Month: May 2012

Holes in their thinking…

The Cedar Glen Golf Course of Massachusetts is in dire straights. A crisis of epic proportions faces their rolling greens and plaid pants. No one in the entire state or in the vast caverns of the Boston Globe or the local University can possibly offer them a shred of real advice. Yesterday the unthinkable happened and the golf course had to turn visitors away.

But a freshly constructed dam – a 25-foot-wide mound of stripped branches and bark – had turned swaths of pristine greenway into swampland.

The course was so waterlogged Thursday by beavers’ handiwork that Burton Page, who runs the business, was forced to close down for the day, estimating $10,000 in lost revenue.

Oh no! Not a beaver dam in a stream by a golf course in Massachusetts! Next thing you’ll tell me is that this would NEVER have happened if it wasn’t for those awful trapping rules that turned Bay State into beaver slums!

Laws to protect the animals have prevented the golf course’s managers from taking any action against their new tenants, who are blocking a section of the Saugus River, which runs through the grounds. Page is hoping for a compromise – keep the dam intact and divert the river to drain the course of standing water – but the Saugus Board of Health denied a request for an emergency permit to alter the water flow around the dam.

Let me get this straight. You asked for permission to divert the water around the dam so that the stream wouldn’t flood. Um, what would prevent the beavers from building a dam in THAT stream next? Well, I’m sure they had a fantastic idea for that too, because just look at their ingenious back-up plan.

In the short term, maintenance staff have put out wooden pallets to help golfers traipse from one hole to the next. But it’s a less-than-perfect fix. On Thursday, the water level was so high that the pallets floated away.

Oh man, you mean you got those kind of mean wooden pallets that float? Of all the rotten luck! What will you do now? Apparently the golf course was denied license to kill because health and human safety isn’t at stake. (And it happens to be May so orphaning a bunch of beavers isn’t usually great for public relations.) If only there were some dire consequences you could flog to get those stick-in-the-mud commissioners moving!

Ellsworth said he is also concerned that the standing water will cause an influx of mosquitoes that could carry disease and “I know [beavers] help the ecosystem and stuff,’’ Ellsworth said. “But when they start affecting homes and businesses, that’s another problem.’’

Really Mr. Ellsworth? Do you really know that beavers help the ecosystem and ‘stuff’? I’d be fascinated to hear you summarize some of the key examples of the way beaver improve the landscape and increase biodiversity. Since you already know about it we can just be quiet and let you review. I won’t interrupt. Come to think of it, do you know what doesn’t increase biodiversity at all? Golf Courses.

Scott Jackson, who teaches in the department of environmental conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and specializes in beavers, said the animals were almost entirely wiped out of Massachusetts centuries ago because of excessive trapping and deforestation.

Slowly, colonies have moved back east from New York, but they only reached Eastern Massachusetts in the past 15 to 20 years, Jackson said.“I grew up in Massachusetts, and we never talked about beavers or saw them,’’ Jackson said. “All this has happened fairly quickly

At last a real expert! Okay, so now we brought in a beaver expert from Massachusetts and he can finally set things straight. Obviously he knows all about flow devices right? And how to solve flooding problems without ruining streams, right? And he knows about Beaver Solutions right? And he and Mike Callahan probably get together every month for a beer to chat about beaver management right? And Mike comes sometimes to lecture his class on long term solutions right?

Jackson explained that if a property owner with a beaver problem does not qualify for an emergency permit from a board of health, he or she can request a permit from the Conservation Commission, but that process requires a public hearing and could take weeks.Even then, there are concerns about reestablishing water flow too quickly; another property downstream can experience inadvertent flooding.

Sigh. See I told you. Rare prehistoric giant beavers in Massachusetts are the only possible explanation.

The Horse Race is On!

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Creative Solutions May 11, 2012

Beavers have new forest digs in first test of new Utah plan

Revised management plan lets rodents be relocated.

By Mark Havnes | The Salt Lake Tribune

Cedar City • The first relocation of beavers under a revised state management plan went swimmingly, according to state wildlife officials.

Since Friday, nine of the rodents have been released in a southern Utah stream in the Dixie National Forest under terms of a plan that allows biologists to trap and transplant beavers to sites where they can help restore watershed and landscapes.

This relocation was set in motion by Merril Evans, who owns irrigated pasture land in Panguitch where six of the beavers were trapped. Evans said he called the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and asked what he could do when he noticed beavers were cutting down trees on his property. He gave permission for the animals to be trapped.

“They were really great guys,” he said of a biologist and a volunteer from the Grand Canyon Trust. They not only trapped the rodents but protected still standing trees with wire fencing to prevent future problems from other beavers.

Utah has released a shiny new beaver management plan that allows beavers from problem areas to be moved to areas where beavers are needed. Check out the whole thing here and pause to appreciate the rolling mountains of hard work by Mary Obrien in bringing this about – she has literally been at this since long, long before I even found out that beavers don’t eat fish. If you never listened to her interview, you might enjoy it now, and get her introduction to the remarkable up-and-commer Jeremy Christiansen who is featured in the article.

The new management plan reflects the current thinking that beavers can improve landscapes. Jeremy Christensen, a biologist with the Grand Canyon Trust, which played an active role in revising the management plan, said the transplant should provide a prime example of how relocation can be used as a management tool.

Beaver dams are a natural way to regulate stream flows, especially in areas of heavy runoff where the animals have been eradicated. The dams create ponds that slowly let out water as needed. Once a pond is created, it can spur development of meadows and habitat for other species, including the boreal toad, listed as a sensitive species in Utah that survives best in conditions created by beavers,

Is it just me? Or in the back of your mind do you hear an old time radio announcer at the race track, broadcasting:

Washington is firmly in the lead, with only Oregon trailing at her heels. Idaho is cresting at the bend and around the stretch comes Utah! She’s gaining, look at that stride as she passes the others on the rail! Now its Utah and Washington neck and neck! Where did she come from? Washington is starting to look nervous as its first real competitor comes into her own! And in the lead by just a nose as they finish —–

Great work Utah! Finally a real horse race in the west! (Obviously California is still having some trouble trying to get out of the gates.)

Oh and after all that excitement some relaxing Castor Fiber filmed was last night at Paul and Louise Ramsay’s beaver haven in Scotland. It was done by the creator of this remarkable blog which we should probably all be checking every morning (right after this one – of course!)

Wishpoosh-Jessie

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, History May 10, 2012

Blog tracks ‘sightings’ of Jessie, a mysterious monster beneath Jamaica Pond

Now this is fun! A blog and twitter account recently appeared on the Boston landscape reporting sighting of a lurking behemoth beneath the largest fresh water in the area. Get it? ‘Jessie’ like ‘Nessie’?

“We are quite certain that Jessie is a giant beaver, Castoroides ohioensis. It’s the only thing that scientifically makes sense, and it fits a lot of the observational data,” said an e-mail from Harden, an office worker and artist, and Roche, a doctoral student in computer science at Northeastern. “He’s about eight feet long, covered in brown fur, and has a large, paddle-like tail.”

The grad student-reporters on this fantastical discovery even have a good reason why he hasn’t been photographed! Seems they set up night observation cameras and got amazing footage but a silly intern deleted them all!

Releasing information about Jessie via the Internet has “definitely created a bit of a buzz on Twitter, and there were an originally increased number of reports of Jessie sightings,” the e-mail said. “I think more people are out looking, and I think it may have made Jessie a bit more shy.”

Oh, that’s rich! They are having a lot of fun with this idea! I almost think castoroides might want to come to Martinez but I can’t even IMAGINE what the city council would do with that particular rumor!

The bloggers admit to having fabricated Jessie’s existence. “Everyone wants a little magic and mystery in life,” their e-mail said. “In this day and age, we are asked to believe so many improbable tales – that Elvis is dead, that ke$ha can sing, that we are not ruled by a race of alien lizard overlords – why NOT believe in a giant, prehistoric pond-dwelling beaver?!?”

Why not indeed? If you want a fantastical tale about the REAL castoroides, you can read all about his exploits and legendary battle with Coyote here. Come to think of it, it makes sense that there would be giant beavers in Massachusetts. Given the unbelievable amount of panic and outrage the arrival of an ordinary beaver causes – the trips to the health department for a kill permit, the claim that they are going to ruin the environment, the woeful kvetching to the media, the failure to problem-solve or think in any capacity about reasonable solutions – those beavers MUST be giant.

Certainly they couldn’t possibly be the same size as the beavers for which hundreds of other cities manage their challenges while recognizing their enormous value, right? (Like Martinez for instance?) I mean obviously Boston has got to be dealing with a problem no city has successfully faced in 150 years right?

Well check out the Jessie blog and in the mean time, keep your eye peeled for something like this.

Late-Breaking Update: Beavers Still Chew Trees

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions May 9, 2012

0508-beaver-1[1] — Press Photo by Betsy Simon Dickinson resident Bradley Robertson surveys a tree in Jaycee Park on Friday, where beavers are blamed for damage to some of the trees.

“I was walking along the river two weeks ago when I noticed the trees and reported it to the person at the front desk at parks and recreation,” said Dickinson resident Bradley Robertson. “They said someone else had called before and that fencing would go up, but fencing isn’t going to be enough. They need to trap the beavers and set them loose somewhere else.

Clearly one of the limiting factors of maintaining a beaver website is plot variation. There isn’t any. Beavers build dams and cities get upset. Let’s call that Example A. Beavers block culverts and cities get upset. Let’s call that Example B. Beavers Chew trees and cities get upset.

Let’s call that example ‘C‘ – for CHEW.

Residents and users of the area along Heart River near Jaycee Park are concerned that beavers may chew down all of the park’s trees if the Dickinson Parks and Recreation doesn’t step in.

“There’s not much I can do about it. They won’t let me shoot in the city limits,” he said. “And that it’s not my responsibility anyway. It’s the park board’s responsibility.”

“I’ve reported it to our staff operation manager, who will check it out and wrap with chain link, and we’ll contact the city forester to see if they will be salvageable,” he said.

Chain link? To give it that prison-yard look? I don’t suppose you’ll leave any space for the tree to grow? With their chain link tourniquets those trees should all be dead in NO time!

Maybe I should keep form letters for the three predictable solutions. I’ve been writing them all individually but why bother? They all require exactly the same advice. Get that man who wants to help but can’t “use his gun in the city” and put a paintbrush in his hand. Take some latex paint that matches the color of the bark and toss in some mason sand – (about 5 oz per quart of paint). Stir it up right before painting about three feet up the trunk on all sides. Voila! The gritty texture will discourage chewing and your trees will be safe. You’ll need to repeat it in about two years but visually it will look much less ‘penal’ than chain link.

If the trees are not salvageable, Kramer said they would be taken down but didn’t know how soon the issue would be resolved. He said it has been two or three years since a trapper was called to the area around Jaycee’s Park and the baseball field.

“The thing is we can’t chain link or wire mesh around every tree,” he said. “Obviously, one of these trees is probably past the point of being salvageable, but we have some years where we go without any issues. It’s not like it is a problem we see coming. Typically, we don’t see activity until after the damage is done.”

Sigh. Example C – corollary 1. Don’t rush to take the trees out that the beavers cut down. The roots will still prevent erosion for a good long time – and depending on the species they’ll provide energy for the tree to recover its ‘root/shoot ratio’ by stimulating a natural coppicing effect when shoots grow back. Maybe you could put a little park sign to explain it to visitors. I know you’re in North Dakota but look what your next door neighbor is teaching today in Montana:

Home / News / Montana & Regional / Montana & Regional Montana tribes hold annual honoring of Flathead River Story Discussion Video Image (3) By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian | Posted: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 9:30 pm | No Comments Posted Font Size: Default font size Larger font size buy this photo TOM BAUER/Missoulian Tim Ryan explains to fifth-graders from Ronan Middle School how a fish trap was made and used at the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ annual River Honoring on Tuesday. The event brings hundreds of fourth- and fifth-graders to the lower Flathead River for two days of education.

When beavers take down willow trees to construct their dams and lodges, Ryan said, what is left eventually sprouts the fairly thin shoots that are the perfect material for fish traps.

Longer shoots were used to make the cone-like enclosure, while short ones were shaved into sharp points on one end and bound to the opening at an angle. Fish could enter unscathed, but would run into the sharp points if they tried to exit.

“Every time I do one, I thank the beaver for helping make my ribs for the fish trap,” Ryan said.

Well, I’m glad we had this little chat. Just remember example C – corollary 2: beaver chewed trees create ideal nesting habitat for migratory and songbirds. You like those things, right?

That’s why Kramer looks to users of and residents around the city’s parks to be additional eyes and ears for him and his staff.

Fair enough. Can we be the brains too?

Where the Wild Things Were….

heidi08 Beavers May 8, 2012

The news of Maurice Sendak’s passing has left me very sad this morning. I can only say how fiercely I respected the way he saw the grim, audacious, carnivorous, generosity of children. I learned from the New York Times article that his partner of many years was a child psychiatrist, which makes perfect sense. There are not enough words to say how much he changed the way we write for children, the way we see them and the way we admit the sacred and profane memories of our own childhoods. No therapist or teacher I know could list the number of children’s voices they have heard shaping and reshaping his fearless words. If you haven’t seen this interview you will enjoy it. At 83 years old this man still knew exactly how to cope with the grisly combination of friendly charm and breath-taking cruelty.

You know he would have loved beavers.

Here are some additional comments to go with your viewing pleasure. If you would like to add your own email them to me.

Twig Stories by Jo Marshall You wrote a beautiful and meaningful tribute to Mr. Sendak’s art and life, Heidi. It would have been wonderful to see his story about beavers. So sad to lose such a great and honest illustrator.

Longtime beaver support JD-Please, pretty please with sugar on top…post Pt. 2 of that extraordinary Colbert interview with Maurice Sendak. I am in love with them both.

LB-Loved the interview this morning on the website. What a delightful and interesting person.

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