Month: June 2013

More Beaver Believers

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental June 5, 2013

This weekend’s Olean Times Herald featured a lovely annual event. What a great way for families to celebrate the end of the school year.

RED HOUSE – Several hundred nature lovers had checked in by Friday night — with some stragglers due this morning — at the 55th annual Allegany Nature Pilgrimage in Allegany State Park.

Sponsored by the Audubon Societies of Buffalo, Jamestown and Presque Isle, Pa., and the Burroughs Audubon Nature Club of Rochester, the event typically draws between 400 and 600 family members and friends.

They come year after year to attend several nature walks of their choosing from among dozens offered, including bird watching, tree and plant identification, salamander walk, owl prowl, carnivorous native plants, general nature hikes, wildflower photography, nighttime frog walk and the popular beaver walk.

Allegany State Park is in New York, just over the border from Pennsylvania. From where I sit it’s an area that folks could stand to learn more about living with beavers, so I’m particularly happy that one of the most popular events in this well-attended weekend is the beaver walk. Its lead by Kristen Bueschi Rosenburg of Rhinestein Woods north of there.

ANOTHER POPULAR EVENT Friday night was the beaver walk led by Kristen Rosenburg, an environmental educator at Rhinestein Woods in Cheektowaga. She did SUNY Environmental and Forestry School graduate work on beavers in Allegany State Park in the late 1990.

If you were a rabid beaver geek like me you might worry whether Kristen said all the right things about beavers and emphasized their role as a keystone species. But then again, if you were a very rabid beaver geek like me you would know that SUNY Environmental and Forestry school she attended is where beaver guru and author of the beaver bible Dietland Muller-Swarze teaches, so you would instantly be reassured that she has all the knowledge she needs.

Ms. Rosenburg said beavers, the world’s second-largest rodent, can grow to 4 feet from the tip of their nose to the tip of their tail. They average 40 to 60 pounds, but have been trapped as large as 110 pounds. The biggest one she live-trapped in the park for her research as a 57-pounder.

She had tape recordings of different beaver sounds, including the warning slap of a tail, a whining young beaver crying for food and a beaver chewing bark off a tree. “(They) are great swimmers, but are not fast on land. It’s like a waddle. Their favorite food is aspen,” she explained.

They eat it much like people eat corn on the cob. They will also eat willow and dogwood, but avoid pines and red maples, which are apparently not as tasty. Beavers don’t hibernate in winter, instead leaving a store of tasty aspen branches in the water outside the lodge. She said the image of a beaver slapping mud on a beaver dam with his tail is cartoon myth.

A myth! I can already tell Kristen is going to be a friend, because beaver myths are a favorite topic for me. You can watch a short video of Kristen here: I’m of to write her right now and invite her to our beaver festival!

Martinez ‘shows’ the way to San Jose!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Dispersal, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers June 4, 2013

←Cheryl’s most famous photo!

These beavers know the way to San Jose!

Alessandra Bergamin

In the heart of San Jose, nestled between the glass and steel of HP Pavillion and a busy highway, some long-unseen locals have moved back to town. Beavers have returned to a spot at the confluence of Los Gatos Creek and the Guadalupe River for the first time in 150 years, setting off a scurry of excitement among conservationists.

“I was elated to hear about the beavers,” said Leslee Hamilton, executive director of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy in San Jose. “The Guadalupe River seemed like a prime candidate [for beavers] so I wasn’t surprised when they appeared, merely ecstatic.”

Close your eyes for a second and just imagine a world where every mayor and every city manager and every conservancy who finds beavers on their property reacts in exactly the same way as Leslee. Imagine what it would be like if every state park and every city park and every national park got ECSTATIC to have beavers in their borders. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m apparently not the only one any more.

When beavers arrived in Martinez seven years ago, an influx of other species came in on their coattails. Sacramento spittail, a member of the carp family seen most often in the Central Valley, and American mink made an appearance along Alhambra Creek. Perryman attributes this to the beaver’s role as a “keystone species”—a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment.

“Beavers do these really specific behaviours that create the conditions for the next species that will follow,” explained Perryman

The reporter Alessandra really did a nice and thorough job talking to the major players for this article and it will be in the magazine version in July. There was lots of information that never survived the editing room floor but I’m thrilled she really seemed to take the coppicing message to heart. Play this video all the way through.

To be honest, I’m a little bit disgruntled by the wary approach this article and others have displayed about beaver effect on fish. In my castor-centric opinion Bay Nature has been overly slow to get the beaver-salmon-steelhead memo. I personally talked to the editor about it in 2009 at the JMA awards dinner and directly talked to the publisher about it in 2011 flyway festival. They both said, send us the articles and we’ll look into it but when I gave them multiple sources and Michael Pollock’s personal cell phone number, nothing happened. One might think their foot-dragging has something to do with this:

In some situations, beaver dams can benefit native fish species including chinook salmon and steelhead trout by creating ideal conditions for juvenile fish (smolt) to mature in deep water ponds. “We would look at it on a site specific basis with consideration for the threatened steelhead, and get a professional opinion from a fishery biologist to see whether the benefits would outweigh the impact,” said Titus of the water district.

(Because you know, sometimes it’s good for fish to have deep pools of cooler temperatures, more food so that they can get bigger before they swim to sea and stand a better chance of not getting eaten while they grow to maturity and swim back, and sometimes you know, there are some fish that, for reasons of their own, are just suicidal and want to end it all, and we want to make sure beavers don’t get in the way of that.)

For goodness sake. I will admit there may be some portion of some stream for some fish species in the broad complexity of the planet where beavers produce a negative effect but I expect my water district and NATURE MAGAZINE to be familiar enough with the science to know that when these unlikely circumstances arrive they are going to have to PROVE it. Doug needs to come to the beaver festival. I’d like to introduce him to some folks. Especially the winner of last year’s golden pipe award. (Which he received for spreading the good news about beaver and salmon and steelhead)

Okay. I’m done ranting. This was a still a delightful article, I love seeing Cheryl’s photos so prominent, and Alessandra is about the only reporter that I’ve been able to impress the bird relationship on, so I’m very happy that this survived the cutting sheers. Thanks so much for your good cheer! I look forward to the print copy, and if you have time go comment on the article and thank her.

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Martinez Beaver Update Cheryl was down last night and took some lovely photos of our family who has been working up a storm to feed new hungry mouths, taking a tree in the annex and primary dam.

bringing home the bacon — Adult brings willow to lodge: Photo Cheryl Reynolds

I was down at 4:30 this am, where one adult beaver was literally on sentry, prowling back and forth across the creek, until he saw me in the shadows and then SLAP! The alarm was sent to our mystery kits. Jon and I eventually saw one black sausage paddling in the darkness beside the old lodge who ducked and wasn’t seen again. Nice to know they’re being healthy and guarded, but I can’t wait for photos! And nice to see mom spending quality time with Jr. Am I the only one who thinks she’s reassuring him, “Don’t worry. You’ll always be my first baby”.

Mom and Jr — Mom and yearling: Photo Cheryl Reynolds

Grafton Redefines “Sanctuary”.

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Educational, Environmental, Who's Killing Beavers Now? June 3, 2013

David Bryson stands at the dam where he discovered the traps and a dead beaver.

Beaver trapped, killed in natural sanctuary

GRAFTON – Despite efforts to save a family of beavers at a local wildlife sanctuary, the last of the four beavers was found dead on Thursday evening.

David Bryson, a member of the Nawautin Sanctuary Association (NSA), and Debbie Kilmer wrote a letter to the group’s executive on May 20 pleading with them to look for other alternatives to removing four beavers from the Nawautin Wildlife Sanctuary south of Grafton along Lake Ontario.

The fear was the beavers would be killed. “Is this not a nature sanctuary in which the beaver, as an indigenous species deserve the right to co-exist?,” stated the e-mail.

Just to be clear, the Nawautin Wildlife Sanctuary is a lovely jewel of a place in rolling Northumberland between mutiple wetlands and on the shores of Lake Ontario. Its 13 acres sit just across the pond from New York State. Residents serve on an advisory board to protect and promote the preserve, where motor vehicles are not allowed and folks are just encouraged to observe nature. Bird watchers, dog walkers and photographers enjoy walking its trails every day.

Because there was water, willow, gravity and oxygen, the area attracted beavers. (Funny how that works and will continue to work.) And folks enjoyed watching the many birds who came to their ponds, and the turtles on the banks. On the other side of the pond a property owner got anxious that the water level had risen and picked up the phone to call the city administrator, Terry Korotki, to complain. He did this in much the same way as you might tell your wife to get the fly swatter, and with sadly similar results.

Mr. Korotki ran it by the mayor who told him to call the trapper they always used in these situations. Meanwhile two advisory members wrote letters and begged the city not to trap. They contacted Fur-bearer Defenders who told them about solutions and they were actually hoping someone might listen because they were, after all, on the board. Lesley Fox of FBD wrote a letter to the mayor explaining about better solutions. No matter. By Thursday night four beavers were dead from a leghold trap.

In an emergency meeting at the Grafton Library on Friday night, frustrations boiled over as a number of people were upset by the NSA executive’s decision to kill the beavers. “There is nothing that says that we need to hold a meeting first,” executive chair Ray Bowart said during the meeting. The executive said its reasons for trapping and killing the beavers included the strong possibility of flooding on private property.

At one point during the meeting Bowart made the comment, “the reaction to this (e-mail Bryson and Kilmer sent) caused the beavers to be taken out.” Shortly after tempers flared, which resulted in Bowart resigning from the Executive and leaving the meeting.

Did you catch that? When Bowart was challenged about his decision to kill the beavers he blamed those who objected saying “The fact that you made a fuss about these animals was the reason they had to be killed”. Really? So I guess Grafton better be careful about protecting senior centers or day cares from now on. Consider yourself warned.

This was particularly rich.

Secretary / treasurer Meredith Coristine said he regretted the comment was made about the reason the beavers were killed. “If we made an error, we apologize.”

Well, okay then.

Why on earth do people think that’s an apology? And why didn’t I think of it when I was five?

“If I broke that lamp when I was swinging my baton, I apologize.”

” If some of those cookies were eaten by me, I am sorry”

“If Timmy was accidentally scratched while I hugged him, I regret it”.

No wonder administrator’s are so fond of the passive tense.

Thank god for this:

Bryson put forth a motion that was accepted unanimously that any matter regarding wildlife existence in the sanctuary will require a meeting by the membership to discuss options.

I must be tired today because I find this article deeply upsetting. Of course cities kill beavers all the time and people are often upset by it, so that’s not really new. It’s that they were so close to winning on this. Two very strongly placed and vocal advocates on the front lines and an agency at the ready to help. And we still get four dead beavers and god knows how many orphaned kits. I think its the nature (pun intended) of this particular setting and its designation as a SANCTUARY that really upsets me. I know that if I lived there this might be the new sign.

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Maybe you’re depressed too after that article and need good news. VERY GOOD NEWS. Absolutely fantastic news!

Jon went down to take the dog for a walk before day shift this morning at 5 and saw at least TWO KITS. They were swimming about by the Escobar bridge and an adult beaver was in protective attendance. One scrambled onto the bank by the old lodge. It was still dark so there are no photos. Jon flew home and woke me up but by the time I got there at 5:30 they had gone in. Still, we will start seeing them now, and we will have at least two so that means we will start HEARING them soon as they talk to each other.

I hope no one needs me to spell or do math any time soon because I’m going to be sleepy every day for a month now.

Two 2008 Kit tails: Photo Cheryl Reynolds

Your regularly scheduled broadcast will return shortly…

heidi08 Beavers June 2, 2013

Who can possibly resist the charm of THIS story!

Far-Right Extremists Chased Through London by Women Dressed as Badgers

I would love to wax whimsical about chasing city council members with beaver tails, but I have to check and see if I can still give a talk about ANYTHING at all besides beavers? We’ll see…The good news is that Cheryl is bravely staying at the house taking care of the ravenous hound which means she gets two chances (am & pm) for excellent photos of the new shy kit! Fingers crossed!

In the mean time you should definitely read this. It will be the very best thing you read all year.

Finally!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Creative Solutions, Educational June 1, 2013

Beavers are born to bite wood, not people

May 2013 by Simon Jones

The headline “beaver kills man” is not one you will see very often. It appeared recently after a wild beaver attacked and killed an angler in Belarus – an event that is both tragic and highly unusual.

Beavers are shy, nocturnal rodents, ungainly on land, that avoid immediate threats from natural predators or humans by quickly entering the water and swimming or diving to safety. If this means of escape is not open to a beaver and it is cornered, then, like many wild animals, it will attempt to frighten off its attacker or defend itself or its young with a sudden lunge and bite.

Beavers are herbivores that often feed on woody plants, so they have evolved powerful jaws and incisor teeth that can inflict deep puncture wounds should a person get too close to a stressed animal.

If accurate, the story from Belarus suggests that the beaver was cornered and fell back on its last line of defence, with fatal consequences for the man who approached it, reportedly to take a photo.

The world has become so entirely insane over the repeated Belarus story that this tepid defense from the leader of the woefully bureaucracy-laden Scottish beaver trial looks like something from a modern day Robert the Bruce – swinging into battle over the moors to defend his highland trial. No he never mentions that the story is a rerun and was exhaustively reported 6 weeks ago , and yes he inexplicably omits the part about the fisherman trying to pick UP the beaver for the photo. But any port in a storm, right?

Benefits of beavers

For the beaver, the last few decades have been a success story as ecologists increasingly recognise the benefits they can bring. Over-hunted for their high-value fur, both species of this tubby, spaniel-sized mammal were driven to the verge of extinction in many areas by the 19th century. However, the late 20th and early 21st centuries have seen a remarkable reversal in fortunes. Legal protection and numerous reintroduction schemes have allowed populations to rise dramatically in much, but not all, of their former ranges.

Beavers are a keystone species: the dams they build and the ponds they create help to improve biodiversity, because they provide the conditions for many other wetland species to flourish. Beaver dams can also trap sediment, pollutants and regulate water flow at times of flood or drought.

I’ve corresponded with Simon in the past about the illicit Tay beavers that refused to die and mucked things up for the proper beaver channels. His heart is in the right place but his head might be weighed down by suffocating meetings and research I think. I know one attendee sent him photos of our beaver festival a few years back but he apparently wasn’t tempted to try one of his own! I’m glad someone respectable wrote a hearty response to combat the increasingly terrifying headlines. (Yesterday I read ‘residents on edge as beaver population grows.’) But the well-meaning article goes on to make the apparently necessary effort to soothe folks by promising that if beavers create problems we can always kill them later. Which is an argument that never sits well with me.

In the longer term, culling and hunting to control populations are also important for ensuring that people and beavers can coexist. This can be a sensitive issue in countries where the animal is officially protected and there is public opposition to culling.

Yes, there is.

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Oh and in case you don’t recognize that beaming face behind all those medals, that’s Ian Timothy our beaver friend from Kentucky at his last EVER trip to Carnegie hall for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards National Ceremony. Day Shift won another gold, his entire portfolio of won a silver. He has been a winner every year for four years. He’ll be too old to enter again next year.