Beaver proves to be nuisance neighbour for Bathurst-area man
Hazen McCrea wants the province to deal with beaver dam blocking a culvert for fears of flooding
A homeowner in the Bathurst area is calling on the provincial government to help him deal with a nuisance neighbour — a beaver.
Hazen McCrea says a beaver dam is blocking a culvert between his South Tetagouche property and the highway.
But he says every time he calls the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, he gets the run around.
"We get excuses — 'Well, it's too cold, too warm. We're patching the roads.' But Mister beaver, again, is busy at the road and there's a lot of rain coming and now with global warming, we have tremendous rainstorms, the culvert is half blocked and we're quite concerned we're going to have another flood," McCrea said.
Five years ago, McCrea's basement ended up under 45 centimetres of water due to a beaver dam.
He had tried to get the provincial government to do something about the dam then too.
The water caused about $40,000 in damage and the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure picked up the tab, but McCrea says what he lost was priceless.
"We lost valuables that are not replaceable — antiques, as an example," he said.
Department officials told CBC News the beaver dam is not in the department's right-of-way and suggested contacting the Department of Natural Resources.
Due to power outages, no one was available for comment on Monday.