Happy Valentine’s Day!

heidi08 Uncategorized February 14, 2011

Len posted this last night on facebook, so I figured it was a great reason to feature the love-bird organizers of the beaver conference who did an excellent job and still seem to like each other after running a conference nicknamed, appropriately enough, SOB-11! Check out their handsome shirts and ask yourself why you don’t have one yet!

We are hopeful that our beavers will one day find a true love of their own. Last night all three kits were seen and rumor has it that an otter was dragging nesting material into a hole near the second dam. Lets keep our eyes and ears open for the pitter patter of new feet.

And if Valentine’s Day leaves you with a bitter taste this year, here’s a special treat for the lovelorn, courtesy of last nights grammy winner.

A Friend who’ll be Missed…

heidi08 Uncategorized February 13, 2011

Kathy & Ted Radke were among the first official ‘friends’ of the Martinez Beavers. Kathy’s generous protection of our watershed and cheerful sense of what was right was truly an inspiration to be near. If you haven’t read Greta’s lovely obituary in the Gazette, go find out a little of how truly remarkable her life was. I wanted to send a giant boquet of willow and lillies to the memorial, but here is the next best thing. Our hearts go out to her family.

Thank you Kathy for everything you gave Martinez.

Loose Ends

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, In the News, kits, Who's Killing Beavers Now? February 13, 2011

Damlet 2/12/11: Cheryl Reynolds Cheryl stopped by to take some pictures before the flyway festival so you could see the work in progress. Isn’t it a beauty? You can see it’s mostly made of reeds and mud, which is a great way to start a dam! Our wikipedia friend has just posted this update on the Owen’s Beavers bruhaha in LA. As usual, its some nicely referenced writing. Hopefully it will get the attention of some one in the media! Ecology The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) haOurs recently decided to trap beaver (Castor canadensis) out of the Owens Valley, claiming that beaver are damming flows into their diversions of water to Los Angeles.¹This decision runs counter to an independent assessment commissioned by LADWP and the Inyo County Water Department in 1997, where it was recommended that beaver be maintained in reasonable populations and their dams left in place because “Although beaver activity has resulted in the removal of much willow and other shrub and woody vegetation and the dams create favorable tule conditions and reduce fish spawning habitat, they also provide important fish rearing habitat, mesic meadows, and promote the growth of other riparian species. It is most likely that the physical removal of beaver dams will result in more adverse environmental impacts than environmental benefits.”²Beaver were re-introduced to the Owens Valley by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1948 in Baker Creek, and have since spread throughout the Owens Valley.³ Although it is controversial whether beaver were once native to the Owens Valley, there is growing evidence that they were native to the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. In particular, the northern Paiuteof Walker Lake, Honey Lake and Pyramid Lake have a word for beaver su-i’-tu-ti-kut’-teh ⁴. When Stephen Powers visited the northern Paiute to collect Indian materials for the Smithsonian Institution in preparation for the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, he reported that the northern Paiute wrapped their hair in strips of beaver fur, made medicine from parts of beaver and that their creation legend included beaver.⁵ In addition, fur trapper Stephen Hall Meek “set his traps on the Truckee River in 1833”, which strongly suggests that he saw beaver or beaver sign.6 Supporting this line of evidence, Tappe records in 1941 an eyewitness who said beaver were plentiful on the upper part of the Carson River and its tributaries in Alpine County until 1892 when they fell victim to heavy trapping.⁷ ^ “LA to hire beaver trappers for Owens Valley”. 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2011-02-12. ^ (1997) Technical Memorandum #3 Distribution and Abundance of Beaver in the Lower Owens River. Ecosystem Sciences. (Report). Retrieved 2011-02-12. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Baker Creek ^ Richard E. Warner, Kathleen M. Hendrix (1984). California riparian systems: ecology, conservation, and productive management. University of California Press. p. 80.ISBN 9780520050358. Retrieved 2011-02-12. ^ ^a ^b Don D. Fowler, Catherine S. Fowler, Stephen Powers (Summer-Autumn, 1970).“Stephen Powers’ “The Life and Culture of the Washo and Paiutes””. Ethnohistory, Vol. 17, No. 3/4: 117–149. Retrieved 2011-02-12. ^ Jesse D. Mason (1881). History of Amador County. Oakland, California: Thompson & West. Retrieved 2011-02-12. ^ Tappe, Donald T. (1942). “The Status of Beavers in California”. Game Bulletin No. 3(California Department of Fish & Game): 14. Retrieved 2011-02-12. Gosh wikipedia beaver editor. You’re the BEST! A final note, just got word from Stan (The president of SURCP) that he received the copy of my presentation and his VERY OWN KEYSTONE SPECIES charm bracelet! He says thank you very much!

The Wages of Beaver Hunting

heidi08 Uncategorized February 12, 2011

These cold and bedraggled teens were dragged out of the River when their boat got snagged on a tree trunk in the Tenn-Tom waterway during a night-time beaver safari. Rescue workers had a hard time finding them. Seems the good-ol boys were out doing some beaver shooting that night and found themselves wet and immersed. Apparently they were trapped in 5 feet of water, which suggests to me that either they were waiting for their growth spurts or they were drunk.

Fortunately the authorities arrived just in time.

The young man who called 911 saw the search lights from one of the vessels and fired several rounds from a .22 rifle in the air in hopes it would narrow down the location. The first CFD boat (Talyor, Edmonson & Smith) managed to navigate the various tree stumps slyly hiding just beneath the surface and pull up next to the stranded boys. The second rescue boat and the civilian craft were blocked by a beaver dam. The young men were discovered just north of a beaver dam around 11:45pm, with the 12 ft Jon boat about 80% submerged in the water. [One of the CFD rescue boats allegedly snagged one of the beavers that the boys had shot, causing the 40 horsepower engine to briefly stall. It quickly became untangled after a few more pulls –CK]

Did you catch that? The rescue boat was delayed by one of the dead beavers floating in the water! The rascal! But they wriggled it free and rescued the assassins. What a relief.

The young man who called 911 saw the search lights from one of the vessels and fired several rounds from a .22 rifle in the air in hopes it would narrow down the location. The first CFD boat (Talyor, Edmonson & Smith) managed to navigate the various tree stumps slyly hiding just beneath the surface and pull up next to the stranded boys. The second rescue boat and the civilian craft were blocked by a beaver dam. The young men were discovered just north of a beaver dam around 11:45pm, with the 12 ft Jon boat about 80% submerged in the water. [One of the CFD rescue boats allegedly snagged one of the beavers that the boys had shot, causing the 40 horsepower engine to briefly stall. It quickly became untangled after a few more pulls –CK]One victim was still in the boat, and two more were chest deep in the water holding another young man who had somewhat succumbed to the elements. The fifth man, presumed to be the caller, was near the shore still clinging to the tree. Rescue workers said although the boys were only about 80yds from shore, and that the water was around 5ft deep where they wrecked, it can be assumed that the dark night sky and subfreezing temperature kept them from attempting to leave the scene. [Although I was not able to deduce the position or face of each young man, the names of the boys are believed to be as follows: Paul Scott Johnson, Matthew Dowdy, and Jeremy, Josh and Christopher Davidson- CK]

Because nothing helps a rescue effort like several shots fired into the air in the dark. It’s not like those bullets could fall back down and possibly whack your rescuers in the head. I’m sure they would have swam (or walked) to safety but the water was “freezing’ and they were ‘succommbing to the elements’. (Mind you the article describes the water as freezing, which, being that it was still WATER it couldn’t possibly be, but it sure reads like a Titanic worthy scene to me.)

The first young man exited the vessel at 12:00am sharp with five rifles in tow, seeming unaffected by the ordeal- as he was wearing full-size chest waders. The other four men were taken one by one from the boat, wrapped in towels and escorted up the steep boat slip to the waiting ambulances. [All four of the soaking wet teens made it up the incline mostly under their own power-quite a feat considering spending the better part of an hour in the river. The young men were reported to have not been wearing life jackets –CK]

Five rifles. That’s good. We wouldn’t want one of the boys to feel left out. At least they all got to participate in shooting aquatic mammals through the head before the pesky snag ruined their fun. I’m sure all those rifles took up a lot of room. No space leftover for sissy life jackets, for example.

The teenagers told rescue workers they had been hunting Beavers from their boat when it became snagged on a stump of some sort, and they began to rock the boat back and forth in an effort to free it. The stern of the boat began to quickly take on water, and they were left marooned. (Differing accounts have the boat with a hole in the hull of the boat) The men were pulled onto the CFD rescue boat and, after a rendezvous with the second CFD boat midstream, headed back to the boat slip at the Hairston Bend Hunt Club.

I’m just happy that the rescue crew didn’t stand at the water refusing to intervene because one of the parents hadn’t paid their taxes. And, unless you’re a beaver, the story has a happy ending, so everyone’s a winner. Best beaver killing story ever.

LA wants in on some beaver-killing action

heidi08 Creative Solutions, Educational, Who's Killing Beavers Now? February 11, 2011

So I received this story yesterday morning from Gary Bogue, Brock Dolman and the Humane Society in Connecticut. Let’s assume its going to get some important attention over the coming days. Of course I immediately thought of the Riverside case where ‘friends of Lake skinner’ successfully sued Fish & Game and the Metropolitan Water District and won the case at the appellate level. That cost a pretty penny when the court ruled that the decision to kill all the beavers in an area was ‘discretionary’ and not ‘ministerial’ and therefore required and Environmental Impact Report to meet the standards of CEQA.

Good times.

I contacted Los Angelos Water & Power and the media far and wee and made sure they had copies of the ruling in that case which I see no reason you shouldn’t have too. I sent them the research article that grew out of that case, and them checked in with the attorney who represented the matter and he assured me there were similarities.

There are definite parallels to Friends of Lake Skinner. If there is a group looking to contest this, Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), which has its western regional office in Petaluma, may help, perhaps even have one of its member attorneys take the case. In fact, ALDF provided me with briefs that I used in crafting my arguments in the Lake Skinner case.

I figured this should help get the ball rolling. Friends of LA beavers? Where are you?

Meanwhile I promised Raging Granny beaver friend Gail that I’d post something about the Cargill mudflats, so here’s what she wrote!

West Bay Beaver Believer Seeks Contacts to Weigh in on Concept of Establishing Beavers in Headwaters of Redwood Creek.

I have learned so much from Heidi’s blogs on the Martinezbeavers website about the habitat provided by beaver ponds and the birds they shelter. As a beaver believer. I often mention their benefits to friends and fellow activists, and persuaded my group of Raging Grannies to perform at the Beaver Festival. But as one person and not even a birder, all this is not having the desired impact, especially since the mere word “beaver” makes people giggle.

This has immediate practical implications as we West Bay folk work to put the brakes on the proposed Redwood City bayfill project known as the Cargill Salt Works project. The developers use the frequent flooding in the eastern part of Redwood City as a reason to allow them to fill in the Bay since they claim their project includes levees that will alleviate flooding.

West Bay allies would help a lot to introduce beaver-friendly concepts to all these discussions. I would so appreciate knowing contacts, especially in Sequoia Audubon who would help spread the word in groups of which I am already a part(Save the Bay, Tuolomne River Trust, Menlo Park Green Ribbon Citizens Committee} and beyond. I am thinking of BCDC and/or the county supervisors as possibilities.

Gail Sredanovic

AKA Granny Gail

certifiedhypnotist@yahoo.com

Thanks Gail! A final note, I did an interview last night with Kevin Hile whose saturday “Michigan Menagerie program’ will be about beavers. The segment will feature myself, Len Houston, Mike Callahan and Sharon Brown and will air saturday morning at 7 our time. You can listen here if you’re so inclined! If that’s a little early for you it should be a podcast downloadable later that week.