Tree Casualties

heidi08 Beaver News February 1, 2009

Looks like our beavers have been busy. There were felled or nearly felled trees in the creek by the parkinglot behind Bulldog BBQ. The large tree there had never been wrapped, but “leaned the wrong way” so the beavers chose to leave it alone. Last night they threw caution to the wind and let it fall. Jon and Moses pulled and cut the tree off the fence and let the pieces fall on the creek. Sadly one of our newly planted trees was in its path, but the beavers will have a happy feast tonight.

Considering the “unideal” specs of this tree, it was possibly felled by a yearling. At anyrate, the whole fam-damily should be out tonight to enjoy their labors so you might want to stop by with a flashlight.

Hopefully they’ll eat fast before city staff comes on monday and says the fallen trees are a flood hazard and takes them away. They have two nights, I think our beavers can manage.

A (key)Stroke of Jean-ius

heidi08 Educational January 30, 2009

This is our 396th post, and we’re approaching Worth A Dam’s first Birthday! Other great reasons to celebrate?

Our loyal readers will remember that we suffered a website blow last month and have been struggling to right ourselves since then. The kind viewers using Microsoft Explorer have seen a navigation bar of gibberish, and the rest of us on Firefox and Safari had to put up with general untidiness. Beaver friend Kelly boldly offered help, but WordPress was not forthcoming in disclosing her secrets and he despaired. In one of those extended panics that just keep getting worse I wrote our friend Lisa Owens Viani of the San Francisco Estuary Project and said, “by the way who does YOUR web page and um…how do they feel about beavers?”

Lisa suggested a beaver fan closer to home, Jean Matuska who was one of our tree planting volunteers. Like Kelly I had no idea of what she did for a living or I’m sure I would have bothered her sooner. (I’m thinking any woman with a shovel can plant a tree, but how many can decipher html?) So I got my Sunday come a’courting email out and approached with the most imploring and unassuming tone I could muster to ask if she might possibly consider helping.

SHE DID!!!

Today in a burst of brow-furrowing, puzzle-solving, encryption worthy of any sudoko match, she rebuilt our navigation bar, expanded, resized and recolored the links and made more space in between. Then she went back and did it all again for explorer users because explorer is no longer feeling the love from WordPress and obeys only half of every other command it is given. Next she unearthed the beloved Worth A Dam at the top of the page which, like a chameleon or cuttlefish, was there but had so blended into its surroundings as to become invisible. Mind you in the middle of this she continued to respond kindly to all my panicked emails and resembling Washington in the Potomac, remained steady.

And the best part? When it was all finished she said she might continue to help out in the future!

So Beaver friends all need to repay her kindness by following the link to her site and admiring the other sites she has designed. Maybe you have a boss or a colleague that is thinking about a new look for their online presence, or maybe you’re just interested in what a real designer can do. We owe Jean great thanks, and I promise to need her help as little as possible in the future.

Audrey

heidi08 Educational, Environmental January 30, 2009

Remember the former resident of St. Catherine’s who volunteered to take the beavers if the city wanted to get rid of them? It was Audrey Tourney, who we wrote about back in June and who founded the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. A former high school teacher, she went from teaching students about wildlife to dedicating herself full time to their care. She has a special place in her heart for beavers, and has raised hundreds of them.

Audrey’s life took an unexpected turn one afternoon in ths 60’s when someone gave her two orphaned skunks to care for.400 skunks later she has only been sprayed 8 times, which gives you a sense of her gentleness and patience. She says she likes skunks “almost as much as beavers”, which is pretty high praise in my book.

From: Through the eye of Alan Gillis:

Beavers are Audrey’s favorites. Any current resident would make himself at home in your lap, and do in hers when pint-sized, feeding and nuzzling. Since they’re to return to the wild, close human contact is kept to a minimum. They’re as wonderful as Grey Owl says they are, the one who used to be a trapper and lived around Parry Sound. His cabin was loaded with them, very sociable and unstoppable. Can’t sit still for a minute unless they’re sleeping in your bed. If you’re a cottager, they could wind up gnawing your furniture. See the Aspen Valley website on how to deal with furry and feathered visitors, in a kindly way. There’s a downloadable pdf, Living with Wildlife. Animals should be respected and protected. With a little understanding, they’ll mind their own business, even bears.

Check out the website and follow the links to read about this remarkable woman, who faced life’s furry challenges and made a difference.

Shoot if you must this old red head…

heidi08 Uncategorized July 7, 2009

The Rossmoor woodpecker firing squad is making it very easy to make photoshop fun of them today…I’m starting gently. In the meantime, concerned residents are asking for calls to city council

From Woodpecker Friend Bev

Here is your opportunity to take a proactive stand to protect our birds here in Rossmoor:

Please telephone and ask to speak to as many of the Walnut Creek City Council representatives as you have time to talk to on Thursday, Jan. 29. Before placing the call, have the list of City Council members so you can ask for each person by name. Call 925 943 5812. The person answering may likely require you to leave your name with them and to also provide your call back number to reach you. Be sure to ask for the name of the person with whom you are leaving your request so that person knows you are keeping track of the call. Also impress upon them that you are trying to speak to the City Council person about a time sensitive issue and are hoping to speak to the council person the same day.

When the Council person calls, tell them that the Rossmoor administration has publicly gone on record that they are going to shoot the woodpeckers at any time now and that because of this, there isn’t time to wait for the next City Council meeting to address this issue. You would like the City Council official to instruct the City Attorney and Police Chief to tell Rossmoor’s homeowners association and the Golden Rain Board and Foundation that the City police will enforce the City of Walnut Creek gun ordinance and prosecute anyone who knowingly violates it.

The amazing thing is how familiar all this is in some ways. Massive media attention, huge offers of help, and hours of public effort challenged by the narrow minds of a few property owners who aren’t willing to believe there’s a better way. The sad thing is that even if one mutual agrees to suspend the shooting and work with audubon, the other won’t, so the shooting will still trigger the population increase that allows everyone to say “see we tried alternative ideas and it didn’t work!”

It’s so frustrating. Lets try something less subtle:

Rossmorons

heidi08 Environmental January 28, 2009

Audubon California S ign the Petition to Revoke the Permit

Rossmoor group rejects Audubon assistance on woodpeckers, opts to go ahead with shooting

After talks on non-lethal methods prove unsuccessful, Audubon California calls for revocation of homeowners’ permit to shoot Acorn Woodpeckers.

Emeryville, CA – Representatives of Audubon California today expressed deep disappointment that their latest round of talks with Rossmoor homeowner groups had failed to dissuade the resident boards from their plans to shoot up to 50 Acorn Woodpeckers in an attempt to prevent the birds from drilling holes in the homes for their granaries.

Word was received late yesterday that one of the two homeowner group boards had voted to go ahead with the shooting, despite offers from Audubon California, Mt. Diablo Audubon Society and other experts to lend their expertise to the problem. The second homeowner board agreed to test non-lethal options but evidently will not agree to a permanent moratorium on shooting.

“We’re incredibly disappointed that the boards of the Rossmoor homeowner groups have elected to proceed with this utterly pointless exercise,” said Graham Chisholm, director of conservation for Audubon California. “We’ve offered them substantial assistance if they promise to call off the shooting, but apparently they’ve elected to choose this strategy that is certain to fail.”

Immediately after learning in November that the Rossmoor groups had obtained a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to kill up to 50 Acorn Woodpeckers, Audubon California and the Mt. Diablo Audubon Society immediately offered to help find ways to avoid the killings. In a series of discussions that included woodpecker experts and representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the conservation groups not only presented clear scientific reasons why the shooting would be ineffectual, but also offered substantial resources to help the homeowners solve the problem with non-lethal methods.

“At this point, we’re calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revoke the permit they’ve issued to the Rossmoor groups,” said Chisholm. “It’s obvious to everyone now that the permit was issued using faulty assumptions and that it is biologically flawed as it relates to the Rossmoor situation. Moreover, the homeowners clearly have not tried every non-lethal remedy, as their permit requires.”

Acorn Woodpeckers are a fairly common and beloved bird in California. The highly social bird is known to store food in large communal granaries drilled in oaks or other woodland trees. As housing developments, such as the ones in Rossmoor, have encroached into these woodlands, the creative birds have been known to drill their holes in buildings.

“Experts have told us clearly that in rich habitat such as where these developments are located, there is always an abundance of mating pairs looking for openings to establish themselves,” said Mt. Diablo Audubon Society President Jimm Edgar. “What this means is that if you shoot 50 Acorn Woodpeckers, you’ll probably see 50 new ones take their place within an hour.”

Edgar said that he still holds out hope that the Rossmoor groups will set aside their plans to bring in a hunter to kill the woodpeckers and accept the support that his organization and others have offered.

“Acorn Woodpeckers are very popular among bird enthusiasts,” he said. “They are very social birds that fill an important role in the landscape. Nobody wants to see them killed for just doing what they do.”

About Audubon California

Audubon California is building a better future for California by bringing people together to appreciate, enjoy and protect our spectacular outdoor treasures. With more than 50,000 members in California and an affiliated 49 local Audubon chapters, Audubon California is a field program of the National Audubon Society.

More information is available at www.ca.audubon.org.