Month: October 2010

It Keeps Getting Better

heidi08 Who's Killing Beavers Now? October 27, 2010

KINGS BEACH, Calif. — Wildlife agents used rifles in early October to hunt, shoot and kill four beavers that had built three different dams at the mouth of Griff Creek on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore, a Placer County official confirmed last week.

Thanks to Matt Renda at the Sierra sun we now learn that the four beavers killed near the Kings beach Co-op daycare were actually shot, not trapped, which explains why some workers claimed they saw blood in the area.

“Trapping presents some logistical problems, so we hunted the beavers,” said Josh Huntsinger, commissioner of the Placer County Department of Agriculture. “Licensed wildlife specialists shot and killed them,” he said. “They are trained professionals.” Huntsinger said the hunt was carried out after dark with special equipment to ensure no residents were endangered by the operation. “We evaluate the park to identify the exact point where the operation can be carried out safely,” he said. “My wildlife specialists receive 30 hours of training per year regarding hunt operations such as this. I have complete confidence in their abilities.”

Logistical problems? Really? What, no one had waterproof shoes? I didn’t realize that killing beavers was such hard work. It happens so often you’d think its like falling off a log. Come to think of it that must be why there was so little of it in done in the 1800’s. And by the way, is that really your name? Or did you pick it like an actor or a porn star. Josh Huntsinger? Tell me the truth, was “Ivan Wannashoot” already taken?

The Placer County Flood Control Agency obtained a depredation permit from California Department of Fish and Game to carry out the hunt, Huntsinger said.

Honestly, does Fish & Game even do anything else but issue licenses to kill? Maybe they should change their name to the Department of Depredation? Can’t you see it now, lots of men in the dark with their night vision goggles playing ‘Rambo‘ with the beavers. I guess someone must have found some waterproof shoes because they had to have dragged the bodies out before tossing them into the back of the truck for incineration.

I wonder what that night was like for the surviving members of the colony, ducking into the lodge and hearing bullets whiz by. Then coming out later and finding that your entire family is gone, Island of the Blue Dophins, notwithstanding. Well we know there were surviving members because one was just seen a few nights ago, Denise tells me. Lets hope it’s a parent or a yearling who can help take care of the few kits that are still hanging around. Gosh, you’d think that ‘experts’ at wildlife removal would actually remove wildlife. I guess they never took the time to watch the colony and learn how many beavers were actually there.

Well, Placer County should not despair. Where there’s one beaver there will be more. Where there’s any willingness on the part of public works to look for solutions, there are solutions to be found. I was forwarded also a letter from a Placer County Supervisor that said this happened while they were on vacation but will NEVER happen again. Denise is convinced things will get better, and I remain cautiously hopeful that the greater Tahoe Community can preserve its watershed stewards and prove, once and for all, that it’s smarter than a beaver.

Beavers in the Rain

heidi08 Beaver Behavior October 25, 2010

Last night our kits saw for the first time what happens to the dams in the rain, and Worth A Dam was there like nervous preschool moms on the first day of class. You could tell they were surprised at the development, especially when the ‘gap’ they usually cross over was a fast moving waterfall. Our fattest kit kept ducking in the area again and again, wondering what it felt like to swim in a space that used to be a ‘toll road’. After nosing the gap and the pouring water several times, he appeared to snag a tiny reed and stick it in the hole. His sibling busied himself by dragging a little mud off the bottom before abandoning the effort entirely.

Great start kids, but let’s leave these big jobs to the grownups, okay?

There may be skeptics among you that question my editorializing comments describing our kits as ‘surprised’. Don’t worry. We have the vast field of infant research to support our thinking on this. The concept of ‘habituation’ and ‘dishabituation’ have been reliably studied for 50 years as a way to learn about the psychological world of the infant. The idea is that you get ‘used’ to certain conditions or stimuli, and stop noticing them. Then when they change you’re ‘surprised’ and you react.

This is important because the ‘surprise’ allows us to infer that the individual under study has a complicated, non-verbal experience stored in their memories and is able to refer to it. “Surprise” happens when the new picture or situation doesn’t match their internal experience and that’s what we call ‘Dishabituation.’ One of the favorite studies I remember reading about in college used this concept to show that babies were capable of self-awareness as very young infants: the ‘blush test’. A baby is shown its image in the mirror enough times that it becomes ‘habituated’ to it. Then the infant is given a red spot of blush and shown their reflection again. In most cases they laugh or are startled. The surprise response tells us that infants have a pretty complex understanding about their appearance, a notion of what mirrors can be expected to do and an awareness of the concept of change in general.

Using the same technique of monitoring dishabituation, we can see that the beavers were very surprised last night. In fact there were at least three tail slaps, (two kit and one adult) for no observable reason whatsoever. Since the beavers reacted to the changes in water we can infer that they have a pretty solid nonverbal internal concept of what the water is usually like; how fast the current flows, what shapes lurk on the bottom, and how far they have to swim to touch the mud. Their world was pretty different yesterday.

As we’ve seen in the past, they seemed to notice the difference and adapt.

The above photo was snagged from the internet, and let me just say that if you google pictures of ‘beavers in the rain’ you get exactly 2 options. This is clearly an untapped subject for study. Cheryl? Can you fix that?

So Close and Yet So Far…

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Uncategorized, Who's Killing Beavers Now? October 24, 2010

A beaver dam at the Carriagetown Marketplace in Amesbury.Jim Vaiknoras/Staff

Hotel plan faces unusual foe in beavers

by: Lynne Hendricks

It’s a rainy sunday so lets go to Amesbury, Massachusetts where a fine developer known as the “True Homestead Partnership” wants to build a Hampton Inn near a shopping mall. Sounds delightful. Problem is there are some beavers living in a drainage ditch near the mall and the owners of the complex have not thought them to be a problem. They’re making one of those dastardly ponds and the water is interfearing with their building plans.

Their trouble is not from the Planning Board or Conservation Commission, which are currently reviewing the plan. It’s not from angry neighbors — at least not the kind that walk on two legs. It’s coming from a family of beavers living next door. The beavers live on land owned by Carriagetown Marketplace LLC, 15 acres that encompasses Stop and Shop and a number of retailers. It’s the plan of developers True Homestead Partners to use the parcel of land east of the marketplace for the hotel, a 10,000-square-foot retail complex and parking. But working within the confines of their 2.5 acre site, the beaver-made swamp may make it difficult to accomplish that. Mayor Thatcher Kezer said the town’s hands are tied when it comes to the nesting family. “Unless we determine it’s a public health hazard, it has to be the landowners who bring it forward,” Kezer said.

Well now that’s the start of exciting and unfolding drama. Lets get the popcorn. You’ll want to replay this every Christmas. Remember that Massachusetts is a state where body crushing traps are outlawed unless certain conditions are met. The trappers association is constantly whining about how hard it is to kill beavers now and twisting arms in the statehouse to get the law overturned. The argument in this article seems to be that the city can’t do anything unless public safety is at risk. That isn’t true. They could hire a trapper to use the woefully inconvenient and body-pampering traps if they wanted to. The beavers would be just as dead at the end of it. So what gives?

Does Kezer want to foce a big favor from Homestead before he’s willing to kill some beavers? Did someone from Carriagetown have a bad breakup with someone from Homestead? Does everybody in Amesbury love beavers? Or is there nobody willing to go in the water this time of year? I wrote the Mayor, the spokeswoman from Audubon and the paper that Beaver Solutions are waiting just two hours away. I guess I’m not complaining that everyones throwing up their hands and saying we can’t trap. It’s just confusing. Trust me it gets worse

It is illegal to tear open or disturb an active beaver dam unless one obtains a permit, which isn’t easy to obtain. But while the beaver’s mass of bundled sticks and mud can’t be destroyed, the law allows landowners some options. Unfortunately for the animals, those options for the most part involve killing them. There’s only one method that provides a win-win for the beaver and developer. Water-level control devices, for instance, make the beaver habitat less desirable, as long as one has a permit. The theory behind the measures is to alter the dam in a way that can’t be fixed by the animals, and hence ultimately persuades the critters to move on. But this option can be tricky since beavers are attuned to the sounds of water escaping their dam and by instinct will move quickly to shore up any weaknesses in their home. Other than that, the law does not provide any other means of relocating the animals.

Did you get that? This article begins with a flourish worthy of the 1812 overature. There’s only one method that provides a win-win for the beaver and the developer. WATER CONTROL DEvICES!!!!!!!!!Wow I got all excited and for a minute there thought I was in love. The next sentence changed everthing, as we dropped from 1812 overture to ‘theme from Hee-Haw“. Flow devices”Make the beaver habitat less desirable. and ultimately persuade the critters to move on”. Is there a mark on my forehead? I keep slapping it when I read STUPID articles. Ahhh Lynne, you were this close.

I’m not sure where you got that misinformation from. Did Mr. Kezer tell you that water control devices make beavers go away? Did Ms. Rines from Audubon? Did you read it on a cereal box? Just so you know. If flow devices made beavers move on, they would be a complete waste of time and a wasted investment. Because new beavers would just move in. Just like when you trap. The point of flow devices is to preserve the conditions that the humans need (lower dam, unblocked culvert) in such a way that the beavers can tolerate it. Then they stay in the area and mark the territory and keep any other beavers from moving in.

Oh and Lynne? beavers do walk on their hind legs.

That’s mom carrying mud and sticks onto the old lodge, BTW. This footage was shot by Moses Silva about two years ago Ahh mom, we miss you. Nice to see you again.

Some of our lucky viewers might notice a new image in your menu bar and bookmark. I figured out yesterday how to do the favicon we used to have on the old site, but I thought the logo was a little mishapen so I tried this instead. It may take a while to show on your site, but it should eventually. This is a silhouette designed by Libby Corliss based on a photo taken by Cheryl Reynold. Thanks ladies!

Speculation

heidi08 Beaver Behavior October 23, 2010

Waiting for tomorrow’s rain I am anxiously reminded that our beavers have a hard winter ahead of them, full of washouts, high flows and dam failure. Without mom and the other yearlings to help out, all the hard labor will fall on Dad and our two year old. The kits will get ample on-the-job-training i’m sure, but they won’t be much use in repairing and maintaining three dams.

I try and remember, in the early days of our beavers, there was just mom and dad and no offspring to help them. True, they only had one dam but it was a five foot megadam and they did just fine on their own. They had more cottonwood and willow to chop down for building material, but they didn’t have any kids to help them. It’s hard to remember that long ago, but there used to be cottonwood on Castro between Marina vista and Escobar. It was the first thing the beavers took out.

Mom and Dad gathered all the materials alone, chewed all the trees and the sticks alone, rebuilt the dam when the city took it out three times alone, and mudded alone. At the same time that they were building a lodge and starting a family. That must mean that Dad and the two year old will be able to manage.

I’m curious where their emphasis will be this year. Last year it was definitely the secondary dam by the footbridge that got repaired first and foremost. The primary dam seemed less important, and the downstream dam a dim afterthought. Will this year change? It seems like they are often sleeping downstream of the primary dam. So maybe the primary dam won’t even be ‘primary’ anymore. How will our little beavers learn without their mom?

Thank goodness beaver families are tight knit and there will be lots of opportunities to learn the trade with Dad and GQ. I have at least three years’ worth of memories of being worried for the beavers in the hard rain, the first year was the worst because I didn’t yet know what they were capable of. One of most vivid occurred the winter after the first batch of kits were born. I was particularly worried they wouldn’t be able to swim in the very fast current that is suddenly visited upon Alhambra Creek with all the runoff. I had wandered down to the dam with a raincoat and umbrella, anxiously watching the old lodge for when the beavers came out. The kits, as usual were first, which terrified me. I imagined them being swooped up in a torrent and whisked out to sea, unable to swim back to the safety of their lodge and family. Two popped bravely out of the lodge and were immediately rushed in tandem about 10 feet downstream in a matter of seconds before giving a solid SLAP of both tails.

Beaver swear words!

After this moment of protest, they turned about and started swimming, managing against the current just fine, much, much better than I could do. I realized that they were uniquely equipped for their aquatic life and stopped panicking about their washing out to sea. After I was done being nervous, the whole event made me laugh. I always remember that moment when I saw the kits discover that the world was different than they expected, voiced their strong objections to the change and then wholly adapt and get on with their business.

We should all be so lucky.

‘Free Solutions’

heidi08 City Reports, Who's Killing Beavers Now? October 22, 2010

Remember the city in Maine with the ‘pretend beaver deceiver’? Well a beaver friend writes this morning that he called to talk about a more realistic installation and was told by the deputy director of public works that the beavers were already dead. Turns out there’s a trapper on staff so killing them was a ‘free solution‘. No fancy humane interventions needed, we have everything under control.

How sad and stupid and utterly disappointing. Lets hope they got all of them, and that there aren’t some kits shivering in the lodge and slowly starving to death.

Moving right along through the Kubler-Ross stages of beaver grief lets get to anger. Free solution? Maybe. But if it was such a great free idea why didn’t you employ it earlier? The T junction of pipe was useless but not free. Moving it to the other side of the culvert was useless, but not free. Ramming the culvert with a telephone poll was useless but not free. Bringing out the back hoes time after time was useless and not free. All those hours of public works time, when they weren’t filling pot holes or cleaning drains, were paid for with taxpayer dollars and were useless but not free.

If you had a free solution all along, lurking in your back pocket, why didn’t you use it earlier? Say the moment you started to realize there was a problem?

Oh wait, I know why.

You needed cover for your enormously unpopular decision to kill the beavers. Social cover. Ass cover. The ‘we’ve tried everything’ cover. The paper gave you help in this and dutifully printed your painstaking solutions without ever reporting how patently inane they were. You were given a public opportunity to show your citizens you tried and tried and couldn’t solve these problems humanely. You made a public argument that you had no choice, and no one contested it. You had to kill them.

It’s this deception, this dedicated deceit of public opinion, that angers me even more than the actual trapping. You extirpated the public trust and made a mockery of civic involvement. You snared the good will of Lewiston and crushed it in your conibear traps. You used your residents against each other to push public opinion get exactly where you wanted it all along and your local paper faithfully carried water for you. Sure, some beavers died in the process, valuable wetlands were destroyed and countless species will suffer as a result, but that is hardly the real story. Lewiston used kabuki theatre and taxpayer dollars to pretend to solve a problem humanely they had no intention of solving at all.

Take this as a lesson, Lewiston homeowners and taxpayers. The next time your city tells you they are trying to ‘solve’ a problem – traffic congestion, sewers, crossing guards, school funding. Remember that in the back of their minds they may hide the real solution, and all their flailing efforts in the meantime are just trying to drive public opinion in its direction. The city of Martinez has learned with painful clarity that lying about beavers is just the beginning.

Maybe some letters from the public will remind them that ‘free solutions‘ aren’t always free.