This was my introduction to the “Close to Home” speech last week. I thought it would be good to mention because now that there are two kits visible we are hearing the whining sound again. Apparently, its persuasive effect hasn’t diminished.
The Accidental Advocate
If I had a plan for my life saving beavers surely wasn’t in it. I got involved in the beginning just because I was curious. Someone I don’t know and never saw again said ‘have you seen the beavers’ and I never had. I had never made a movie, never written an article, never spoken at up a meeting. The night the city announced the beavers would be killed I stopped by starbucks on the way home and saw two kits feeding on the bank. They make noise, did you know that? They kind of whine uh uh uh to eachother it happens when one has something the other wants, or whenever mom’s anywhere near. I heard that noise and my heart just clutched. When would I ever hear that sound again? Did the people who decided these beavers must die even now it existed?I know that was the moment I decided to become a beaver defender. I didn’t think about duration –maybe I’d give it a weekend, maybe a week. I figured the whole thing would blow over in a matter of months. Boy was I wrong.
How long has it been since you’ve had a side-splitting, tear-streaming, about-to-wet-your-pants laugh? Our two newbies kept us in stitches last night with their artless antics. They definitely had designs on mom’s dinner and wrestled her to get it until she had to swim out of reach. They had designs on each other’s dinner and did lots of whining to indicate their dissatisfaction with their own. They did unplanned back flips and front flips when their unsteady balance found them head over heels, as in the above video. Watch all the way to the end. You won’t regret it.
But the show stealing climax was when the kits decided to try to try and eat a buoyant food in the water. Since it was just floating on the surface, and they were just floating themselves, they had no purchase to get their teeth sunk in. This meant that they swiped at the food, fell nose over tail, and splashed hopelessly in the water. The kit would bravely right himself, shake the water out of his nose, and try again, with the same or worse results. No lion in the serengeti could have pursued his prey more diligently. Except for the fact that the prey in this case was not alive and couldn’t actually swim away. It was twenty minutes of epic national geographic footage. By the end of the tussle we were in hysterics and begging for it to stop because it hurt to laugh so hard.
Which is, just to say, I’m sure the show will repeat tonight. Plan on nine and bring a sweater. Oh, and check out our new map from beaver supporter and graphic designer Libby Corliss. Thanks Libby!
Any Yooper brookie fisherman will tell you the economic stimulus plan has kicked in big-time for beavers. Yooper beavers have been busier than you know what this spring, putting on a full-pond press and enacting liberal overtime policies to complete multi-dam projects like their lives depended on it.
They do. The only reason they build dams is to protect themselves from predators. It’s what they do. They can’t stand the sound of running water. If new dam starts, construction and completions are any indication, the economy is making a comeback in the Keweenaw. I keep a close watch on beaver dams as a leading economic indicator, especially when it comes to my brookie stock.
It’s a bit of a love-hate relationship. I like beavers but I’m torn, and here’s why. Their work is fishcally responsible in the short term, but destructive long-term.
Ahh he had me until the part about beavers ruining habitat for fish over time. So close! A beaver advocate manque again. So of course I wrote him about the research on the relationship between beavers and trout. I was very pleased to get this back, which he agreed to have posted as a guest blog. Great photos, enjoy!
Wow! Thanks for the kind words and the wealth of research reference. I also clicked around your website, very nice and informative. I have been a beaver fan since I was a kid and admire their work ethic, ambition and persistence. Here in the U.P. of Michigan, they have become a favorite food of the wolf and coyote who know they are easier to catch than a deer. Jim
Natural-born architectural, engineering and building skills are evident in the strategic site selection and quality dam construction using natural riparian building materials nearby to turn this stretch of meadows along a Yooper trout stream into a working beaver pond. The hard-working nocturnal mammals can throw up a dam like this overnight. Photos and caption by Jim Junttila.
Wow, thanks Jim for the kind words and amazing photos! It is always lovely to see how beavers show themselves in other parts of the nation. Keep us in mind if you find any beaver troubles or questions on the horizon, and we will definitely wish you happy fishing!
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.
Last night Cheryl stopped down at the dam for her usual visit and found a family of five humans sprawled across the dam surface. Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and two Children were fishing. They seemed surprised at the company and when Cheryl told them about the new baby beaver replied that they already knew about it and hoped they would see it. Clearly the notion of our lovely kit injured with fishing tackle had never entered their foggy minds, but they sheepishly left the dam and went to fish on the bridge. Their family was having an enjoyable outing, why think about the beaver family? Why think about the mountains of fishing tackle we remove every year from the banks?
Every summer I worry about fishing. People get excited about the idea of catching one of the carp at the beaver dam. They plan on releasing their catch so they feel they aren’t “impacting” the wildlife in any way. They don’t think about what happens when their hook or line snags on one of the million twigs or branches in the water. They don’t think about what happens when they cut the snag and leave the tangle of fishing wire for birds of beavers.
Fishing gear–related injuries in pinnipeds most commonly occurred in summer. Derelict fishing gear—lost, abandoned or discarded sport and commercial line, nets, traps, etc.—in the marine environment is a significant cause of injury in California coastal marine wildlife.
Fishing at the beaver pond is like trawling in an aquarium, playing soccer in the nursery or darts in an aviary. It’s like having target practice on the schoolyard. It’s very, very, very dangerous and something is certain to get hurt. It may not be the intention of anyone of these fishermen to harm wildlife, but the area is so small, so packed with birds, and so heavily trafficked there is no way it won’t. I have implored the city to do something about it, but the mayor only rubbed his hands together somewhat gleefully and answered that “Maybe the beavers will be victims of their own popularity”.
There is no city response to “shooting our fish” in this particular barrel. There is just us. There is only beaver people, the compassionate “minutemen” of Alhambra Creek. Worth A Dam needs your help to keep our adorable baby beaver safe. Explain the risks to anyone you see fishing, and tell folk to keep off the dams. Let us know when ever you see something worrisome and remember that your concern makes an enormous difference.
267 marine species have been reported to be affected by fishing gear entanglement and ingestion injuries.
Our own Cheryl Reynolds snapped this picture last night. Clearly our little Raja was waiting until I was trapped at work and couldn’t get away before s/he decided to display the cutest expression yet known to beaver. The little stinker. Good work, Cheryl, savoring the moment for us.
Clearly those big eyes mean mom’s condition, whatever it is, isn’t contagious. The kit was very cuddly with mom last night and appeared to approach her for nursing on at least one occasion. It makes me wonder about the possibility that we’re actually seeing two kits, not one. Saturday’s baby was snuggly and infantile. Sunday’s baby was independent and a strong swimmer. Monday’s baby again very cuddly and close to mum. Who knows what will see tonight?
Surely beavers have different facets to their personality, just like people do. And all babies are sometimes cuddly and sometimes independent….but….this seems like a pretty solid trend. We’ll keep watching.
In the mean time we received the loveliest donation from Castoro Cellars yesterday for the silent auction. BRING YOUR CHECKBOOKS, you don’t want to miss this! I also had a very positive conversation with Safari West who will donate again this year. It gave me such confidence that I wrote the SF and Oakland zoo, the academy of science, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and 6 flags just to see what might be possible. Fingers crossed. The beaver watching-children of today will be the biologists and researchers of tomorrow, I always say.
Also I noticed this on the CA Revels page. Looks like we get Morris dancers!
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.
Of course the gulf-update today has to mention that the president is speaking tonight about his plans. The Christian Science Monitor tells me the speech is a “take charge moment”. Maybe. I’m thinking that the take charge moment happened about 54 days ago — or more accurately, 20 days before that when he gave his speech authorizing more drilling and saying that it was much safer now.
