Beavers to be 'relocated' after gnawing trees at Summerside park

Summerside officials have been dealing with complaints over the last few weeks about "significant damage" caused by beavers in Heather Moyse Park.

Coun. Cory Snow, chair of the city's community services committee, says beavers have been gnawing on a variety of trees planted throughout the park.

"Beavers need to chew off trees, is my understanding, to keep their teeth from growing so large, so they're just doing what they naturally would do. Unfortunately, it's causing some significant damage for us," Snow told CBC News.

"So we need to do what we can do safely for the beavers and our park and address the issue."

He said he didn't have an exact figure for the number of trees affected.

The city has asked the province for a permit "to safely remove and relocate" the beavers from the park near Three Oaks High School, said Snow.

We tend to have wildlife in all our parks, which is great. Summerside Coun.Cory Snow

The park area is a marshland, so the beavers are in the area naturally, "doing what beavers do,"he added."We tend to have wildlife in all our parks, which is great."

The recreational area is named in honour of Heather Moyse, a native of Summerside who won Olympic gold in the women's bobsleigh event at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Games along with partner Kaillie Humphries.

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