CULPRITS CAUGHT

That tree-gnawing beaver that has been wreaking havoc in Riverside Park and residences along the Yellow Medicine River in Minneota actually had a partner in crime.
City of Minneota workers Trent Hennen and Troy Opdahl trapped two 35-pound beavers last week in separate locations in the river.
The workers also located a dam that had been built on the west edge of town, as well as a lodge.
The beavers were trapped and killed as the Yellow Medicine Watershed District has a bounty on them.
According to the Yellow Medicine River Watershed district website, the beaver bounty is a program that rewards landowners who kill or remove beavers from their property. The program was established in 1971 and has been renewed several times since then. The current beaver bounty is $50 per beaver, dead or alive. The program aims to reduce the damage caused by beavers to public and private drainage systems, as well as to protect the water quality and quantity of the Yellow medicine River watershed.
Three large trees in Riverside Park had significant damage and will have to be taken down and replaced. At least two other trees in the park had some damage and city workers placed wire cylinders around them to keep the beavers from doing further damage.
Several residents along the river reported tree damage from the beavers.
Hennen had a trapping license and, with the help of Opdahl, was able to catch one beaver last Saturday, Nov. 25 behind the home of Tom and Elana Nomeland, and another on the west end of town near the bridge.