Month: September 2010

And then there were two…

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere September 20, 2010

Long time readers (and I know you’re out there) will remember years ago when I posted about Jose the beaver discovered outside the Bronx zoo. He was written about in the audubon magazine and National Geographic and named after the politician who appropriated funds to restore the river and migration flyway. Well Jose has been waiting three years and Santa finally brought him what he asked for!

A friend!

The article works VERY hard to avoid calling this a mate, but unless that other beaver was from his original colony (Bro! How ya been!) I can’t imagine they’d hit it off and stay together. Remember beavers are territorial so if ‘jose’ were really waiting for a mate and competition came along instead there wouldn’t be a welcome party. Probably they would know that information just from the scent mounds marking the territory and wouldn’t ever need to interact. There are two reasons why this beaver would be welcomed. Either its a mate or its family. Apparently they also can recognize if they’re from the same colony. I hope there’s kits in the offing, but I guess its nice to have a helper after all those years of ‘island of the blue dolphining’ on your own.

Hot dam! The first beaver found in the city in 200 years finally has company after three years of solitude on the Bronx River. The semi-aquatic duo were spotted over the summer and photographed by a Bronx Zoo employee on a stretch of the river that runs through the zoo.

The article does a good job preparing the reader for the fact that we can’t know the gender of the new beaver, but it never mentions that we can’t know the gender of Jose either! We could be talking about Josefina! And Dietland Muler-Swarze important book says that female disperers tend to travel farther than their male conterparts, so the odds are good Jose was named after the wrong role model!

“We’ve doubled the population of beavers in New York City,” said John Calvelli of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo. The second beaver now just reassures us this was not a fluke,” Serrano said. “This river is coming back to life.”Calvelli hopes it’s just the beginning. Although the gender of Jose and his new friend is unclear, environmentalists hope the beavers get busy and produce offspring. “We look for love in so many places, why not the Bronx River?” Calvelli asked.

I couldn’t have possibly said it better myself. Good luck Jose & friend! We’ll be rooting for you!

Greensboro will ‘try’

heidi08 City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's Killing Beavers Now? September 19, 2010

Some back story. Greensboro has beaver problems. The city is prepared to kill them but residents don’t want them to. There’s a vet on the city council who doesn’t want to either. So she tried to get a change in the law that will allow them to be relocated instead. Turns out it’s possible.

That means one cruel reality for them: Greensboro’s proposed beaver management policy calls for euthanasia as the solution of last resort. “We’re going to do everything we can,” said Allan Williams, the city’s water resources director. “We’re not going to kill the little buggers unless we have to.”

That sentence is worth a column I think, and certainly a new feature on the ‘who’s killing beavers now’ roster. As you can tell by his affectionate compassion-weary language, Mr. Williams is HIGHLY motivated to find a means to solve their problem other than killing beavers. (Kind of like if you had put off doing your fourth grade mission report for four weeks and then your mom marches you into the library to get some books and you wander around sullenly and come out saying, I looked and looked but there are NO books in there!) He’s so motivated that the article says further down that they even looked into those new-fangled flow devices thingys that all the kids are talking about. He is sure they wouldn’t work for Greensboro, but they won’t kill the beavers until they HAVE to.

Translation: until there’s enough damage or threat of damage to create public cover for our decision.

Gosh I’m cynical, aren’t I? I better work on that. In the mean time let me tell you a little story. Once upon a time there was a city called Martinez where the public works department noticed some beavers in an urban creek. They called a neighboring city and said, what should we do? And the city said, kill em’! We do it all the time. Actually, you might know this story. There were some a lot of very difficult noisy residents in this town who said we don’t want you to kill them!!! And the city said, okay we’ll move them for you even though its usually illegal. And the residents said NO we want to keep them! Find another solution! The city said it’s hard but okay we’ll TRY. “We won’t kill the little buggers unless we have to.”

Some more back story: A year later one of these difficult residents was talking to a pointedly unnamed elected official of the city who said, we were so worried about what to do with these beavers! Then I went home and on Animal Planet there was this whole program with Skip Lisle installing a beaver deceiver and it saved the town! I was so happy, I called the director of public works and the city manager so we could watch it together.

Meanwhile there was a grand meeting with all the difficult townsfolk and the city where a very funny thing happened. Everyone standing in the audience talked about the use of flow devices to control beaver problems, and no one sitting on the stage did. How could it be that the simple act of sitting changed the conversation so drastically? At one point a standing woman said, “why doesn’t staff report contain any information about the use of flow devices?” And the city manager smiled weakly with all the charm of a two year old with cookies behind his back and answered “We didn’t think they would work for this area“.

So you see why I am cynical. In all the world of beaver killing there is really nothing new under the sun. Well Martinez has news for Greensboro. Our flow device was installed three years ago. The dam has been maintained at a safe height since that time. Our beavers have been a civic, environmental and social asset to this city. And yes, flow devices do work for this area.

When beaver activity causes damage or a public safety threat — and all other options fail — the city will consider trapping and killing the animals. “Under the laws of the state, you get to the point where all you can do is trap them,” Williams said. Wade said the city’s hands are tied because of the General Assembly’s decision. “It looks like they did everything they could not to bring the trappers in,” she said. Wade, who is running for state Senate, said if she is elected, she hopes to help Vaughan work on that issue next year.

If you would like to write Greensboro your very own thoughts here’s some addresses.

Mayor pro temp nancy.vaughan@greensboro-nc.gov

Council woman with a heart trudy.wade@greensboro-nc.gov

Allan E. Williams, P.E., Director
Allan.Williams@greensboro-nc.gov

david.phlegar@greensboro-nc.gov

Reporter amanda.lehmert@news-record.com

Beaver Benefits

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, In the News, Why We Care September 18, 2010

There are a few things I set aside for reading later – you know truly remarkable affirming news that you can savor at leisure. I would include Summer’s issue of Defenders of Wildlife in that catagory. Particularly the article called “Eager for Beavers” by Heidi Ridgley. If you haven’t read it go do your self a favor and check it out.

“These dams act like speed bumps,” says O’Brien, a botanist and Utah forests program manager for the Arizona-based Grand Canyon Trust. “If water hits one, it wells up over the flood plain, slowing down the water. If that dam crashes and burns in the flood, the water will hit another one like stair steps. The rushing water gets slowed at every turn.”

The generous article stars two of my favorite heroes; Mary O’Brien who I first read about in the Greatest Beaver Story Ever Written, and Sherri Tippie who I talked in a panic to on November 6th, 2007 to see about getting our beavers safely relocated. It lovingly outlines the good that beavers do for the watershed, and talks about our foolish human habit of killing them. It even outlines specific tools to regulate problematic behavior, although I think she got the names reversed.

Solutions to the diverging needs of humans and beavers do abound, though—and they come with clever names: “beaver deceivers” and “castor masters” (Castor being the Latin genus for beaver). Deceivers work by allowing water from a beaver-dammed pond—water that is about to back up and flood over a road, for instance—to escape without the beaver ever hearing it trickle away. “The sound of water running drives beavers nuts,” says O’Brien. “They will try to plug up the leaks.” The pond is kept at the desired level by inserting a pipe in the dam that allows the water to release underwater—right under the beaver’s nose. Castor masters are wire fences with strong posts. They keep beavers from plugging up culverts, which divert water under roads to avoid wash-outs. In this case, beavers hear the water but they can’t get access to the culvert to plug it.

The beaver-savvy folk of Martinez know that what we have in Martinez is a Castor Master, and that culvert defenses are beaver deceivers. Oh well, I’m sure Heidi’s head was filled with lots of ideas and questions at once. She got the idea that beavers help the environment. She got the idea that there were ways to solve problems. And she got the idea that some kinds of rhyming words were involved, which is more than most. I wish she would would have included the generic term ‘flow devices’ so the options can be more generally discussed. If someone reads this article and puts a ‘beaver deceiver’ on a dam they’ll be very disappointed.

This is my favorite part of the article and why Mary is my personal beaver hero.

“People sometimes get excited to tell me they’ve seen a beaver dam,” says O’Brien. “They have no concept that there should be 15 in that one area. We don’t have the cultural memory of how many beaver dams used to fill a stream because the beavers were mostly gone before white people settled here.” Tasha Creek is an exception with its 17 active beaver dams.

Mary was very intrigued this year by the idea of our beaver festival. I got the feeling she might just make the trip and visit some day. In the mean time the author of the article was disappointed that she never got to see any beavers on their trek. Heidi? Do I have some good news for you! The article ends with this adorable acknowledgment.

As a little girl, Senior Editor Heidi Ridgley’s favorite stuffed animal was a beaver she named Thumper.

Because that was a great article and you had a stuffed beaver named Thumper Heidi, you get my thanks and a present. Let me know when you’re in the Bay Area and I’ll take you to see some beavers that will not disappoint.

Photo Courtesy of Sherri Tippie

Together Forever

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Why We Care September 17, 2010

Let’s review. Nearly three months ago our mother beaver died. There were outpourings of support for her and the three kits she left behind. Worth A Dam wanted some kind of memorial to her remarkable life and approached local artist and UCD professor Paul Craig. Paul is an old friend of the beavers and was thinking of them when he designed the metal beavers for the library sculpture. Paul said he would happily make a mother and some kits if we could get him some silhouettes to work from.

Chapter two. I contacted the recently graduated but-as-yet-unemployed graphic artist (Libby Corliss) who designed our brochure and map and asked her for help. She said she could easily turn photos into silhouettes if we could find the right photos. Three of cheryl’s pictures did the trick, and for the fourth we filled in the drawing of our logo beaver generously donated by another graphic artist, Kiriko Moth. Paul quicky produced the metal pieces and we marched down to the city council meeting to ask permission to hang them.

Chapter three. In a down-the-rabbit-hole twist of fate we were given full approval and gratitude, told to go ahead and display them on the sheetpile wall, and to work with city staff who would help us get it done. I later met with Bob Cellini and gave him the beavers and talked about where they might work. I was surprised to learn that Bob does similar metal cuttings and has been meaning to get around to making one for his wife to display in the garden. I first met Bob in 2007 after the subcommittee had been formed but before Skip had installed the flow device. Staff had made the decision to take down the dam by a foot during the interim month before he could get here. I was standing at the bridge when he was reviewing the job and introduced himself mournfully as the man who was going to do the ‘dastardly deed’. I immediately liked him for that. I liked him even more when he said that the binder of articles I had distributed at the first subcommittee meeting was in the staff room and had become the ‘beaver bible’.

Chapter four. So tuesday I got an email from Bob that the beavers were ready to be installed and he had invited the Contra Costa Times photographer for the ‘unveiling’. When Lory got there thursday morning this is what she saw,

With the drop cloth removed, this was the display. Bob made the frame and arranged the beavers in it. Don’t they look happy together?

I was worried that they’d be spread apart or scattered, but I love this family grouping which clearly shows mom taking care of them. Obsessed beaver fans like myself will no-doubt note that the notch in mom’s tail is on the wrong side, because the metal has been reversed. Never mind. I like her approaching the bridge, almost as if she’s coming to ask us for something. I am incapable of avoiding the thought that she’s bringing the kits to meet us and asking us to take care of them when she goes.

I am so grateful for everyone’s help in pulling this together. I love the idea that somewhere on a sheetpile wall, mom beaver and her last three kits will be together forever.

Befriended

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Uncategorized, Who's Killing Beavers Now? November 9, 2010

The Comox Valley family who didn’t want their beavers drowned has all the makings of a pretty sweeping movement. Lovely young woman, smart well-written mother and a great deal of public interest. The story of the family ‘that doesn’t want its beaver drowned’ now has been sold to most newspapers in the country. There are nearly 1400 friends on facebook, the girls have been interviewed on CBC and many other stations. if you google ‘comox valley beavers’ you get a page of news stories, (including some crazy letter written by a California woman named Heidi something).

I passed the story along to our friends at fur-bearer defenders who wrote to pledge funds for building a beaver deceiver, there are also offers to relocate onto existing properties. Joey is more interested in getting the policy changed for ALL beavers, which is amazing and just might happen. There are enough lovers of this national symbol not to want to allow them to be routinely drowned. I don’t think flow devices are well accepted enough to trigger a national policy change, but I can forsee a day when conibear traps are outlawed, just like Massachusetts.

You might not want to watch this trapping video but it was important for me to see. The thing that impressed me the most was the silence of these deaths. It helped me to think about what’s happening and how the animal views it. I’m not sure things get better in when conibears are outawed: where the beaver is trapped in a springing suitcase and hauled onto the bank before waiting until the morning to get shot in the head.Trapping is cruel. Period.

Faster is better but not at all is best.