Let’s have more good news!

heidi08 Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions December 26, 2013

It’s the day after Christmas which can be a let down for some – so let’s have a round of pick-me-ups. The first is from an well written book review of what was apparently a badly written book.

Book talk: Photos tell beaver tale

There have been hundreds of books written on beavers, and I have read a good many of them. The outstanding characteristic about “Beavers: Where Waters Run” is the excellent photos.

What’s missing from the book by Strong unfortunately is the ecological importance of this keystone species: what exactly the beaver contributes to the lives of many other species. A recent document available on the internet called the “Beaver Restoration Toolbox” is good for this.

The health of fish population are greatly improved by the increasing of aquatic habitat biodiversity, the creating of rearing and overwintering habitat, and the enhancing of growth rates through improved food conditions.

Their contribution to hydrology includes water storage for late season flow, raising ground water levels, cooling water temperatures (through seepage), increasing nutrient availability, reconnecting flood plains and decreasing sediment delivery.

Carbon, of which we have increasingly alarming amounts in our fossil fuels driven world, is stored in their pond/wetland environments. The latter create critical amphibian, small mammal, and bird habitat.

Oregon is getting SO smart! The author of this delicious review of what failed to be written is Linda Driskill a volunteer librarian in Grant Oregon. Her name didn’t ring a bell but I figured anyone that smart I must know or (at least know of) so I searched my computer database and realized she had been cc’d in an email from Leonard Houston. Turns out she is responsible for the Keystone Project in Grant, using beavers to create fish, wildlife, raise the water table, well – you know. She is also the official representative for Grant County Conservationists. I found her grant application online.

9. Statement of Project Goals and Objectives:

Restoration of beaver, aquatic ecosystems, fish and wildlife habitat
Recharging ground water systems and storage of water for late season release
Nutrient cycling (flooding by beaver quadruples the amount of nitrogen available to plants).•
Decreasing stream velocity and erosion potential with cleaner and cooler water downstream.
Building sediment bars for the reestablishment of willows and riparian hardwoods
Providing opportunities for people with different values and beliefs to work together on the common goal of watershed restoration if they agree that beaver can make this contribution.

Good work Linda! You are officially an honorary member of Worth A Dam! Keep it up!

Onto the next best headline of the day….

Beaver Trap Catches Man, Irks Humane Society

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Predator Defense and other wildlife advocates have long protested what they say are lax trapping laws in Oregon. A Dec. 15 incident in which a man’s leg was broken in a beaver trap, in conjunction with a press release from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife saying “dog owners share in the responsibility to keep their pets safe during trapping seasons,” has strengthened HSUS’s resolve to make ODFW tighten its trapping regulations.

We will never stop pressing for trapping reforms in Oregon,” Beckstead says. “And we will continue to explore every available option,” including petitioning the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, going through the state Legislature or via a ballot measure.

I’m not crazy about the word “Irks” but I love the idea of increased trapping regulation in Oregon. Watch out Massachusetts, you aren’t the only ballerina on the stage anymore. Any day now I’m sure we’ll be reading about how the voters in Oregon were tricked into making responsible decisions. Can California be far behind?

Oh and Santa was VERY goood to me this year. I don’t know how he treated you so I thought I’d share in case you need a last minute gift. I’ve already written to thank the company and encourage a donation. Your purchase would DEFINITELY help! You cannot imagine how delightful it is to see that little face peering up through your morning coffee!

Wishing you A beaVery Merry Christmas!

heidi08 Beavers December 25, 2013

Of course you know the beavers’ favorite Christmas song… I made this video so long ago I barely had any photos of my own or from Cheryl and I couldn’t tell a nutria and a beaver apart. It was before Worth A Dam, the flow device or the secondary dam. It was just one month after the Nov. 7th meeting in 2007. See if you can spot the mistake! And Merry Christmas!

What if a beaver blogged?

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Educational, Environmental December 24, 2013

On Christmas eve, the Perryman family rules were that we were allowed to open one present. So I will pass on this fine tradition to you. This is the best Christmas present you are ever likely to receive from a beaver website. It was sent to me yesterday by Dr. Ellen Wohl, the fluvial geomorphology professor at Colorado State who has written some of the most important papers on beavers and rivers. She is in the front row on the left, and one of these scrubbed, smart outdoor types around her is responsible for this clever work. This blog is written by one of her graduate students. Enjoy!

Dr. Ellen Wohl and the 2013-2014 FLUVIAL GEOMORPHOLOGY TEAM
Colorado State University

About Chewy:

I joined the fluvial geomorphology group at CSU in 2010. They were finally starting to recognize the worth and, I might say, critical importance of beavers in all aspects of the natural world. I decided that they needed professional guidance. It can be tedious being stuck in that nearly-windowless office day after day, but occasionally I get to return to the spacious outdoors and inspect the work of other beavers (see photo below). Someday, when my task here is finished, I’ll move on to another group and enlighten them in turn.

Ellen said this was written and posted very recently, and she didn’t tell me who was the genius behind it. You need to read it all the way through so I have to share it. It’s nearly Christmas and there is no alternative. I’ve decided to risk great copyright wrath and re-post it all here. Except for my very favorite part, which is the last lines. I know they will be your favorites too, so mesmerized by great admiration for the first 300 words, I am sure curiosity will compel you to click the link for the last 15.

This clever author deserves to know how truly appreciated this column was by folk who love beavers.Then they will realize their work was adored and also be able to tell that the link came from www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress, and everyone will be happy.

Okay? Get ready….

Research:

Research may not be the right word to describe my primary activities. I do, after all, know all that I need to know. Education is really my higher calling. Judging by the sorry state of beaver populations across the northern hemisphere, humanity clearly needs to be educated regarding the critical need to restore beaver habitat and protect beaver populations. After all, there are more than 7 billion of you, and far fewer of us. The Canadians have the right idea, putting us on their currency, although I do think we should be placed on something of much higher monetary value than a nickel. You people are all so (rightly) worried about the mess you’ve made: dwindling water tables, declining water quality, compacted ground and flash floods, and loss of wetlands and associated habitat, biodiversity and carbon sequestration (didn’t think I knew those words, did you?). Well, I’ve got the answer for all your problems: beavers. We deserve our title of ecosystem engineers, and if you give us half a chance, we can clean up a great deal of your mess. Just stop cooing about our cuteness in one breath, and then dismantling our dams and running us over with your cars in the next.

CLICK HERE FOR THE BREATH-TAKING LAST 2 LINES.

Isn’t that wonderful! Have the merriest of eves. And tomorrow I’ll have some appropriate Christmas tunes for your entertainment. A millennium ago, when I was a child I used to fall asleep fantasizing about drifting down a secluded river on a raft that carried everything I needed. Not any more. Now I’m going to fantasize about being Ellen Wohl’s graduate student.

Here’s the description of her most recent book, which you can buy here:

Far from being the serene, natural streams of yore, modern rivers have been diverted, dammed, dumped in, and dried up, all in efforts to harness their power for human needs. But these rivers have also undergone environmental change. The old adage says you can’t step in the same river twice, and Ellen Wohl would agree—natural and synthetic change are so rapid on the world’s great waterways that rivers are transforming and disappearing right before our eyes.

It’s the most, wonderful time of the year!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior December 23, 2013

It’s that time again! When a beaver male’s heart starts to turn to fancy. Despite all the hysteria about rodent over-population, the female beaver enters estrus only once a year for 12-24 hours – not much time to find Mr. Right or ever Mr. Right now! So beavers solve this problem (and many others) by mating for life. This footage by someone named Holger Pletzch is of castor fiber – not our castor canadensis. (Notice their noses aren’t as pretty. Shh). There is nuzzling, mutual grooming and then at minute 8 about 3 seconds of mating.

Isn’t that always the way?

For the record, the beaver mating footage I ever saw was in my living room, shown to me by Moses Silva just after Christmas in 2007. Don’t know where that footage is now, but it was how we initially identified the tail mark as belonging to mom.

Let’s hope romance is going swimmingly in Alhambra Creek this year too!

Figure 27. Copulation in water, replicated from Ruth Pollitts’ illustration (in Kitchener 2001).

More good cheer, dammit!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, New Species December 22, 2013

From Malcolm Kenton in his D.C. comics section today!

Maybe you were one of those kids that told your friends you never believed in Santa Claus. Maybe you always doubted the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny. You were the first with a sarcastic comment on the field trip and the last one to say “awwww” when they showed your class the baby bunnies or new chicks at the farm. Maybe you’ve never watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” or smelled the fuzzy head of a sleeping baby, but you’re going to like this post. Trust me.

City to employ ‘beaver deceiver’ against dams that create work, floods

Beavers are active in the Taylor Wetland, located off the Woodland Trail. Olympia city crews installed sheet piling around a culvert to prevent blockage from beaver activity. ANDY HOBBS/STAFF WRITER

By ANDY HOBBS Beaver dams cause flooding on roads and properties across Thurston County, but cities like Olympia are learning to co-exist with the buck-toothed critters by controlling their habitats. Beavers have built dams up and down the Woodard Creek corridor, which stretches north to Henderson Inlet. The dams raise the surrounding water levels several feet and often block culverts.

But in 2014, the city plans to install a device that prevents blockage in the culvert. Known colloquially as a “beaver deceiver,” the wire mesh fencing helps maintain water flow and allows migrating fish to pass through. The device costs from $700 to more than $1,000, depending on size.

Cities refrain from trapping or relocating the beavers because the practice is ineffective. Beavers rarely survive relocation, and there are enough beavers to replace the ones who leave.

Thurston County manages 68 locations affected by beavers, with most activity in the southwest part of the county. The “beaver deceiver” devices have helped reduce the workload for field operations staff, said Mike Clark, construction engineer with Thurston County Public Works.

That’s right. The city of Olympia in Washington is installing another beaver deceiver because they know trapping doesn’t work. This is why I maintain that the Evergreen State has the highest beaver IQ in the nation. Oh and if you aren’t impressed yet, how about this for extra credit?

Clark said the county builds its own beaver deceivers by recycling materials such as sign posts.

More good cheer? One of Cheryl’s photos is apparently in the Patch archives so it was just posted in Virginia, where an article is remarking with surprise that a beaver reached 50 lbs. Ahem. I don’t understand. If they used a ‘stock photo’ to show how freakishly huge the beaver was, wouldn’t that mean he wasn’t huge at all? I helpfully pointed out both mistakes. So I’m apparently very popular in Alexandria.

Drew Hansen (Editor) December 21, 2013 at 04:13 PM Heidi, I pulled the photo from the Martinez Patch story. What’s the proper credit I should give? It looked like a Patch file photo to me.

Ahh and a final present that is so lovely none of us deserve it. But really, this isn’t indulgent at all. I’m educating you so that you can tell beavers and other rodents apart. And besides. It’s almost Christmas.