Good News for Connecticut Beavers?

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Recent Sightings November 30, 2009

After reading a very sad article yesterday where HSUS’ Laura Simon discussed a Barred Owl caught by a leg hold trap, I wrote our old friend friend to commiserate and offer support. Turns out she is located in Connecticut and was very unhappy about the loss. Laura is a good friend of Mike Callahan of beaver solutions, and got him to apply for the Christine Stevens Award for his DVD project. I accidentally ‘met’ her when I contacted John Hadidian of HSUS about the Rossmoor Woodpeckers and she was covering for his vacation. I hadn’t realized she was from the only state where HSUS covers beaver problems. Did she know whether Skip Hilliker had been consulted in the New Forests Association case? Sadly he was not. One of her higher-ups in HSUS had called Mr. Peterson and offered their help but it had been declined.

You’ll remember this is the case where the treasurer of the Wildlife Association decided to write a message on his list-serv about the need to kill their beavers and the best way to do it without annoying animal rights interference. He also helpfully suggested what the home owners should complain about so they could blame their intervention on those complaints down the road. It was a stunning example of what goes on (I won’t even say behind the scenes) at a Home Owner’s Association.

So yesterday I forwarded Mr. Peterson my response from Laura and said I was so confused why he hadn’t contacted her. She followed up with another offer to connect with him and we crossed our fingers and waited. This morning he wrote her back, inviting her to come see the difficulties for herself. He said he was working with an engineering firm who is advising that the whole tunnel needs replacing because this one is completely obstructed by beavers. They have applied for a grant on the work, but in the meantime he would be happy to hear her thoughts.

Gosh. The news is next-door to being hopeful. Inviting Laura to come check out the scene is good. Asking engineers is not good. I’m mystified about how come the beavers wouldn’t plug up a “new tunnel” but I assume he’s relying on the fact that they’ll be dead to keep them in line. It would be great to bring in some culvert work and block it with a trapezoidal fence to keep them out of the tunnels altogether. I’m eager to see what happens, and you can be sure I’ll keep you posted.

Oh,BTW, for those of you interested in our local new beaver developments, Jon saw two yearlings on the dam-let last night, and one was scenting!

Not Lazy

heidi08 Beaver News, Recent Sightings November 29, 2009

Photo: Cheryl Reynolds

One thing you have to admire about beavers is their commitment to work. Oh its nothing like our TypeA/driven/greedy/soulless workaholic-ism. It’s completely different. Do you remember inventing a new game as a child? It was wholly absorbing until mom brought grilled cheese sandwiches and then you were munchingly engrossed in lunch and laughing about emily’s hair sticking straight up, and then after lunch back to the game only you made three changes so that new people could play and instead of a butterfly restaurant you were a zoo keeper whose crocodile could paint.

This is the ambling, creative, purposeful way that beavers work. They don’t ever expect to be finished, and they don’t mind at all stopping to munch a willow branch or wrestle with their brother. They are happy to work alone, and equally happy to share the load. They might do very little, or an exhausting lot, depending on the materials, the moment and their mood. If there is a way to be a “zen workaholic” beavers have found it.

Which is offered by way of introduction to the new goings on at the footbridge lately. Cheryl went down yesterday to help a visiting Humbolt student make plaster casts of beaver footprints, and noticed some new activity in the first scrape, upstream of the footbridge. The photo is of a new dam-let to the right of the creek in the scrape, entirely made of mud and tulles, and bordered by a lovely new channel the beavers have dug right to the center of the tulles. The picture above is taken from the upstream corner, facing the footbridge, with the actual creek not shown but running along to the left.

Beaver canals are an important addition, and one we’ve been waiting for. Also a mysterious pile of dirt that I think is a scent mound, which is another expected (but until now not seen) addition. Jon saw what might have been “scenting” behavior yesterday as a large beaver climbed onto the dam several times. We recently learned that these mounds can be both a “keep out” sign to other beavers, and a “SWF” personal ad for a beaver whose lost its mate or is looking for one. All in all its a pretty exciting development for the end of November. Maybe you’ll want to stop by and see for yourself.

Tis the Season…

heidi08 Beaver News, Beavers elsewhere November 28, 2009

With the lovely full Beaver Moon earlier this month. It’s official. We’re in beaver-trapping season. Historically the winter months were chosen so their fur would be at its thickest and the pelts worth most. Also the ice and snow makes them easier to track. This article from Cornwall, Ontario, highlights the risks that these traps can have for other (more valued) animals.

Wyatt Walsh was walking his dog in Guindon Park last week when he almost got trapped. He unknowingly stepped on a beaver trap, but fortunately, it had already been set off. “If it hadn’t been disengaged, it would have gotten my dog.”

The horrors! A cruel, inhumane trap used to maim and kill an unwanted pest nearly injured an animal that people choose on purpose! Oh the humanity! Fortunately Wyatt and his pooch got away safely and the city agreed to put up “killing fields” signs to warn hapless pedestrians.

City parks and landscaping supervisor Laurie Weatherall said there are “two or three” traps being used in Guindon Park, over the past few weeks. Weatherall said they initially had concerns about erecting signs as they feared it could attract unwanted attention to the traps. As for the traps, Weatherall said they aren’t located directly on the trails.

Did you catch that? We would have warned people about the risk but some crazy beaver-huggers might have gotten upset if we tipped them off. It is hard to kill beavers when your busy getting angry phone calls. You can bet these are leg hold traps, too, so there’s no need to check them often. The dead animal will just stay put until you can get to it.

Expect that the snap of leg hold traps, or the clink of conibear, or even the rattle of hancock (live until shot through the head with a .22) traps takes some 5-10 beavers a week, per trapper. Several hundred a season. Although no one really knows the number because no one tallys the bodies. In season there’s no need to report how many were taken. If you imagine every community like Cornwall or Oshawa or Martinez taking out 2-3 colonies of beavers multiplied by 50 states and several hundred municipalities the death count is fairly staggering.

Meanwhile, cities bemoan their decreasing rainfall, hurt from their lost salmon season, or worry about the quality of the water they’re filling with pesticides and fertilizers. They keep dutifully writing checks to their scrubby trappers and begrudgingly put out warning signs that no beavers can read. Then they wonder why the population rebounds in a year or two and the check needs to be bigger.

Here’s the only good part of the article:

Walsh believes the trap he encountered had already been set off intentionally by someone else and placed next to a culvert, where he came across it.

Survey Says?

heidi08 Friends of Martinez Beavers November 27, 2009

Votes have been trickling in for the title of the first ever Worth A Dam newsletter, designed by beaver friend KDC. I thought I’d keep you posted on how the results are moving along and encourage those who haven’t voted to get on the ball! The Vista survey is an enormously expensive tool whose “free trial” period will run out ridiculously soon. So vote now or forever hold your peace!

1 Beaver Briefs

2 Chew on this

4. View from the Bridge

4 Tails of the City

8 Another Dam Newsletter

Help us pick the right title for our Newsletter

Guess Who’s in the Macy’s Day Parade?

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors November 9, 2010

Ocean Spray’s float titled “Woodland Family Gathering” includes a 16-foot tall goose, 12-foot tall beaver and 5-foot tall mouse and other woodland friends gathered to enjoy the bounty of the Thanksgiving harvest among 10-foot long ears of corn, pumpkins, squash and delicious cranberries.

Wonder if they are interested in loaning it out for a certain local festival? Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving All!