Month: April 2011

Mission Intolerable!

Remember the beavers in Owens Valley? The LA Department of Water and Power decided that they posed a threat to their intricate canal system and needed killing. They announced a new trapper contract for March and were looking for just the right price to do the job. This barbarism caught the attention of a local animal defender who has been in contact with us, the Sierra Club, the SPCA and the Humane Society. She got a hold of a court document that casually mentioned using helicopters to remove beaver dams and was understandably curious. Fool that I was, I assured her that it probably meant using helicopters to fly someone into the back country and pick out the dam with a clam rake. Oh no gentle readers. She received this yesterday:

To clarify, the Department’s use of helicopters is limited to times when wets conditions do not permit vehicle and equipment access or the when use of equipment might result in undesired riparian damage. Typically a helicopter mounted with a cable and grab hook removes the dams and on occasion crews are flown in to remove the dams by hand. However, the Department does not attempt actual beaver control via helicopters.

Turn off those extra lights and dripping faucets Los Angeles! You ratepayers are covering tens of thousands of dollars for LADWP to hover over water surfaces in the hills, backing up and forth until the dams been hooked and then a few more sweeps to break up the debris. Then the whole process again a little downstream. Then the entire thing again next week when the beavers rebuild. That means the fuel, the pilot salary, and payment for the ‘hooker'(s)’.

The letter goes on to describe how beaver must be killed because they aren’t native to Owens Valley and are destroying the riparian habitat and making mosquitoes. Where to begin? Our historian friend points me to these references:

Beaver were re-introduced to the Owens Valley by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1948 in Baker Creek,[31] and have since spread throughout the Owens Valley.[32] 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 Paiute of Walker Lake, Honey Lake and Pyramid Lake have a word for beaver su-i’-tu-ti-kut’-teh.[33] 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. 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.[34] 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.[35]

The letter doesn’t miss a single piece of BBM (blatant beaver misrepresentation), stopping to mention that beavers kill fish by raising water temperatures and lowering dissolved oxygen levels. All of which was painstakingly proven to be false by Dr. Pollock’s research on the effect of dams on groundwater temperatures. Never mind, it seems true to many, and that’s better than actual facts when it comes to making excuses for killing beavers.

LADWP has no prejudice towards beaver eradication, however, since the historical Owens Valley has no beaver population, inclusion of this species must be managed. This is why the state’s wildlife agency, CDFG, provides ultimate determinations on necessary beaver control and acceptable methods for our contractors to abide by. As a follow-up to my note last Friday, I was told today that we expect the trapping spec to be advertised again within a month.

And so it goes. LADWP has NO PREJUDICE towards those godless fish-killing, mosquito-bringing, tree-destroying, non-native beavers. They are just MANAGING them. They deserve a host of letters but allow me to say in closing, Northern California didn’t send Southern California all that water for you to kill beavers in.

Beaver Mysteries

heidi08 Beaver Behavior April 5, 2011

If you’re anything like me you’ve been pacing back and forth across the bridges and along the banks and wondering where in the heck our new beaver dams are. Maybe you’ve counted available trees, scrap logs or remaining reeds and measured water height with a nail file and wondered when these crazy beavers will ever decide the time is right. I have been talking myself into a state worrying that our orphans our just not up to the task or are too traumatized by their ordeal to settle down to business.

I try to remind myself that damming is instinctual, and that our kits have already proven TWICE that they know what to do. I remember that in Audrey’s wonderful book, the orphan Tariq (who lost all his family at a much younger age and was raised by humans) started all by himself making a dam in her living room out of a newspaper and a bathrobe.

I try to be patient and I look for the words of other beaver watchers far and wee. I thought I’d pass some along that were particularly helpful.

Bob Arnebeck is a wildlife watcher and historian living in upstate New York who maintains some lovely species journals online. He was the first ‘expert’ I wrote about our beavers in 2007. Bob doesn’t much believe in flow devices, or beaver deceivers. He doesn’t get involved in beaver politics or write letters to foolish conservation commissions. He doesn’t tag their tails or do research to count population growth. He just watches beavers. Really watches. In the summer. In the snow. In the rain. He watches beavers and has watched them for a long time. As a result he has some of the best observations I’ve ever come across. Knowledgable beaver defenders Sharon Brown and Sherri Tippie add their wisdom as well.

From my meager experience with beavers recovering from dam failure, they do put a high priority on eating. Two beavers now are driving me crazy as they continue to nibble away behind a dam with a gaping hole without making a move to patch it. I saw them sunning on the lodge the other day as if there is no problem.

These beavers have no problem with flowing water, which must be the main problem your beavers face. Have the water level and velocity dropped to the same level as when they first built the dam? In the repair jobs I’ve seen, when water was flowing a bit fast, the beavers built a temporary dam below the dam they were repairing, backing some water up to it to lessen the velocity of the water. In a more panicky reaction in another pond, they built small dams above the main dam but that was to preserve some depth around the lodge. Another variable might be if there is a pregnant beaver or kits just born. I’d like to say that beavers only abandon their ponds on their own terms, not from acts of God and man, but one family did. This was in mid-May after a downpour and strong winds busted the dam a second time. They must have taken their newborns to another pond. However, they went back to a pond they moved from two years ago so it was still their territory.

Since you guys know these beavers so well, can you read their body language? I fancy that beavers do have a way of looking at things before they take on a major project like building a new dam or lodge. I assume with so many humans around your beavers have given up slapping their tails. It would be interesting to know if the catastrophe has made them more touchy. I got a sinking feeling once, after getting some sharps slaps from beavers who should know me, that they blamed me for the failure of their dam!

Anyway, from afar, things on your end don’t sound hopeless, and you should get your dam back, unless these beavers have very extensive territory and there is another likely place in it to relocate. Good luck! All the best, Bob

Heidi, At this time of year, when – as you said – the weather is beautiful and the water is still fast, there’s not a lot of incentive to rebuild at once. They’ve got their bank burrow and why risk another dam right now? Glad you’ve still got three kits. Often it’s the dad alone who does the building. Be patient. Sharon Brown (Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife)

Heidi, I’ve seen that in a couple places where beaver don’t rebuild back right away. Girl, all I can say is you just have to wait as see. It’s all really up to them. The adult male could have been washed away again keep an eye out for him. Sub-adults should have some building experience. Hopefully they will get on the ball and start doing it. You know, having your home and dam destroyed has to be a bit devastating maybe they just have to get their heads together. I wish I had some better information for you. I’m wearing your shirt and I love you Girl.. . Aways, Sherri Tippie

To summarize: beavers find a way, sit tight and trust them. Well, I’m trying, but it’s much harder work than I’m used to. Gooooooooo beavers!

Oh and an update on the lodge-cam beavers in the Tongass National Forest in Juneau. I noticed the error message and wrote to inquire about the movie star beavers. Pete wrote back

Our equipment box where the power and video cables are buried got flooded. The ground is frozen and it’s been raining. We’re not sure if anything is ruined yet, but it’s going to be a few days before we can restore/replace things. Those little stinkers haven’t been hanging out in front of the camera lately anyway. We tried to adjust the cam a bit, but it has been frozen in place.

Pete J Schneider Acting Aquatics Program Manager

“Beware the Hides of March”

heidi08 Uncategorized April 4, 2011

Get it? Apparently their sports writer thought it was such a fine pun combining his love for Shakespeare and his outdoorsy appreciation for slaughter (come to think of it maybe just the slaughter part) that he chose it for the headline of this column listing the best prices received at a recent fur auction at the Genesee Valley Trappers Association in the clubhouse at Honeoye.

One beaver hide sold for $50.50, the highest for that species. Chris “Hoot” Gerling of Collins Center is a versatile trapper as well as a buyer. He specializes in making beaver hats.

Fifty bucks? Is that a lot? Just imagine how much it was worth to the beaver. The casual tone of the scalping article and the notion that trapping is a SPORT and should be reported in this section is chilling to me. Just for clarity, trapping would only be a sport if the animals had an equal chance of winning. Hmm. Now that would introduce an exciting element of risk to the story. I might follow that.

I had to go searching for the meaning behind the phrase. As famous as the soothsayer’s ‘beware the ides of march‘ is, the Roman term “ides” is really just referring to a date, probably the 15th, although there isn’t an exact translation. Unlike our dates, which are numbered sequentially from the beginning of the month, the Romans counted backwards from three fixed points: the Nones, the Ides and the Kalends of the following month. Kalends being the first day of the new moon, Ides being full moon and nones being the half moon.

So what would that make today? Well yesterday was the new moon, so that would make it the Kalends of March? I guess now we’re officially in Aprilis territory. Come to think of it, if you’re a beaver or a fur-bearer of any kind, you should probably beware that, too.

1-2 Two little Beavers…

heidi08 Who's Killing Beavers Now? April 3, 2011

Early this morning (5:30) stalwart beaver defender Jon Ridler saw two kits together, one who ducked under to go in the bank hole just downstream of the primary dam, and one who went back to the hole next to the footbridge. I’m as happy as I can be to know that there are at least two members of our favorite team around.Hopefully there are more than two, but this is encouraging. Now if they could just start the heavy lifting!

On a much less happy note there is sad news from Scotland yesterday where the Edinburgh Zoo announced that their lone captured beaver “Erica” had died. Remember that Scottish National Heritage had decided that the ‘free beavers’ of the river Tay should be called the “Feral beavers” and captured to protect the ‘official’ beaver trial. Erica was the first and only capture of their grand campaign and was never displayed or even much discussed in captivity. A Back-flipping truth-as-pretzle BBC article about the news has even invented the word ‘re-homed’ to avoid saying “captured” when discussing the death.

Re-homed? Really? Have you suggested that term to the Scottish Prison Service because it’s a winner! (I would have gone with ‘kit-napped’ myself, but I’m a traditionalist). I guess dying in captivity is another kind of “Re-Homing”….re-final-homing….No mention of that fact that since beavers are inherently social animals stealing one child from the family and locking it alone in concrete with no other beavers was pretty much a death sentence anyway. A few days before the death was announced (god knows when it happened, January?) SNH announced that they were done playing beaver re-homers for now, and the ‘trial’ had been a success. Remember the 20 beavers they said they were going to catch when this started, and the 50 they were afraid eventually they wouldn’t have room for, I guess I’d call it a success to. If they only capture one at a time, keep them in isolation for 6 months, and let them die, they won’t ever run out of re-homing space.

I made this for Erica yesterday, and I truly hope the dark furry stain of this story will halt any plans SNH might have for this in the future.

Mornings at seven

heidi08 Uncategorized April 2, 2011

And so was this kit. Cheryl snapped these this morning on her way to work. Same procedure, returning to the hole under the willow by the footbridge carrying something to snack on. No work being done that we could see this morning, but we are hopeful dad will start a project and the irresistible allure of work will draw the scattered siblings to help. A reporter from the record came down today and will do a story next week. She was especially interested in the idea of the lost wetlands habitat with the dam washout. When beavers go, the neighborhood goes with them!

Now that we have our Martinez Beaver fix out of the way, there’s work to be done. Bat signal in Connecticut! Apparently there’s a community castor consternation at work. The local and inscrutably named conservation commission has weighed in and now all that’s left is the killing. Watch this report:

Rumor has it a resident contacted Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions to try and pressure the city to use humane tools. I wrote the relevant players last night and rooted around the internet to find this reasoned discussion about extermination in the conservation commission notes. My favorite part is where they all decide they need to kill the animals fast so the trapper gets the best price for the pelt. Thoughtful group.

Viney Hill Brook Park

Goody LeLash left a message for Joe Budrow, Essex ZEO regarding the beaver remediation at Old Quarry Pond, Viney Hill Brook Park. Ms. LeLash has not yet heard back from Mr. Budrow however Ms. LeLash has contacted a few licensed beaver trappers. The trappers can offer various ways to control the beavers. The cost to remove the beavers is $1,000 or more. Ms. LeLash was informed that there are very few locations left remaining within the state to which the beavers can be transferred. Michael Salafia, licensed trapper will remove the beavers at no cost providing he does so prior to the end of March 2011. Ms. LeLash indicated that she has not had an opportunity to speak with the Department of Environmental Protection.

Maryann Pleva referenced a DEP print-out on the management of the beavers. In this literature, the DEP notes that transplanting the beavers to another location is not a viable option. The DEP recommends that the beavers be destroyed. The beavers prefer to live in an area populated with people and a water source. The benefit of allowing the beavers to remain is that they provide a habitat for a wide variety of animals and insects, noting that dead standing trees killed by floods are home to blue heron.

Ms. LeLash indicated that Essex is home to an urban preserve and that this is the first time that a beaver population has been experienced in this park.

Doug Demarest stated that the best thing to do would be to trap the beavers and get rid of them.

Maryann Pleva questioned that if they are trapped and taken away, will other beavers find their way to this location.

Mr. Demarest stated that if they come back, they will be trapped again.

Ms. Tucker noted that before the beavers are trapped, approval should be obtained from Joe Budrow, Essex Wetlands Enforcement Officer.

It was the consensus of the Commission members that extermination is the only viable option for eradicating the beavers.

Ms. LeLash will email Mr. Budrow to seek approval to eradicate the beavers at Viney Hill Brook Park.

It was noted that the time constraint involves beaver pelts which are rich and ready to go now.

Mr. Helmecki suggested that the first Selectman should also be informed.

Motion made by Rich Helmecki to authorize Michael Salafia, licensed trapper to catch and remove at no fee, all of the beavers at Old Quarry Pond in Viney Hill Brook Park, with the approval of Joe Budrow, the Essex Wetlands Enforcement Officer. The First Selectman’s office will also be informed of the proposed activity.

Discussion

Ms. LeLash will call and email Mr. Budrow to discuss this activity and seek the approval from the Wetlands Enforcement Agent. Ms. LeLash will request that Mr. Budrow confirm his approval in writing. Mr. Budrow will advise the Conservation Commission if any other persons should be notified of this activity. The Trapper will be required to provide a copy of his trapping license and insurance. Ms. LeLash will inquire if the traps are all situated in the water. Ms. LeLash will contact the Town’s attorney to discuss the liability of this project.

Well, looks like Essex will be this week’s winner of the ‘whose killing beavers now’ award. Since this decision was made a month ago and the press is just covering it now I’m not hopeful for the fate of these beavers, but maybe the experience will squeeze some information through the constricted conduit of learning for the town in general. I was especially struck by this part of the article

News 8 went to First Selectman Phil Miller’s office seeking his perspective on the situation. He wasn’t there, but later returned one of News 8’s emails saying, “I’m. sorry that someone has turned you on to a non-event of sorts, just with the hopes that it might make me and the town look bad.”

Killing a family is a non-event in Connecticut and the media was only called in to make Essex look bad. If you’d like to send your thoughts about this unimportant effort to make Essex look bad (and believe me, Phil, we couldn’t do it without you) you can write Mr. Miller here.