Trappers nabbed this young beaver near the Tidal Basin on Sunday morning, using willow branches as bait. (James M. Thresher — The Washington Post)

By Martin Weil and Linda Wheeler
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 13, 1999; Page B1

A third -- and possibly the last -- of Washington's cherry tree-chomping beavers was trapped late last night near the Tidal Basin, scene of the critters' alleged crimes against the nation's horticultural heritage.

"We have the male," said Michele Adcock Gann, reporting the capture of the largest of three toothy rodents taken into custody in the last four days. Gann is office manager for Adcock's Trapping Service, hired by the National Park Service to cap a timber toll that has climbed to 10: four cherry trees and six others.

"This is the daddy," Gann said, calling last night's catch "a huge male." She said that, like those that preceded him into the a wire mesh trap, the beaver seized about 11:25 p.m. would be turned over to the National Park Service.

The ages and sex of the other two -- one adult female and one youngster -- suggest that the three make up a nuclear beaver family. The presumed mother and child already have been taken to a new home at another patch of federal water in the District, according to Gentry Davis, deputy regional director for the regional office of the National Park Service.

"We would never destroy the beavers; the Park Service just won't do that," he said.

Whether the episode is over was not clear; Park Service officials have said they cannot be sure if more beavers remain.