eyes, a tree is a tasty tree, whether it’s standing in the pristine forests of Canada or dotting the shorelines of the Trinity River, which forges its way through the urban jungle of Fort Worth.

So learned Omar Pedroza, 78, and his wife, Rosa, 74, who take daily walks in Krauss-Baker Park off Park Lake Drive. About four months ago, the retired couple, who have lived in the adjacent neighborhood for more than 30 years, said they noticed at least five 15- to 20-foot trees bearing telltale teeth marks on their lower trunks. One tree was down, gnawed through, Omar said through his daughter Gloria Pedroza, who translated from Spanish to English.

But the Pedrozas are adamant: They want no harm to come to the culprits, a beaver colony with five adults and six young kits. Instead, they want the city to repair or replace the cylindrical wire fences that protect the trees from the park’s toothy residents.

The thick wire fencing that encircles the trunks makes it tough for beavers to chomp. But in recent months, city workers mowing the park have unknowingly nicked the bottom of some of the fences, giving the beavers enough room.

"My dad said they need to be more careful when they mow around the trees," Gloria Pedroza, a teacher at Rosemont Middle School in Fort Worth, told The Watchdog.

After calling the city repeatedly — and once being told by an employee that the city didn’t have the money to make the repairs — the Pedrozas contacted The Watchdog for help.

"The neighbors and my father have called the city’s park department, and they have been unable to communicate with anyone," Gloria Pedroza wrote in a Nov. 15 e-mail. "When my father’s call was finally answered, the city employee said the city did not have money to solve this problem.

"It will be very sad to see these trees destroyed."

When The Watchdog contacted the Parks and Community Services Department last week, a crew immediately went to the park to investigate the problem. Another crew, including the city forester, was sent the next day to check the trees’ health.

Sandra Youngblood, assistant director of the department, confirmed that the trees — elms and willows — had been gnawed by the beavers. Overall, she said, the damage is minimal, and the trees should survive. Some of the damage may have been caused this spring, Youngblood added.

It does appear that some of the wire fencing, made of a material used to contain horses, was damaged during mowing. The lawn care contractors for the city’s parks will be notified of the problem, and workers will be on the lookout to prevent future damage to the fences, Youngblood said.

It also looks as if the beavers have done their fair share of damage. Using their clawed hands to push and pull on the wire, they’ve caused parts of the fencing to lean toward the trees, bringing the bark within reach of chomping.

But not to worry. The fencing will be repaired and expanded around the trees within the first two weeks of December, Youngblood said. Fences are supposed to be at least six inches away to protect trees from beavers.

The beavers have plenty of other smaller trees and brush along the shoreline to use for food, Youngblood said.

With that problem resolved, The Watchdog’s next question was this: Why couldn’t the Pedrozas initially get help from the city? Youngblood was flummoxed by that, too. She said she was "extremely surprised" to hear about their complaint.

The only officially logged complaint about tree damage caused by beavers at Krauss-Baker Park was in March. At that time, a crew member was sent to the park, and the matter was addressed, Youngblood said.

After hearing about the Pedrozas’ concern, she called the city forester’s office to find out whether someone there had talked to any residents about the issue. No record existed there, either.

"None of us had any knowledge of this," she said. "I apologize that the citizens got erroneous information."

"We’re kind of at a loss" on whom the Pedrozas spoke with at the city and why that person would say the city couldn’t fix the problem, because "in this type of situation, we’re going to take steps to protect the trees," Youngblood said.

She said she was glad that the Pedrozas alerted the city to the problem and that last week a representative of the office met with Omar Pedroza at the park to see the damaged trees. Although all city parks get quarterly inspections, it helps when residents contact her office with issues they see. "Citizens like him, they’re there on a day-to-day basis," she said. "That’s where residents can help by letting us know about things they see. Then we can address it."

But not all residents using the park will be content with the outcome of this. Something tells The Watchdog that the beavers at Krauss-Baker Park will not be pleased at all.