For anyone walking through the forested area at Juanita Beach Park, it’s difficult to miss the chewed-up trees and chicken wire wrapped around the big poplar trees near the edge of Juanita Creek.

The culprit? Beavers – and it’s nothing new for the city’s parks department.

“We’ve become accustomed to living with nature,” said Jason Filan, the manager of park maintenance and a 26-year veteran with the City of Kirkland. “There’s a certain level of acceptance when it comes to wildlife.”

Juanita Beach Park isn’t the only waterfront sanctuary home to beavers, who are regularly seen up and down the Kirkland beaches. The beavers who have been snacking in Juanita likely live in the marsh near the Forbes Creek fire station, Filan said, and tend to be an attraction when pedestrians catch a glimpse in the evenings.

The animals nibble on lily pads and other water plants and can be found as far up as Totem Lake, where a pair of boardwalks offer decent views of the beavers at work.

Though the evidence of beavers pops up throughout Filan’s work, the city rarely has to interfere beyond preventative measures. Chicken wire is the typical response, but that’s only to keep beavers from going after the bigger trees.

They tend to prefer smaller, softer wood, like red alder or willow — exactly the type of trees chewed up at Juanita Beach.

But the beavers aren’t always so timid.

“We had a favorite willow get zapped by beavers at Marsh Park,” Filan said. “And during the construction of Waverly [Beach Park], when it was still in a pot, beavers gnawed on a tree before it was even planted.”

In 2011, beavers dammed up Cochran Springs Creek, which feeds Yarrow Bay, causing flooding at a nearby office park. The dams were removed and the beavers relocated, according to city records, but that’s a highly unusual circumstance.

For the most part, the world’s second-largest rodent — the capybara is the largest — can often be viewed in the evenings, especially from the waterfront at Juanita Bay Park or by kayak or canoe in Yarrow Bay. The furry brown animals are skittish, so be sure to get a photo before they skip away.