Beavers Overseas

Eric the Ericht beaver has an American following

by Andrew Harris, Blairgowrie Adv

ERIC the Ericht beaver has gained a worldwide following from people opposed to the trapping by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) who have resumed operations after the big freeze.

Heidi Perryman, president and founder of Worth a Dam, a beaver lobby group in California USA, contacted the Blairie after reading the article two weeks ago on the possibility of there being limited accomodation for the wild beaver population once they have been rounded up.

She said from her experience in the States, rehoming has proved problematic.

I’m a lobbyist! So far so good, (if by “experience” you mean: never doing it myself but listening appreciatively to other people who actually DO it) Unfortunately the reporter then proceeds to quote the article I quoted to him as if it were me saying it. I sent him the article “Management by Assertion” by Longcore, Rich & Muller-Swarze, and highlighted my favorite quote about relocation.

“Thirteen beavers were trapped live and removed, one died struggling in a snare, and one was killed by a predator while held in a snare.. Virtually all mortality could have been avoided if Hancock traps had been used (and properly deployed).The end result was not satisfactory to the majority of opponents because of the Reserve’s failure to engage the underlying scientific questions, the mortality during trapping, and philosophical opposition to the exploitative placement of the relocated animals. Six beavers were confined in zoos or other captive display facilities (one beaver subsequently died in a fight resulting from inappropriately co-housing two males), four were relocated to a reserve in Texas, and three went to a movie production company.¹

¹Management by Assertion: Beavers and Songbirds at Lake Skinner (Riverside County, California)

Travis Longcore Æ Catherine Rich Æ Dietland Mu ller-Schwarze (2007) Environmental Management Volume 39, Number 4, 460-471, DOI: 10.1007/s00267-005-0204-4

So now in addition to being a lobbyist and a ‘Mrs.’, (which I can live with), it looks like I’m a plagiarist in (at least) two countries. Sorry about that. I wanted to make sure everyone read that quote because sometimes the term ‘relocation’ makes people think everything will be all right and then they stop caring. Well if my precariously preserved good name’s tarnish can help keep free beavers in the river Tay I guess its worth it. I wrote the reporter to clarify and the authors to apologize, but in the mean time its pretty remarkable that Worth A Dam shows up in Scotland, don’t you think? Go read the whole thing and if you haven’t sent Eric your new years wishes yet there’s still time!

Now on to Germany! Where beavers are willfully preventing themselves from drowning on the Odin River in Germany. Their selfish attempt to live by seeking higher ground during flooding has caused the dikes to erode. (Is anyone else having flashbacks ?) Our Northern cousins with the excellent back to their nickle covered the story this week, on CBC the Current interviewing Mike Callahan about options and impact. Enjoy.

To hear the full program go here.

Our friends in Tahoe (Now calling themselves the “Sierra Wildlife Coalition”) have their work cut out for them. Now Truckee is gunning for beavers and they are leaping into the fray. I thought you might enjoy their first EVER newsletter. Can a website and book deal be far behind?

Happy New Year to all –

We thought winter would be a quiet time for our Sierra beavers and friends, but not so – here are a few updates:

A friend of the beavers, Richard Lanman, MD, has updated several Wikipedia pages with references proving beaver were indeed native to the Sierra – or as he says: “Of course they were. How could an animal that lives from the Sonoran desert in Mexico to the Arctic tundra, and every mountain range from the Atlantic to the Pacific somehow not live in the Sierra?” interesting reads here and here and if you go to ‘Griff Creek’ in Wikipedia, our group’s activities and articles are there!

In Truckee, the Town currently has out for comments a “Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration” for their proposed Trout Creek Restoration that repeatedly says they plan on removing beavers to “protect creek function” – but their goals sound like an ad for beavers…. A great deal of the plant and animal habitat restoration the Town of Truckee’s engineers are proposing IS done by beavers. If you have time, go to the Town of Truckee website (under ‘engineering’) and send in comments before the Jan. 18 deadline. We will forward Sherry’s summary and comments for reference, as soon as she gets them organized 🙂 The upcoming Truckee Town Council meeting at which Trout Creek will be discussed is scheduled for Thursday, January 20 – we will send an agenda as soon as available.

Better news in Tahoe Donner, where Elaine and Patrick McDonough have contacted the Tahoe Donner Association Forester and Board. They have agreed to install a flow control device in a beaver dam at the intersection of Fjord and Alder Creek Road that often threatens to flood a home and roads during heavy rains and run-off. This is a very visible dam (and lodge, check it out!) and we are very excited that it will make a great demonstration site for officials and citizens from our entire area to view! This is also especially important because there are approximately another 20 beaver dams along Alder Creek alone, and more could become flooding concerns.

Lately in Reno, the Gazette Journal published a one-sided article reporting on the damage done to the cottonwoods along Reno’s Truckee River corridor. Although wire-wrapping trunks was reported to work, the names of three exterminators were also provided as an alternative. On December 26 Mary wrote the reporter, Susan Voyles, introducing Sierra Wildlife Coalition and some of the background we have had with beaver. She offered the services of the Beaver Brigade (that’s us) to consult with homeowners on tree wrapping, while also explaining the method of tree protection using latex paint mixed with mason sand. As of January 6 there has been no reply from Ms. Voyles so another, let’s say more attention-getting, letter is on its way.

Lastly, Mary and Sherry are planning to attend the “State of the Beaver 2011” Conference in Oregon, February 2-4. They have a great line-up of speakers, including Heidi Perryman, our friend from Worth a Dam in Martinez, and Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions, who’s on the video we saw demonstrating how to build flow control devices. The more the merrier – check it out and join us if you can.

Hope you’re all enjoying winter, and have recovered from the holidays – we’ll try to keep up and keep everyone posted –

Mary and Sherry