Downtown beaver badgers bicyclist, bridge traffic

Wed March 26 2008
Posted Mar 26, 2008
5,102

BY TOM ALEX REGISTER STAFF WRITER Traffic was tied up on the Court Avenue Bridge in downtown Des Moines this morning for a wandering beaver. Bicyclist Adam Hammes of Des Moines kept the beaver from walking in front of a car as the animal crossed the bridge on the sidewalk. It looked for a way back to the water on the north side of the bridge but found a wall blocking its way. I was just heading to Grays Lake when I saw him," said Hammes. "I didn't want him to get into traffic." He discovered he could use his bicycle to direct the beaver for a few minutes. But the beaver grew tired of being told where to walk and eventually attacked the bicycle, biting its spokes. The beaver wandered over toward the Polk County Administration Building and then back to the wall that blocked its way to the Des Moines River. Hammes and some passersby tried to prevent it from crossing busy Court Avenue. It bit the spokes of the bicycle again and seemed determined to cross the street. Seeing the angry beaver at the side of the road, some drivers voluntarily pulled over. Then others motorists were stopped and the beaver was allowed to cross. Once on the south side of the street the animal had access to a walkway that led to the river. Police Officer Garth House and several passersby helped herd the beaver down the sidewalk to the river bank. It took one last look back at its tormentors and then tumbled over the edge into the water. At the end of May last year, a badger turned up just a block north on the west end of the Walnut Street Bridge in downtown Des Moines. He wandered around in traffic long enough to attract the attention of animal control officers, who captured him and carried him to the river's edge.