Send in Adrian…

heidi08 Beavers June 3, 2011

Looks like Frontenac Ontario might get a little smarter and a lot more compassionate in the coming weeks, which is definitely something to celebrate. Now they’re discussing using Fur-bearing Defenders to come in and install some flow devices to manage dams that caused problems for the roadways this year.

Road works officials from Frontenac townships reported that beaver dams damaged more than 25 roads this spring. Trappers enlisted by Central and North Frontenac killed an estimated 300 beavers. “Municipalities hit the panic button and call a trapper and that’s it,” said Lesley Fox, executive director for the Association for the Protection of Fur- Bearing Animals.

Jake Emiston: The Whig Standard

Adrian Nelson is the young man who bought Mike’s DVD, consulted with him on the phone, did his first flow device install in October , came to the State of the Beaver Conference in February, and has been working like a beaver missionary since then. He’s also got the youthful, well-scrubbed and trustworthy look that makes him a good candidate for convincing gnarled unbelievers and 40 more years of cheerful installations.

If the Frontenac townships agree to bring in Fox’s expert, she’ll send Adrian Nelson. Nelson has advised several B. C municipalities and has personally constructed beaver deceivers and bafflers for private land owners. He recently built a pipeline leveller in Burnaby, B. C, inserting a large piece of piping into a dam to allow water flow to continue. The entrance of the pipe is blocked by fencing to prevent beavers from stopping the flow. According to Nelson, most structures cost between $150 and $300, with all materials available at hardware stores. Nelson will provide diagrams and how-to videos to any interested municipalities. If he’s asked to conduct a demonstration, he said he won’t charge any money. Nelson said the fence structures and pipelines can last as long as 15 years, allowing beavers to maintain dams without risking floods and washouts.

Pipeline leveller? Not sure if that’s the reporter misquoting or Adrian’s creation, but okay. Call it what you want just build it right and show Ontario that beaver problems can be managed without trapping. Good luck and let’s see what happens.

And here’s an ominous bit of history to end on…

: The Record Union Sacramento – 1899

You don’t say!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, History June 2, 2011

Tell me honestly, because I’m truly fascinated, how on EARTH would a beaver chop down a tree with his tail?

For our beaver friends in Massachussetts

heidi08 Beavers June 2, 2011

Click to get a glimpse of what went on in the Bay State today. The news reports 4 were killed so far and flow-device installer Mike Callahan says that about 5 tornados hovered within a 10 mile radius of his home. One stretched to 150 foot high funnel and crossed the highway in front of him while he was driving. With all the devastation in Joplin and Tuscaloosa, an additional twister on the east coast hardly matters, but it’s not what you expect from the home town of Harvard and clam chowder. Google tells me that the worst tornado on record in that state occurred in 1951 with 90 fatalities.

Let’s hope the wind is kind to New York tomorrow.

Things that bear repeating…

heidi08 Beaver Behavior June 1, 2011

beaver toes! — Yearling Beaver Working - Cheryl Reynolds

Check out this lovely photo taken yesterday morning of one of our debutantes on his way to work. The water is so clear you can actually see his toes! He did a round of mud, and pulled a clump of tules and then retired for the day. This morning at 5:30 I saw our littlest beaver demonstrate more fine behavior…

Perfect execution and form, solid entry and dismount, and very beaver-like in his performance. In both instances he looks exactly like a beaver should look and did entirely what a beaver should do. Once. I waited an hour for part two and saw nothing. Our beavers have learned the aesthetics of dam building and the intricacies of laying mud.

They just haven’t learned the value of repetition.

Take, for example, last weeks excellent mudding demonstration on the secondary dam. Just what junior needed to do. He did it very well. One might even say he did it perfectly.Once.

They all need to keep doing do it about 1000 more times. And another 1000 on the primary.

As a rule, the value of repetition in our culture is vastly underrated. We tend to look for new ways to work and new things to amuse us and we forget that sometimes we need to do just what were doing before only over and over again. Learning to walk, tie your shoe, write the letter ‘A’, color in the lines, play by the rules, list state capitals, swing a bat, and do your multiplication tables only happen because you repeat them again and again, even when they get boring and fail to hold your interest.

At a certain point the child learns that “going to work” isn’t just dressing up like your parent and doing whatever they do for five minutes. It means getting up everyday and repeating the same job over and over again regardless of whether anyone helps you or praises you, until the job is basically finished and you’re ready to start the next job. Repetition increases skill, reduces anxiety, and familiarizes individuals with the various demands of the job.

It also builds dams.

Today is the initial round for the Scripps National Spelling Bee and finals are tomorrow. None of those remarkable children would be there without massive repetition and rehearsal.

Let’s hope the beavers get ESPN.