NATCHEZ &8212; Cute, furry woodland creatures can be very destructive.

That is why the Adams County Board of Supervisors voted Monday to provide $4,000 to match state funds for a beaver control program.

The program, funded by the state, counties, the United States Department of Agriculture and Mississippi State University, removes dams and traps and relocates or destroys beavers.

Supervisor Sammy Cauthen is familiar with the damage beavers can do and how the beaver control program prevents it.

&8220;It&8217;s a tremendous help,&8221; Cauthen said Thursday. &8220;People don&8217;t know how destructive they are. They build dams in streams. That can block all the water off and flood the road.&8221;

Cauthen said beavers were a problem all over the county, but especially near rivers and creeks. They can damage timber and flood property. A beaver dam can be removed by hand, backhoe or dynamite, but the beavers build fast, he said.

&8220;They&8217;re terrible,&8221; he said. &8220;You can go out there with dynamite and blow up a dam at night, and they&8217;ll have it built again the next morning. They&8217;re pretty good engineers.&8221;

If people have problems with beavers, the program sends out professional trappers to catch the beavers.

The program used to be statewide, Cauthen said, but Adams County is now one of only 47 counties in the program.

The Mississippi legislature has cut its funding for the program over the last few years, said Senator Lynn Posey, D-Union Church, chairman of the wildlife fisheries and parks commission.

&8220;It&8217;s a good program,&8221; Posey said Thursday. &8220;In the long run, it saves a substantial amount of money.

&8220;Over the last few years, we haven&8217;t been able to commit as much money as we&8217;d like to. Hopefully this coming session we&8217;ll be able to allocate more funds.&8221;