REVENGE MOTIVE LIKELY IN BEAVER'S SHOOTING DEATH

Here is a shooting that is very Canadian. A beaver was shot in Red Deer Alberta Canada for reasons other than the fur trade. It turns out the giant rodent made some powerful enemies when it killed a dog and wounded a few other canines.

The incidents took place within the city limits in an off-leash park area where dogs are allowed to run wild and free in the urban wilderness. The area had a close family of beavers where a female beaver took on any and all dogs that got near her offspring.

The mama beaver was undefeated in dog matches, and the entire incident provoked a debate about the beavers' rights versus the dogs' rights in a turf war.

The wildlife officials were approached by landowners who were willing to accept the beavers onto their private land. However, many people felt that the beavers were well within their natural rights to stay put in the city park. Others simply viewed the creatures as rats with a good swimming stroke and an insatiable appetite for tree destruction.

This week the problem was magnified when an adult beaver (quite likely the dog ass-kicker) was shot by an unknown sniper. The matter has been turned over to the RCMP and wildlife officials because discharge of any firearm inside the city limits of a Canadian municipality is a serious criminal offense. Capping wildlife within city limits only adds to the charges that will be laid if they arrest Elmer Fudd.

Red Deer Alberta is not a great place to shoot beavers. A famous pet beaver named Mickey has a statue erected in his honor because he brought fame to this small western Canadian city in the late 30s and well into the 40s. Mickey the beaver was even a minor Hollywood celebrity during his life in Red Deer, and he received an avalanche of fan mail from all over the world. So people in Red Deer are quite fond of beavers.

The recent shooting death of the park beaver has garnered nation-wide attention in Canada. The issue has pushed its way to the front page of many of the nation's major dailies, even though another young Canadian soldier was killed in Afghanistan this week.

Canada was initially built by the fur trade, so the death of a beaver used to be part of the bottom line for trading companies like the Hudson's Bay Company in the 18th century. These days Canadians like to feel a connection to the natural world, so the beaver's death has people north of the 49th up in arms-so to speak.

The death of the beaver may mean that the dozen or so surviving beavers may not have to move from the park. There have been no further beaver attacks on dogs, so the City of Red Deer Parks department has put the moving plans on hold.

Perhaps the surviving beavers are smart enough to know that you don't bring a set of sharp teeth to a gunfight.

COMMENTS:

DENNIS:"With any luck, the "Tree Huggers" and the "Beaver Huggers" will have a fight to the death and Canada can solve a couple of "problems" at once."

BUTCH:"Mickey was 80 pounds, he would have kicked that idiots ass."