Beavers Make Friends

heidi08 City Reports May 26, 2009

One of the nicer surprises of our watchdog endeavors has been the cordial interest and respect shown by the the Cooper Crane workers on site. While they are clearly befuddled by our presence (one asked if we were paid for by the city. Ha!) they are nevertheless interested in the famous furry residents and ask about them every day. From ditch digger to crane driver they have been cautious about causing harm and nice to the crazy beaver watchers. There has been a general greeting and information swapping between us, and it reminded me of the friendly Sam and Ralph sheepdog cartoon. Forgive the quality, as I needed to edit this on Kaltura to get it working. Still, as we wind down in the final days of pile driving, I thought a retrospective was in order.

Video documenting Mom’s injuries observed last week is available here. If you are able to see or photograph her this week it would be helpful.

Friday Feats

heidi08 Beaver News, City Reports October 25, 2008

Today the long awaited turn east was successfully added to the piling wall. Supporters watched anxiously as the line of sheet pile headed closer to the dam. Then after lunch a piece was placed perpendicular to the line and followed by a second. After all the hard work of digging out rocks they pierced the soil easily, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Things grew somber when one of our friendliest workers was injured today after he cut his finger on an old sharp fence post in the dug out area. He went to the hospital for treatment and hopefully will be getting the mother of all tetnus shots and not too many stitches. The rest of the day passed without incident, although rumor has it that the election building is rattling too hard to safely house our new expensive voter equipment, and there were several truck trips today to haul it away.

If the remaining sheets go in like the first one in this last section, they could be done driving on Monday or Tuesday. There are still miles of gravel and concrete to pour behind the area, but the most impactful work will be completed. The need to extend out from the wall resulted in a 15×15 box at the end of Bertola’s property. I wonder what that space will be used for? It’s hot tub shaped. Since the taxpayers bought it I’m thinkin’ maybe public bath?

Funnest news of the day. Guess what’s atop that old mangled lodge that they drove steel through and shoveled out? New mud. The beavers have started repairs already.

Mother Beaver Injured During Work

heidi08 Beaver News, City Reports October 23, 2008

Tonight we were able to catch photos of mom beaver’s eye injury. Remember that Tuesday night her eye was puffy and swollen so that the eye itself was barely visible. Now she appears to have the furry equivalent of a black eye. We are encouraged that this has grown less swollen since tuesday, but still concerned. I have sent pictures to beaver experts and the Lindsay Museum for advice, and hopefully the healing will continue.

Todays news came in the form of a decision from Hess that they can’t turn at the edge of Bertola’s to follow the wall as planned. There is too much concrete and they are afraid if they remove it the existing wall will collapse. This would mean the wall will continue some distance out from the bank, into the creek and through the dam. When I heard this I contacted Igor Skaredoff who was concerned especially by the narrowing of the creek channel. He contacted Dave Scola who assured him that the wall will turn east soon, and the dam will not be harmed. The pile driver boss wasn’t so sure, as he still thinks there is too much concrete to penetrate, but we will see. In the meantime, come keep an eye on our beavers this weekend and see if mom’s eye improves.

Best Phone call Ever

heidi08 Uncategorized October 22, 2008

So jon and I waited for mom tonight until after eight, hoping to see the injured eye and get a photograph. She didn’t show and we gave up and drove home feeling worried. Just got a call from Linda and Moses who went down to the dam tonight and filmed mom. Saw clearly that her eye was a little crusted, perhaps recovering from something, but definatly better than last night. They took video and I’ll have it tomorrow. Thanks so much stellar beaver caretakers for helping us keep track of this.

Mom, for all you do, this buds for you.

Update: Wall Migrates West

heidi08 Uncategorized October 22, 2008

These photos from todays work show the increasing distance between the concrete wall and the sheetpile. This has been explained as necessary to allow the hammer to turn, but there were repeated “concrete” shudders today that seemed to guide the work further into the creek. No delivery of sheetpile came yesterday and they have been moving quickly through this next phase. Without Skip on hand to caution them, they snapped down a few branches from the willow over the lodge, and were observed walking on it at one point. The big boss is on sight today with plans and charts and everyone is working faster and tenser.

No site of mom this morning, but the beavers are piling willow onto one of the lower baffles, starting a formal dam across what was left. Two passers by told us they had seen our beaver election video on the news: one on yahoo local and one on channel 2.