Adoption

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, kits December 7, 2019

Last night we went anxiously to see what happened with our newly “orphaned” kits. The day’s loss was heavy on our hearts but we were worried that our kits could face a tough road ahead. I had a long conversation with Sharon Brown of Beavers: Wetlands and Wildlife about whether our kits were old enough to stop nursing. She assured me they were. And then we watched and waited.

The biyearling (one of our three kits from 2008) has been hanging around the pond more than usual. S/he used to head downstream for long forages on his own. The last few days s/he has been much closer to home and there have been several protective tail slaps seen. This is a sleek, handsome, nearly adult beaver. Last night they approached the area where the kit was feeding and we were hopeful for a full on acceptance of him or her as parent. It didn’t happen at first.

The biyearling brought branches from the dam into the lodge. Then went up on his own and gathered some from the area of the felled tree and brought those in as well, like a suitor bearing daisies to win the girl. He or she swam around protectively and made their presence known. Then we saw this. I’m leaving the audio in on purpose so you can hear the kit whining for care and attention. I wish the sounds of human weeping weren’t also audible, but it was a long day and the whole scene was heart-wrenching.

I realized at this moment that our kits have been “acting older” than they are because of mom’s health. Their foraging and being out on their own was merely an attempt to get food that they couldn’t receive with her. With mom there, even sick, the yearling felt less responsibility to step up and take care of them. Now that mom was gone, our babies were acting like babies again. And our yearling was becoming a parent.

We haven’t heart adult-directed whining for a week or more. Or seen a beaver back-ride since that first film of baby and mom. It’s as if our kits were given a fresh start last night. They get to be cared for and babied. And their dependency activated remarkable parenting in the yearling. It was truly lovely to see.

The light was fading fast, but in the above you should dimly be able to see two kits perched on the biyearlings back and carried into the lodge. Our babies can be babies again, and in the span of 24 hours our biyearling has become a remarkable parent. Surely some of this process is instinctual, activated by the need of the kits and the corresponding need to nurture. But some of this parenting must be learned, because our biyearling had the very best possible teacher on how to be a mom.

The teacher herself would be so proud.

Mom

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver News, Beaver Rehabilitation June 29, 2010

UPDATE:

Mom beaver was examined at Lindsay and found to be in a very poor state. She had lost a great deal of weight and weighed in at only 34 lbs. The exam showed that one of her upper incisors had broken, and the lower incisors had penetrated her upper palate. The wound was infected and it was thought she was not strong enough to treat. She was euthanized and Jon and I brought her body was brought to UCDavis for necropsy. It is essential that we learn about the cause of her death so that we can be sure the kits aren’t at risk. Clearly her teeth grew too long because she wasn’t feeding properly to sharpen them down, and this was likely the result of another health problem which made it hard to feed. It is unbelievable to me that the kits were first seen 19 days ago. She just barely made it long enough to send them into the world. They are 7-8 weeks old now. She gave them her very last strength, and for that I will always be grateful.

I got a call this morning from Moses who was at Starbucks and had been watching mom and trying to encourage her to go downstream. When Jon & I got there she was curled up in the grass on the starbucks side, very listless, soaking wet and disoriented. She tried once to swim and went across the creek and bumped into the cement wall. Then she came back to the grass and just lay there.

Lots of people were starting to come and watch, and mom was in no condition to get back to the lodge. She was staggering when she tried to move and her teeth were clicking sometimes, you could hear them. Lory came down after my email. Cheryl came out with an animal crate from IBRRC. She and Jon walked down from ward street in the creek. Mom didn’t move or react at all to their approach. Cheryl walked on the creekside and Jon carried the crate and set it with the door open in front of her. Cheryl put a towel in the crate and wrapped a towel around mom from behind and lifted her a little and she went peacefully into the crate. She turned around so she was facing the door, and just laid down. Cheryl and jon laid a towel over the crate and carried it down through the water and back up onto the bank at ward street.

The four of us drove to the Wildlife Hospital at Lindsay and Cheryl’s friend Pam(whose Martinez husband is appears in the video letter to the mayor) met us. Mom was peaceful and not reactive during the ride, chewing sometimes on her towel. She did not smell at all of castor meaning her oil glands had probably stopped working so she was completely unable to groom herself. They brought her in and will call us when they know anything. The vet on duty used to work with Cheryl at IBRRC so she knows all about the beavers and we told them about her condition. On the way we called Jean and she met us afterwards for breakfast where we talked about it.

Honestly when I went down this morning I purposely decided not to bring a camera because I thought it would just be too sad, but I wish I had filmed it so you could all see how completely calm and unpanicked mom was. she just was in no condition to react, and if we had left her alone she was in such a visible part of the creek that people would have intervened and/or called animal control. This way she was completely protected by us and not at all agitated or frightened. It was almost like she knew we wouldn’t harm her, and it certainly felt right, after everything we have been through and all the mornings I have spent with mom to have her riding peacefully in my subaru. We will be out tonight to make sure the kits are feeding and happy. It was becoming clear that the family has already transitioned and the kits have been relying on the yearlings care more and more, which is just like we’d hope.

I’m very grateful for everyone’s help this morning, and grateful that mom gave us the easiest possible decision about whether, when and how to intervene. The saddest part for me is thinking about how hard she must have worked to stick around and care for those three new lives. We can all be grateful for her remarkable parenting and the 15 live births she allowed us all to enjoy.

I thought this morning of this quote from one of my favorite books ever written. It is an amazing tale of a young girl during the holocaust, fearlessly and compassionately narrated by “Death”.

Lastly; the Hubermans

Hans.

Papa

He was tall in the bed and I could see the silver through his eyelids. His soul sat up. It met me. Those kinds of souls always do – the best ones. The ones who rise up and say, “I know who you are and I am ready. Not that I want to go, of course, but I will come.” Those souls are always light because more of them have been put out. More of them have already found their way to other places. This one was set out by the breath of an accordion, the odd taste of champagne in summer, and the art of promise-keeping. He lay in my arms and rested.

Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

Come tonight if you want to see reassuring beavers and comfort your hearts. Thank you all for your caring and concern. I will make sure to update as soon as we know anything about mom’s health.

Heidi

Still watchful…

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Friends of Martinez Beavers June 29, 2010

UPDATE:

Mom seen on dam tonight, swimming and feeding. Went to her private nook but had taken off somewhere by 9:30. Two kits seen, and mother duck with 8 babies. Yearling in residence and keeping an eye on kits.

So mom made it into the lodge yesterday morning and seemed to be swimming okay last night. She curled up in her favorite private nook and was clearly not feeling well, but she wasn’t there this morning so we can only guess that she made it back in the lodge again. There was fresh mud along the length of the dam and clearly the rest of the family spent the night hard at work. Obviously beaver response to death and dying is more advanced than our own, because I was pretty useless yesterday.

Yesterday was hard for all of our beaver supporters and friends. The idea of losing mom, (while its been around since her original eye condition was seen during the sheetpile installation), is especially hard. We thought the fact that she had just produced three healthy kits was a sign that she might be getting better, but it was more likely her last gift to the colony and to Martinez. Seeing her curl up weakly and struggle to eat is heartbreaking for the people who care for her, but caring doesn’t always mean it’s easy to decide what should be done.

Just as with humans, end of life decisions with beavers are very complex. Do we attempt to capture mom and bring her to Lindsay Wildlife for possible treatment or painless euthanization? Or do we let mom stay in her familiar pond with the family she knows and “die at home” so to speak. Beaver Hospice. Very good people can have very different ideas and the emotions of the impending loss make it a loaded discussion. What is clear is that mom has a lot of people whose hearts have been changed by her. We agree that we shouldn’t make a decision based on what feels best or easiest to the humans involved.This is clearly not about us.

It’s hard work letting go of a parent.

Mom 2006: Robert Rust

Still, it was lovely to see the kits and family acting so normal last night, swimming and diving and feeding. Almost as if the world and their family wasn’t changing forever or dying was as natural as getting born. Hmm. Sharon Brown of Beavers Wetlands & Wildlife confirms that our kits are old enough to manage on their own, especially with dad and a yearling to look out for them. We’re grateful for that and we’ll keep you posted.

Watchful

heidi08 Beaver Behavior June 29, 2010

Mom beaver is looking much worse and appears to be at the end of her remarkable life. After 6 years, multiple dam washouts, a block of sheetpile and at least 15 children she seems to be in her final days. Beavers generally try not to die in the lodge, and mom appears to be staying to the banks, curling up weakly. Worth A Dam could use your help keeping an eye out for her today and tomorrow. We want to make sure she is not bothered or harassed and that we know what happens to her. If you have any time today please stop by the dam and let us know what you see. Our goal is to give her the most comfortable and natural death possible. The kits are old enough now that they will likely be fine. One was seen being cared for by a yearling last night. I’ll write more when we know more. Mom may rally and recover, but we need to do the best we can to keep her safe and comfortable for now.

Friends East

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Educational, New Species June 23, 2010

A while back I stumbled onto a delightful read about the work of beavers on an attractive website called Tamia Outside. It encourages no-octane exploration of the outdoors through cycling or paddling, and had some lovely things to say about watching wildlife. Tamia and I connected around a series of intriguing photos taken by a contact of hers who thought they might be beavers at the beach. (!) This prompted her to work on an article about telling beavers and muskrat apart, and to ask permission to use my movie about the task.

Yesterday her efforts were displayed with outstanding results. I thought I’d encourage you all to go over and check out her success, which has things for all of us to learn from. She even has rare photos of beaver scat, which it took me three years to find online. She says lovely things about our website and we had 15 visitors from her site yesterday, so pay back the favor and click on the link right away! Pause while you’re there to rewatch the movie because it’s actually one of my favorites. It was my third effort ever and used windows movie maker no less (that kept shutting down and dumping things every five minutes)! I actually think the beaver whose tail slap you see in that footage was an early yearling. I don’t recognize the size or head now and I was told by someone that they saw three beavers on the bank in early 2007. I think this beaver was our very first “disperser”

Nice work Tamia, we appreciate your research and the resource. You might add this fun clip for a up close demonstration of size difference!

Mom and kit seen last night and our third arrival merited a “tweet” at the Contra Costa Times.

If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose,” the Walrus said,
“That they could get it clear?”
“I doubt it,” said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

Lewis Carrol

“I hate to say it, but I’m surprised something like this hasn’t already happened.” This, tragically, was the death by suicide of a charter boat captain hired by BP to take part in oil leak cleanup or protection efforts in the gulf.

The quote comes from Jason Bell, who worked for William Allen “Rookie” Kruse, 55, for three years as a deckhand and pilot. Kruse put a bullet [1] through his head this morning at a marina in Fort Morgan, Alabama. His boat was about to launch today and he was reportedly upset with the oil leak, the cleanup efforts and loss of income, and wondering how he would be paid for taking part in the Vessel of Opportunity program.

The newspaper related that Baldwin County Coroner Stan Vinson “said witnesses told investigators that Kruse had been upset about the loss of business caused by the closing of fishing grounds and public perceptions of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.” Perhaps ominiously, Bell said, “He wasn’t any more aggravated with the whole situation than any of the rest of us.