Month: January 2014

Wonder – without winter

heidi08 City Reports, Educational, Environmental January 26, 2014

Vail Daily column: Busy beavers

t’s a busy time on the mountain for us, but you might not expect beavers to be just as active this time of year. Surprise! They are busier than you’d think right around now because between January and February, it’s mating time for our furry friends. Beavers are a monogamous species, meaning they mate with one partner for life. They start reproducing around age 2 or 3, at which point they build a very impressive lodge with their mate and start their family.

A pleasant article about beavers from Kayla at the Vail Daily. (Not that it says anything about why beavers are actually useful. Instead it alarmingly opines that beavers cut down 1700 trees a year and live until 20!) But never mind, compared to all the horrible things we usually have to review about beavers it’s not too bad.

Not like Peter Fimrite’s article in the SFGate this morning that says salmon may go extinct with California’s new drought pattern. And doesn’t mention what? Say it with me now.

California drought threatens coho salmon with extinction

The lack of rain this winter could eventually be disastrous for thirsty California, but the drought may have already ravaged some of the most storied salmon runs on the West Coast.

The coho salmon of Central California, which swim up the rivers and creeks during the first winter rains, are stranded in the ocean waiting for the surge of water that signals the beginning of their annual migration, but it may never come.

You know, way back in 2008 when NOAA first reported on a regional level that said the way to fix our salmon population had four paws and a tail, I thought for sure the tide would turn. I imagined a three month period when everyone came to grips with the fact followed by an explosion of legislation with a burdensome salmon tax for cities that still trapped beavers.

Six years later I realize that things may be moving a bit slower than I had planned.

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Yesterday a donation came from the local artist behind Bird versus Bird in Oakland. Bess Petty works with recycled materials and uses urban nature in all her designs. When I asked for a donation she told me that she and her husband had been out to see the Martinez Beavers but hadn’t found them. I assured her of an easier summer viewing and said she should let us know then she wants a tour. In addition to the pouch she sent lots of other goodies so thank her if you see her at the festival!

This nifty waterproof coin purse is sewn from salvaged vinyl banner material with a sturdy Velcro closure and features my original beaver drawing on a pale cream background.

This new toy was sent to me by Bruce Thompson of Ecotracs in Wyoming. I am having so much fun playing with it I just had to share. Go try your own!

The Culling Fields

heidi08 Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Who's Killing Beavers Now? January 25, 2014

Siberia has just announced that it will kill 5500 beavers to “prevent the spread of disease”. No word yet on what disease exactly they’re stopping, or why a disease that beavers caught in their water system wouldn’t be a problem already without the beavers.

5,500 Siberian Beavers to Be Culled to Avoid Disease Outbreak

MOSCOW, January 24 (RIA Novosti) – Several thousand beavers in western Siberia are facing a cull by the summer in a drive to avoid an outbreak of disease, local media reported Friday.

Gazeta Kemerova news website cited a statement by the Kemerovo Region’s environmental protection department as saying as many as 5,500 beavers could be killed to thin out the ranks of the animal.

Overpopulation of beavers is also reportedly responsible for numerous road-flooding incidents caused by their dams. No up-to-date information on the beaver population of Kemerovo Region is available.

Ohhhhhh. The dangerous FLOODING DISEASE! Gosh, people were really scared of that contagion in Martinez. (I hear it’s catching.) And please re-read that last line. We have no idea how many beavers there are in Siberia we just know there are too many!

Wikipedia tells me that Siberia is 5.1 million square miles, and most of Russia. Not sure how they’ll even keep track of the numbers with all those dead beavers.

The rodent is a bigger hazard than it looks.

Last April, an irritated beaver killed a man in western Belarus. The animal bit through a major artery while the man was taking a selfie with the rodent, causing fatal wounds to the photographer.

That’s right, we will justify our bad decision by referencing his. The man in Belarus should never have tried to pick up that beaver and his friends should have completed the second grade and learned how to apply a tourniquet, but that’s what happens when men make mistakes: beavers get killed. 5500 or however many we feel like. Never mind that the population will likely rebound and we will have solved nothing. Never mind that there are hundreds of Europeans who could teach us how to install flow devices. Never mind that Russia needs clean water as much as any other country.

Our minds (such as they are) are made up.

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Now Lithuania is just a little east of Siberia, and I received a nice note this morning on a donation from an artist there. Giedrė Karramba creates a miniature animal zoo from sterling silver. I asked for these earrings and she has kindly wrote back offering a pair of earrings and a pendant.

Just remember when you wear them, they were made in Lithuania so this adorable pair is castor fiber.

Trouble with a capital “T” and that Rhymes with “B”

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Who's Killing Beavers Now? January 24, 2014

And that stands for beavers of course! First the beavers make the news, and then the alarmist exaggerating assholes respond. Isn’t that what we learned in Martinez? Since the beaver sighting in Devon has been picked up by the BBC and Guardian, everyone is talking about it. (Pardon my language, I honestly searched for an appropriate synonym – but there just isn’t one adequately descriptive.)

WMN Letters: Beware! This could lead to beaver fever

These dog-sized rodents get great PR from the so-called environmentalists who support them. But do the same people ever remind us of increasing attacks on humans by beavers in Europe, leading to the death of a fisherman just last year? Or the number of pet dogs, some husky sized, killed by beavers in Canada?

Do you want your children playing in streams or kayaking on lakes where there will soon be potentially aggressive beavers?

Can you possibly read this man’s letter to the editor without hearing this soundtrack? I surely can’t.

They block watercourses and love using bridges or culverts to form their dams. At a time when river maintenance is such an issue, can anyone suggest to those farmers and homeowners, suffering flooding, that a further impediment to water flow is a good idea?

These giant members of the rat family naturally urinate and defecate in the waters they inhabit. Their faeces carries giardia, micro-organisms which lead to the severe intestinal sickness, giardiasis, which is better known as beaver fever. Cases soar in areas where beavers share water with summer recreational activities. In the South West this would mean that not only will those enjoying our lakes and rivers be at serious risk but so will those using all the beaches where that water discharges across the sand.

After these rats flood your city and attack your dogs and children, they’ll ruthlessly poop in your water and give you disease! Are you really sorry we killed off these menaces in the 1400s? I don’t believe the author missed a single alarm bell. He says his name is Jonathan Batchelor, but I have to wonder if that’s a pun – is it possible that someone named batchelor really writes letters against beavers? We’re in danger of moving from Music man right to Professor Higgins territory.

(And if that really is his name, I for one can’t understand how a the ladies of the UK let this sweet catch slip through their fingers!)

Now for some good cheer from our old friend and burrowing owl guru Scott Artis. Scott is the driving force behind Urban Birds. If his name sounds familiar it should, it’s at the bottom of the page as the re-designer of this website. He apparently has endless talents he can’t wait to try. Where’s the beaver cartoon, I ask you?

Finally, today’s donation comes from Brooke Stone Jewelry, an artist in Eugene Oregon. Get your check book ready for this lovely sterling silver beaver print and go like her generosity on facebook!

Swedish Beaver Ponds

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers elsewhere, Who's Killing Beavers Now? January 24, 2014

Constructed wetlands save frogs and birds threatened with extinction

Over the last few decades, several thousands of wetlands have been constructed in Sweden in agricultural landscapes. The primary reason is that the wetlands prevent a surfeit of nutrients from reaching our oceans and lakes.

An important objective in constructing wetlands is reducing eutrophication – over-fertilisation. It’s surprisingly positive that they’ve also had such a great direct effect on biological diversity,” says Stefan Weisner, Professor of Biology specialising in environmental science at Halmstad University.

A special thanks to BK from Georgia for sending this article my way. (I would never have found it because it stunningly doesn’t even MENTION beavers.) So the Swedes are paying their farmers to make wetlands and still paying their trappers to kill beavers? I’m scratching my head at that story, but happy to see they appreciate the value of wetlands. It’s a start anyway. If a country values wetlands enough to pay farmers to make them, we should have an easier time convincing them to leave the creature who does it for free.

Over the last 15 years, nearly 3,000 wetland areas have been constructed in agricultural landscapes around Sweden. Farmers have the possibility of receiving economic support for this from sources such as the Swedish Board of Agriculture. The primary reason is because wetlands catch the surfeit of nutrients from agriculture such as nitrogen and phosphorus–substances that would otherwise have leaked out into the seas and lakes and contributed to eutrophication.

The study shows that creation of wetlands is a cost-effective to catch the nutrients.

“It’s a very effective way of purifying the water. It’s less expensive than constructing treatment plants, and in addition it contributes to biological diversity,” Prof Weisner says.

The whole thing made me think of the WWII lyrics Jon used to sing as a boy on the playground. “The Yanks are flying fortresses at 40,000 feet…etc” set to the tune of the battle hymn of the republic….

The Swedes are building beaver ponds with farmers on the land

They do the labor all themselves, no beaver lends a hand

They say it helps the birds and frogs, and takes the toxins out

While trapping beavers off the land, of this I have no doubt.

Beaver, beaver, you could help the birds and fish

Beaver, beaver you could give them what they wish

You could do the farmer’s job much better by a score

And make the wetlands rich and pure just like you did before.

And speaking of Northern Europe, the silent auction received a donation from an artist who lives in Zurich Switzerland yesterday. (No, I’m not kidding.) Simona Cellar maintains the Etsy site Anomisbysimona and will be sending us her adorable eager beaver calendar to keep track of accomplishments. Thank you Simona!

Outside the city limits…

heidi08 Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers elsewhere, Who's Killing Beavers Now? January 22, 2014

Flooding from beaver dam bedevils Worcester neighborhood

WORCESTER — Residents of a quiet neighborhood in southeastern Worcester say they’re struggling with an intractable property owner in their midst — a bad neighbor whose inaction allowed beavers to turn a small brook into a sprawling swamp that periodically inundates their backyards.

Unfortunately for the aggrieved residents, the property owner they have a problem with is notoriously hard to fight — City Hall.

When city public works crews clear the blocked culvert, they release a torrent of water that gushes off the city land into the backyards of homes along St. Louis Street, sometimes sweeping away lawn furniture and forming a small pond of standing water lapping uncomfortably close to their back doors.

Now before we talk about a city that makes the streets flood on purpose because they are worried that the streets might flood on accident, can we please discuss the alliteration spasm that appears to grip editors when faced with beaver stories? “Beavers Burst Bubble”, “Beavers Build Bottleneck” “Beavers Begin Badly”. But Beavers bedevil neighborhood? Honestly, what gives? How many ‘B’ words do editors know? A lot apparently. Maybe that’s as high as they got in the thesaurus.

But city officials maintain the changes to the brook are part of a natural process, and that the city can’t correct drainage problems on private property. After years of complaints from the residents, the city hired a trapper last year to round up roughly a dozen beavers on the conservation land.

Department of Public Works and Parks Commissioner Paul J. Moosey conceded that city crews have erred in releasing water from the marshy city property too rapidly.

“As much as we’ve tried to make the peace with this neighborhood, their expectations are more than we can handle,” Mr. Moosey said. “Any time we get a call from down there that we can do something about, we do.”

Some in the neighborhood feel the city has a hidden agenda to force them to accept public sewers and streets, which they have resisted for years because of the expense. They see the flooding and private streets issues as separate.

Aha! The city can’t possibly fix this problem the right way because the area is unincorporated! Those aren’t city streets and they aren’t on the public sewer. Basically the city is daring them to incorporate so that they can have their homes protected. “Lovely home here, shame if something was to happen to it.” Except that it does take tax dollars to run a public works department. Maybe the residents and the city should chip in for a flow device and take care of this problem for good?
I thought for today’s Auction show and tell I would share something I just got word is being donated to the silent auction this morning. Campfitters is generously sending us one of these: it’s a beaver wall hook, and I can’t imagine a nicer place to hang your jacket when you come home from a visit to the dam!

Oh, and just in case you need a reminder why we need an actual artist to make our brochure for the festival, here it is. I was trying to see how my idea for Amelia Hunter’s new brochure would look. I was thinking of something that would show a beaver on the water and under the water, to communicate the beaver’s remarkable duality and the way he impacts both. Mind you, the child I was painting it with asked if I was making a gopher.

Don’t worry, apparently that didn’t stop me.