Down in the brush along some railroad tracks off Lynn Lane, not far from Southwire Company and Starkville Recycling, a dam backs water up into a dark, murky pool.
Animal tracks cover the nearby mud and a dark snake slithers into the weeds. Hearing footsteps approach, a small rodent dives into a pool of water and disappears under the surface.
The site, located on a city-owned right-of-way between the end of C.C. Clark Road and Lynn Lane, is infested with everything from beavers and muskrats to snakes and other rodents, like nutria, said Ward 3 Alderman Eric Parker.
The Starkville Board of Aldermen Tuesday took the first step toward ridding the property of problem rodents.
Aldermen approved an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture”s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to remove the rodents and destroy the beavers” dams, which cause the drainage ditches to overflow and flood nearby properties, like Southwire.
Parker said the city wants to remove the dams before they cause flooding along nearby roads, such as Lynn Lane and C.C. Clark Road.
“Water isn”t going up on the roads yet, but it is a possibility,” Parker said. “(USDA) tries to get in there before it gets to that point.”
Kris Godwin, State Director of the APHIS Wildlife Services division, said Wildlife Services will set traps to catch and remove the rodents from the property. Wildlife Services also will use explosives, if necessary, to destroy the beavers” dams, Godwin said.
In the agreement approved Tuesday by aldermen, Wildlife Services lists firearms as a component of the program. The firearms could be used for “night shooting,” Godwin said, though Wildlife Services would apply for the necessary approvals from the city before hunting the rodents.
The hunting and trapping will focus on beavers, muskrats and nutria, Godwin said. The goal is to eliminate all three of the rodents” populations from the site, she said. Captured rodents will be destroyed, she said.
“They”ll take all the beaver out and if they catch any nutria or muskrat, they”ll take them out, as well,” Godwin said. “If they leave any in, we”re just going to have the same problems we already have out there. That”s not what we”re about. We”re about trying to solve the problem.”
Godwin said she is unsure when Wildlife Service will begin trapping and removing rodents from the site.
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