Alberta's New 'Beaver Bounty' Is Basically Hiring Beaver Hitmen For $20 A Tail

An Alberta county is offering a rather strange new incentive to its landowners. On July 14, Sturgeon County approved a new policy in which property owners can receive $20 from the government in exchange for a beaver's tail. The policy is supposed to control the Alberta beaver population in heavily flooded areas in Sturgeon County. 

According to CBC News, residents in Sturgeon County can't just be hunting beavers on a whim.

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They also have to sign an affidavit that confirms that they discovered the beaver within their own property, not on public land. 

So you might be wondering what beavers have to do with flooding. 

According to Sturgeon County, "beavers in the County have been busy building dams and blocking culverts." 

These busy beavers have led to extensive flooding on roads and damaged agricultural land and private property.

That's why the county wants to offer a little incentive to its landowners that go above and beyond to take care of the beavers on site. 

"Beavers are an important part of Sturgeon County’s ecological system that bring many benefits to our landscape, but in situations where beavers dam water and cause overland flooding it can cause substantial damage to County infrastructure and private property, and mitigation methods are sometimes necessary," said Mayor Alanna Hnatiw. 

The program will begin in August, mentioned CBC News. 

Bill Abercrombie of Animal Damage Control told CBC News that more than 100,000 beavers can be found within 60 kilometres of the city of Edmonton. 

He said that due to the low prices of beaver fur on the market, there isn't much incentive for hunters to focus on them. 

Therefore, such a policy would drive farmers and other property owners to take care of the beaver situation on their own rather than be depending on external animal control agents. 

Mayor Hnatiw said in the press release that they're following in the footsteps of many other Albertan towns who've offered similar incentives to manage the infestation of beavers in waterlogged areas. 

The policy falls in line with the county's Pest Control program, which also seeks to provide assistance to the farmers and landowners. 

In addition to the $20, the hunters can also trade the beaver fur and carcass for more money.