Relocation: A One Time Only Good Deal

The day of our tree planting, June 7^th, was such an awesome day for me personally that I dismissed the one cloud that threatened to rain on my parade. That cloud came in the form of a man intercepting me as I walked to my car and attempted to diminish what we all had just accomplished by referring to our efforts as ‘encouraging a problem’.

There’s a quote from John Muir that I find fits: “Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation?” Those of us at Worth A Dam couldn’t agree more, which is why we fight and will continue to inform the populace of what is going on behind the scenes.

The City of Martinez and the special interests that are pushing for relocation of our beaver colony aren’t and haven’t been upfront from the beginning. I know this isn’t a revelation to most. However, the volume of misinformation doled out to the citizenry astounds me.

Take this Pollyanna idea of relocation. I hear wistful would be do gooders at the bridge tell me how wonderful it would be to relocate the beavers to some clean, clear mountain stream. I even recall one subcommittee member using that same argument as he admonished those of us who claimed to want what was best for the beavers. What that individual and our city leaders have all failed to mention, which was confirmed by John Krause wildlife biologist for the Department of Fish and Game, is that relocation is a one time only good offer: “It is not the policy of the Department of Fish and Game to relocate problem wildlife”. In other words, when more beavers move in the only course of action provided for by the Department of Fish and Game will be to kill them.

So for all those who want to be viewed as humane because your only desire is to see the beavers relocated not killed, you are merely postponing an action you didn’t want to be associated with. Rest assured there are more beavers in the immediate vicinity that very well could move in once the area is abandoned. The creek has already proven to be habitable to beavers and the scent mounds that dot the mouth of the creek will no doubt act as a beacon.

The discoveries of two beaver carcasses close to the waterfront made by individual Martinez residents over the past three months prove my assertion. None of us wanted to believe these might have been our beavers so we kept a close watch on the count of our colony and once we had video or film confirming that count, we knew these creatures were unfortunate sojourners just passing through.

Not only is relocation no guarantee of a beautiful life for our blue collar beavers, but it will not absolve the folks who say they only want what’s best because now we all know this supposed easy way out wont be available next time around.

Linda Meza

Last night’s trip to the dam was worthy of a David Attenborough documentary. There were three kits in prominent display, swimming, feeding, climbing, exploring. An older sibling whom everyone wanted to ride, and Mom hard at work on the dam with a tiny kit following her every mud-lifting move. His dialogue bubble could only have said “Whacha doin’?” as he followed her to the bank, down to get mud, and back to the secondary dam over and over again.

There were two unbelieveable moments. The first when our kit three caballeros climbed onto the bank and headed through the grasses towards the burned area next to the footbridge. Apparently there was a willow stump there that needed trimming. They stood on their back legs and reached up to strip the shoots. It was a lovely thing to see (and hear) at such close range.

The second breath-stealer came when mom and the kit who had followed her onto the dam climbed out to the same area, side by side. Their huge size difference had never been more visible. You could see her tail quite clearly and be sure it was mom, although there was absolutely no question when she headed straight for the fennel. The little one wasn’t sure how it all worked and still kept trying to climb on mom’s tail. Despite his interference, Mom got her fennel favorite, and a huge chunk of willow and carried them back to the water with little one scrambling behind.

Then she headed straight upstream, drawing the attention of all the kits who tried to follow and beg a ride or a bite. There was a 2nd of July beaver parade as she headed straight over the primary dam, with her trailing bounty, some greedy kits, and back into the lodge. (There are those of us who have theories about why she would head back into the lodge with food instead of just eating it herself, but we will keep them to ourselves for now.)

Visitors last night gathered around to watch, especially on their way to MuirFest 2008. (Last performance tonight! Don’t miss it!) The beaver ballet made for a nice opening act. One family of visitors were from Germany, staying with relatives, and had asked to see the “Bibers”. They had an opportunity for some fantastic pictures, and hopefully they’ll show up on the website soon. The European Beaver had to be reintroduced in Germany, but there are still only a handful. One of our strongest supporters reads the web page from Germany, and he made a pilgramage to America to meet Hope Ryden (author of the famous Lily Pond) and work a summer relocating beavers with Sherri Tippie. Through him we found out about the 2005 European Beaver Conference and this list of Beaver experts from around the world: its a fairly impressive who’s who.

All in an evening. The beaver chamber of commerce and conservation worked its magic and we got to watch. What could be better than that?