Inscrutable Beaver Behavior

heidi08 Beavers May 28, 2010

2008 Kit Cheryl Reynolds

Sometimes when you watch the beavers you observe them doing things that totally make sense; scooping up mud from a nearby bank to pat on the dam, chewing on a leafy twig, whining when their brother tries to take the twig they’re chewing. These behaviors are instantly recognizeable, we understand them right away and they soften our hearts with their familiarity.

But sometimes when you watch the beavers you observe them doing things that make no earthly sense to us whatsoever, like carrying mud from such a long way away it is a melted speck by the time it reaches the dam, or chewing the leaves off a blackberry branch and ignoring the luscious ripe fruit, or neglecting a big log and that seems just right for dam building. These are what I’ve decided to call Inscrutable Beaver Behaviors (IBB). Sometimes when you observe IBB you find out later it ultimately makes beavery sense in a grand Castor scheme that humans don’t understand at first. The beavers decision to ignore the repairs on the primary dam and tackle the secondary instead is an example of an IBB that turned out to be not just meaningful, but wise. Sometimes IBB occurs as part of a learning curve, and after a few stupid tries the kit gets it right–so it changes from an IBB to just a BB! The blind kit swimming in circles was an IBB that we eventually understood as because of his illness. Sometimes mysteries explain themselves.

But there are some IBB’s that will never make sense, and are just the wasted effort of an aquatic mammal that are fun to watch. This morning I saw an IBB in the form of a yearling carrying a mudball from what I used to call the “annex” pond all the way down to the primary dam. Swimming direction and circling can sometimes be an IBB. Yesterday Cheryl observed the kind of IBB that will probably eventually make sense, when she saw dad come out of the yearlings “frat house”. What examples of IBB have you observed?

Confusing and amusing as it can be at times, it is undeniably true that IBB is much easier to understand than its corresponding trait in humans: IHB.

Paying Debt with Damage

heidi08 Environmental July 22, 2009

Let’s say (and why not?) that you have a significant credit card debt that you can’t imagine repaying. You owe money for your new BMW, your student loan, your 5000 sq ft home, your viagra, and your dental work. Everything that your creditors could repossess they have come and taken away, and you haven’t paid your gardener or Juanita who does the upstairs in 3 months. You’ve been in debt before, but you’re starting to get worried about this debt because there are three large men with brass knuckes and ill-fitting suits on your porch. You would borrow more money to pay off the debt but you no one will loan you money because your credit rating is in the tank. Times are hard. All your friends are broke too, and you can’t even afford the miller lite you snagged to guzzle while shopping at safeway. What will you do? Stuck between this rock and that hard place, you come up with the fantastic idea to sell your children—and not just your children, but your children’s children. Of course it sounds extreme at first, but you’re washed up, and they’re the future, they’re your hottest commodity. Everybody wants them, and its not like you can’t still visit just because they’ll belong to somebody else.

Enter Governor Schwarzenegger.

California’s horrorific budget crisis is on all of our minds and every day we try to brave the news to see what bad idea has been adopted next. How happy I was to read the cheery headlines last night in the Washington Post that an 11th hour deal had been cut to garner funds by allowing off shore oil drilling in Santa Barbara. Remarkably the report said this had “the support of law makers and environmentalists”. Wow that must be some deal!

Madrone Audubon Society In a rare agreement with environmental groups, oil producer Plains Exploration & Production Co. (PXP) has proposed promptly expanding oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara, then shutting down four oil platforms and two onshore processing facilities in Santa Barbara by 2024. The company also agreed to donate $1.5 million to Santa Barbara County for new low-carbon bus technology and 4,000 acres of land for public use. The company would slant-drill into the state’s seafloor from a platform it operates in federal waters.

Actually my delight was slightly muted by the fact that minutes before the headline showed up on Google, I got an email from Audubon asking me to express my opposition to it. They have some crazy idea about shore birds and oil spills. You know of course 2009 isn’t just the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. It’s also the 40th anniversary of the monumental oil spill they had in Santa Barbara. At the time (before Valdes) it was the worse oil spill in the country. I couldn’t help being a little doubtful about the Post’s claim that environmentalists were behind this deal. Then I actually forced myself to read about it. This morning I wanted to avoid thinking about it altogether, and just post a pretty picture of a beaver, but when I saw the rosy glow coming off the LA Times and the SF Chronicle this morning, I couldn’t stand it anymore. The times article offers this compelling argument posed by the school of “some-guy-selling-surfboards-on-the-beach”.

But Reynolds Yater, who was dropping off one of his eponymous surfboards at The Beach House nearby, said Americans can’t complain about oil drilling and then buy surfboards and wetsuits. Waving his arm at the store’s wares, Yater pointed out that “all of this stuff is made out of oil, so it’s very hypocritical to be making this stuff and then not want it drilled on our beaches.”

What a thoughtful man. For even grander demonstrations of logic check out Deborah Saunders finger-painting portrait of the complex relationship between the environment and the economy in today’s SF Chronicle. (I can now testify that her standard of writing is entirely consistent and does lose any grandeur even when replying to a politely worded WTF email.) With such good friends of the environment poised at both ends of the coastline, who needs enemies?

For the record, the California Chronicle lists the following environmental organizations as opposed to the deal. If you want to contribute your opposition, go here.

Volleyball Assn. tournament.Audubon California-Environment Now-Vote the Coast-Environment California-Surfrider Foundation-National Resources Defense Council-Environmental Defense Fund-Sierra Club California -Planning and Conservation League -California Coastal Coalition-California Coastal Protection Network -Vote They Coast -Defenders of Wildlife -Amigos de Bolsa Chica -Beacon Foundation -Center for Biological Diversity -Coastwalk California -Committee for Green Foothills -Environmental Health Coalition-ECOSLO-Inland Empire Water Keeper-Endangered Habitat League -Humboldt Baykeeper-San Diego Baykeeper-Santa Monica Baykeeper-Ventura Coastkeeper-San Luis Obispo coastkeeper-Orange County Coastkeeper -League for Coastal Protection -Malibu Coastal Land -Wild Coast -Western Alliance for Nature-North Coast Environmental Center -Urban Wildlands -Western Action Network -Sea and Sage Audubon

NYPL

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere July 22, 2009

Beaver friend LK sends this link to the historic images at the New York Public Library. Search the keyword “beavers” for some lovely graphics from books, magazines and catalogs. This particularly breathtaking illustration is by AB Frost who joined the golden age of illustraters at Harper’s Magazine in the late 1800’s. He is from the rare school of art where they actually looked at what they were representing and tried to capture what they saw. This means you see a picture of actual beavers, not a picture of what people expect beavers to look like.

“Unite. Inspire. Lead.”

heidi08 Uncategorized July 12, 2010

I heard the most amazing story yesterday on All Things Considered. A pair of unrelated 16 year old girls, whose fathers were deployed in Afghanistan, were planning to organize a conference for some 400 Military daughters, under the motto “Unite. Inspire. Lead.” They understood that their own experience of feeling isolated, burdened, insecure and “adultified” by the absence of their respective fathers was a common problem. There sadly isn’t much attention to or understanding of our military children, especially the children of reservists, who aren’t part of a military community and aren’t surrounded by other kids going through the same thing. With the current structure of the armed forces we have more of these kids than we ever did but they are scattered around the country and often do not know each other or have access to any support. Moranda Leah and Kaylei Deakin knew that more could be done, and they were willing to be the ones to do it.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=-aiaRm-1Geo]

The National Guard helped them attend Maria Schriver’s conference to inspire young women to follow their dreams, and apparently that seed rooted deep. Now they have presented to Schriver’s staff, several brigadier generals, and have even booked the conference center. Their coverage on PRI yesterday was a huge accomplishment, and generated a ton of overnight interest.

The high school girls, who will start their senior year in the fall, have decided to do something that nobody has done before — not Pentagon officials, not governors, not mayors (at least, NPR can’t find a record of it). They are trying to organize the first major get-together for the children, specifically daughters, of troops who have gone to war.”We’d like to boost these girls and their self-esteem and their self-confidence,” Deakin tells the camera.”We are growing the sisterhood, with our mantra: unite, inspire, lead,” Hern adds. They call their conference “The Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs” — a play on the title of a popular novel and Army speak for battle uniforms.

The entire ATC piece is so inspiring I urge you to listen to it in its entiretly. It will reassure you that this next generation, despite their IPOD’s and constant texting, can carry the burden of our nation towards a brighter and better future. It will inspire you that one person can make a difference and two people can make a movement. It will make you remember when you were in High School and dared to dream impractical things that couldn’t possibly happen.

And it will make you smile.

HELP!!!

heidi08 Festival July 20, 2009

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=aZuJCS2_6SQ]

I thought I’d beguile you with a little Beatles this morning to ask for help with the August 1st beaver festival. Santa Clause has been enormously kind to us this year and gave us musicians and donations for the silent auction, as well as a nonprofit lineup that is entirely boast-worthy. We still need a bit more help, so I thought I’d ask if you could donate an hour or two of your time on the day itself.

Cheryl Reynolds, who takes our lovely photos, has designed a “beaver tail bookmark” art project for children, and could use a helper or two to assist the kids in their efforts. The more help she has, the more time she’ll have for roaming the festival to take her remarkable photographs, and we all want her to have LOTS of free time, don’t we? It’s an easy job, helping cheerful children in the shade. If you’re at all inclined, write me so I can be even more persuasive in person. The beavers will thank you!

Any truck-drivin’ beaver lovers out there? We could use some help delivering items Saturday morning. If you’re around and could help at nine in the morning let us know. A pickup truck would make our lives SO much easier.