Beaver officer on the job        by Linda Hicks     03/15/2002

   By night, Gene "Beaver" Harrison arms himself with night goggles, a rifle with a night vision scope, blasting materials and takes to the waterways. He said he has access to one of the largest hunting grounds in the state-more than 200,000 acres of land in White County.
   Serving as the county beaver control officer, Harrison has been attempting to control the beaver population in the county for about seven years. By day, he is as a full- time employee of the county Road Department.
   "I have worked inside the city limits of just about every town around here," he said. As well, he said, he has been invited to enter private property by the owners. "Farmers see me on their land and they wave at me. They know why I'm there. I work for the farmers."
   Authorized by White County Judge Bob Parish and other county officials to kill beaver, his pay amounts to little more than a $10 bounty on each tail.
   "It's basically a hobby for me," Harrison said. A hobby, Parish said, that provides a valuable service to many. Farmers have lost a lot of land, crops have been destroyed and roadways have been damaged, Parish said, due to beavers.
   "We would be in a world of hurt without Beaver-Gene," Parish added.
   Harrison works year-round to keep the beaver from damming streams ultimately causing the flooding of city and county roads. Therefore, he has done his homework and has also equipped him-elf with knowledge.
   "The only predator that a beaver has is a human," Harrison said, adding that he has seen beavers weighing more than 100 pounds in the county. "An animal with teeth that can cut a tree down in a matter of minutes can take any animal down." ...
   The pests, he said, also leave clues to their presence. For instance, little piles of mud and leaves, referred to as scent mounds, are how the animals mark their territory. He watches for all the obvious signs and studies his prey as well as making the kill.
   In the earlier years of his career, he joked about his unfortunate encounter with local law enforcement as a result of a citizen's call. Not realizing it was in the city limits of Searcy, he dynamited a beaver dam without notifying the police, he said, resulting in five police cars converging on the scene. Officers responded with drawn pistols and he was surrounded and handcuffed, he said, before he could say a word. However, the incident was straightened out and he was allowed to go on his way. Prior to taking any action now, he said, he notifies authorities.
   He estimates that he "takes out" about 200 beaver per year--just a "drop in the bucket," he said. White County, he said, is a haven for beaver with its ample food supply and fairly mild weather. Gene Harrison, White County's Beaver control officer, is on the job.
   "The rivers are full of them," he offered. During the spring of the year, he said, is when grown beavers begin to run away their young.
   "They go out looking for them a home and they try to find somewhere new," he said. " A grown beaver will have about five offspring a year."
   As far as he knows, he is the only full-time beaver control offi- cer in the state. However, he anticipates that may change with the growing numbers.