Month: June 2014

The best thing you’ll ever see…

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, kits, Massachusetts Trapping Law, Who's Killing Beavers Now? June 13, 2014

Last night I got a visit from Beaver Santa Claus Moses Silva who gave me this footage he shot on June 7th at 3:00 am. Tell me that is not the cutest thing you have ever seen? Look at the size of that head! Babies really have crazy proportions. Now just because we’re only seeing one doesn’t mean there IS only one. Last year it took us a month to spot all three. Consider it a very good start!

Mom is obviously doting on the youngster and I can see why. Healthy and cute as a bug. And look at that dive! He’s already the top of his class. Swimming off into the sunrise together I know he’s going to have a great beaver life. No conjunctivitis,no trapping and a festival!

I love this time of year! We’ll be out tonight to watch for Junior and meet visitors from Georgia who wanted to combine their stay in SF with a Martinez Beaver Sighting. Remember this from February?

I was contacted by the Executive Director of the Blue Heron Nature Preserve in Atlanta Georgia yesterday who happened to have beavers on their wetlands and wanted help presenting good reasons to keep and protect them! We agreed that Georgia was a hard place to be a beaver. Nancy Jones is the founder of the preserve and interested in applying for grant monies to keep beavers on the land. I gave her all the resources I could and put her in touch with beaver friend BK from Georgia so they could work together.

Hopefully it will be a full house tonight and maybe a little kit debut?

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And lest you forget that mass doses of BEAVER STUPID still exist in the world, here’s a stunning reminder from (I’m starting to think where else?) Hopkinton Massachsetts. Just for the record this website has written about the city an alarming 8 times this year already! I’ve even chatted with the council. Apparently the villain of the piece hasn’t changed his spots.

Hopkinton builder must come up with plan to solve beaver woes

HOPKINTON – The developers of the Legacy Farms housing development must come up with a beaver management plan after a dam was dismantled without Town Hall’s OK, according to Donald MacAdam, the town’s conservation administrator.

MacAdam said the developers had permission from the proper boards to trap beavers earlier this year, but not to dismantle any of the dams.

If you were me (and for your sake I hope you’re not) you would read that sentence and think WTF? Permission to kill beavers but not take out dams? That’s like the pope giving permission to kill saints but not interfere with miracles! It’s like giving permission to kill superbowl players but not interfere with advertising!

It get better.

MacDowell said beaver dams all over the state alter waterways which destroy forests and threaten homes and roads. He said a plan is needed because it is a continuing problem.

Here’s a plan. Pick up your cellphone Mr. MacDowell and dial (405) 527-6472 for Beaver Solutions. Mike will fix this problem and increase your beaver IQ by several points.

Then maybe I can write about something else for a change.

Don’t leave beavers on the cutting room floor!

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? June 14, 2014

As of today the Beaver Believers has 77 backers and have nearly met their initial goal of 9000. Last week, Fur-bearer Defenders signed on as their first corporate sponsor! There’s an interview with Sarah about the film here on FBD radio. (The other interview is with Simon Jones who has headed the VERY successful Scottish beaver trial, so it’s all worth your time.)

With new confidence that the film will reach its kick starting goal, Sarah released a stretch goal today. This will fund a more ambitious project with better grapics, more indepth information, and Oh incidentally MORE OF MARTINEZ.

What a whirlwind these last few days have been! Thank you all so much! Five days, 72 backers, and more than $7,500 already pledged – this is a dream come true.

An extra special thank you is in order for our first corporate sponsor, The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals! They are a non-profit organization based out of Canada that works to minimize human-wildlife conflicts and end the commercial fur trade. Check them out at http://furbearerdefenders.com/

We’ve made incredible progress but please keep spreading the word through your networks. We’re feeling confident we’ll reach our initial goal of $9,000, so we’ll be announcing our first “stretch goal” tomorrow. Our starting budget reflected the absolute bare minimum needed to get this film cut, but a bigger budget would allow for a longer, more thorough, and well-polished film; the addition of maps, graphics, and illustrations to help explain the scientific parts of the story; the creation of an original score recorded with actual musicians; and so much more.

THANK YOU!!!

-Sarah and The Beaver Believers Team I don’t see your name written up here. Mine is at the topish left. And Cheryl’s and Mike’s and Malcolm’s. Where’s yours? Did you know that we’ll get more about our urban beavers if you do your part? You could join at the 5 dollar level and show the world you’re a beaver believer! Or you could donate that nest egg you’ve been saving and really have something to show for it.

Donate today! Sarah has generously offered to send some footage for the beaver festival promo, so can you spare some support to thank her?

Good news and a goodbye

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? June 8, 2014

Natural flood engineers

Some say beavers are a cheap alternative for mitigation

In the midst of frenzied flood prevention work throughout Alberta, some river ecology specialists are looking to the beaver to protect the province’s watersheds. A group of wildlife management organizations including the Alberta Habitat Management Society (known as Cows and Fish), the Miistakis Institute and the Ann and Sandy Cross Conservation Area are working together on a series of projects to demonstrate how beavers are integral to natural flood and drought prevention and riparian health.

I think I finally understand how Medicine Hat got so smart about beavers! I also realize I’ve been in the beaver biz for so long I re-discoved my comment about how they mistakenly used the muskrat photo from High Country News. (Let’s give credit where credit is due – it was a GREAT article. But lousy photo). I like everything else about this video except the part where it implies humans are needed to determine the appropriate beaver population. Sheesh.

Cows and Fish riparian specialist Kathryn Hull has been involved with beaver management for the City of Calgary since 2007. She says that although Calgary will still trap destructive beavers and break up dams, the city is still quite progressive in managing the animals.

“Sadly for beavers, many of our urban riparian landscapes are really no longer functional ecosystems that can sustain or be resilient to beaver impacts,” she says. “There’s a lot of rock, a lot of rip-rapping being put in along the banks to protect those banks from erosion…. That’s of course a choice and consequence of developing within the flood plain. We’re now having to do this to protect our infrastructure, but of course it doesn’t offer much habitat,” she adds.

Hmm. I know a particular city with sheetpile, rip-rap and concrete where beavers fit in just fine! We should talk.

Another kindly beaver read this morning comes from Charelston. It isn’t as positive as the one from Alberta, but remember, it’s from West Virginia and we’re grading on a curve.

Scott Shalaway: Beaver tales

Though large and common, beavers are seldom seen unless you know where to look. The best time to see beavers is at dusk on a summer evening. And the best place is on quiet water from a kayak or canoe.

Or a bridge in Martinez. This is basically a ‘beavers are fun to watch’ article, but I never discount the value of paying attention, with a very minor tweak interest can turn into caring, and caring can turn into advocacy.

Remember, that’s how I got started.

As the pond grows, the area’s soil chemistry changes and water tolerant trees such as willows and alders, invade. Not surprisingly, the bark and tender twigs of these trees are favorite beaver foods. The pond itself invites wood ducks, black ducks, muskrats, otters, mink, and trout. Fly fisherman value the locations of secluded beaver ponds.

See what I mean?

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Speaking of beaver advocates, I got word this week that friend of this website and general wildlife advocate Donna Richardson died after a riding incident near the iconic Hollywood sign. You may remember Donna was instrumental in pushing the Los Angelos Department of Water and Power in Owen’s Valley to respond to beavers in other ways than trapping. Donna discovered they had been ripping out dams with a helicopter and a grappling hook, inspiring one my favorite graphics of all times. As we strategized about various effective approaches, Donna would often jokingly refer to me as her Best Beaver-Friend Forever. Ultimately her dedication made a huge difference in the outcome. As a thank you for her heroic deeds I sent her a very small beaver chew from one of our many samples. Her partner Alan wrote me this week and said;

One of Donna’s proudest moments in her life came from her successful effort to persuade the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to end its practice of trapping and killing beavers in the Owens Valley. She was inspired by your earlier success in Martinez and she could not have accomplished her mission without the encouragement and support you gave to her. The card you sent to Donna with the wonderful beaver photo and the wooden icon you gave her still remain in the place where she put them, on a small table close to our dining area. They meant a lot to her and they mean a lot to me.

Sniff. Oh, Alan we are so sorry for your loss, and so grateful our beaver paths crossed. Thank you for your beautiful words, and I’m so glad those simple treasures can continue to mean a lot to you. Under other circumstances I might be surprised that I feel such sorrow about a woman I never met, but I have never forgotten this essential truth:

Beavers change things. It’s what they do.

Rest now, BFFF. In your honor I’m adding a new category to the post classifications. I call it “Who’s saving beavers now?”

New kit filmed by Moses!

heidi08 Beavers, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, featured, Festival, Friends of Martinez Beavers, kits June 7, 2014

Cheryl and Lory were down on kitwatch last night and met Moses Silva who proudly displayed footage of Mom beaver with her new kit from 3:00 am that morning. He had been out at 1:00 all week and seen nothing so decided to stay all night! He was happy to share the news, but apparently not the footage. We’ll get the little tyke (and his brother or sisters?) soon. In the meantime, congratulations Martinez, it’s a beaver!

As if that wasn’t good enough news, an amazing workshop will be making its way down the Pacific Coast with the help of NOAA, USFW and PSU.

Using Beaver to Restore Streams — the state of the art and science

1-day workshops for practitioners, landowners, land managers and regulators

Nov. 20, 2014 – Juneau, AK

Jan. 14, 2015 – Seattle, WA

Jan 21 &22, 2015 – Portland, OR

Feb. 12, 2015 – Weed, CA

To Register go here.

Course Fee: $50

Presenters:

Michael M. Pollock, Ph.D. Chris E. Jordan, Ph.D. Janine Castro, Ph.D.

Gregory Lewallen Ecosystems Analyst Mathematical Ecologist Fluvial Geomorphologist Graduate Student

NOAA Fisheries NOAA Fisheries US Fish & Wildlife Service Portland State University

NWF Science Center NWF Science Center & NOAA Fisheries

These workshops will be offered for a nominal fee through a partnership with US Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA Fisheries, and Portland State University, Environmental Professional Program.

Using beaver to restore streams is rapidly gaining acceptance as a cost-effective technique to improve aquatic habitat, especially for salmonids. Regulatory and institutional obstacles are being reduced or removed as scientific advances continue to demonstrate that beaver can restore stream habitat far more effectively, and at a much lower cost, than many traditional stream restoration approaches.

Join us for an intensive 1-day workshop symposium for the beta release of a state-of-the-science manual regarding the use of beaver to restore streams. Workshops will be interactive with the audience as we walk through the manual and describe its use to facilitate the restoration of streams. We will provide assessment tools for determining how, where, and when to use beaver in stream restoration. Also included will be a discussion of the regulatory process and how to maximize the probability of successfully obtaining permits.

As a leader in aquatic habitat restoration, your feedback on this document is very important to us and necessary to create an effective tool for restoration using beaver. We encourage you and your colleagues to attend a workshop and to spread the word. Please let us know if you would like to join us and/or if you know of particular groups who may want to attend by responding to this announcement, so that we may adjust the number of workshops as necessary.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing back from you.

For more information contact: Mary Ann Schmidt, maryanns@pdx.edu 503-725-2343

Michael Pollock contacted me a few weeks ago about how to get the word out. (he actually introduced me to Mary Ann as a kind of ‘beaver Maven‘ which ignorance forced me to go look up! After the initial glow wore off, I and lots of others implored for a Northern California appearance.

Yesterday Mary Ann wrote me that they are looking at just such a venue. Did I have any suggestions about a meeting place that could accommodate up to 50 attendees? I introduced her to Jeff Baldwin at Sonoma State who is very interested in the idea. And also suggested to the head of SRF that it might be worth combining it with the salmonid conference in Santa Rosa next year. Dana Stolzman wrote back very interested in the idea and I think everyone’s talking, which means if we just sit tight the conference may come to US!

(Maven!)

Meanwhile I’ve been working hard to get the word out about the festival. Hopefully we’ll have an fullhouse in the park that day, and a full cast of new beaver kit characters to feature! Stay tuned.

Blame the Beaver: The Trilogy

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports June 6, 2014

KTEN.com – No One Gets You Closer

Beaver connected to cause of four alarm fire in Sherman

“The property owner reported to us that for the last couple of days they had some electrical issues within the building itself,” said Sherman Fire Chief JJ Jones.

Those issues reported include power outages, surges and even noticeable sparks within electrical panels along the walls. Sherman crews had help from twelve different fire departments across Texoma as well as help from Sherman Public Works, Red Cross and Oncor.

“During fire fighter operations one of our officers reported that there was still power to one of the areas so Oncor came back out my fire investigator went back out with the Oncor representative,” he said, “and they did find a tree that had fallen by a beaver- very recently.“

Doesn’t this look like a beaver-chewed tree to you? You know how they always make those nice even blade cuts right before they start a fire? They obviously stuffed themselves on that delicious tree, got exhausted, and went to sleep it off in bed.

While smoking.

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Officials had plan to clear beaver dam under Sunset Harbor Road before washout

Before a beaver dam caused part of a Brunswick County roadway to collapse late last month, state transportation officials knew they had a furry problem inside a pipe running under Sunset Harbor Road.

“The Thursday before this blew out we were meeting with the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” said Trevor Carroll, division bridge engineer for the DOT’s Southeastern division.

The plan was set. Trap the perpetrator and set off a small pack of dynamite to clear the 72-inch pipe.

“Word is out that beavers contributed to this,” Carroll said

Boys with toys. If only they’d had time to use the dynamite, none of this would ever have happened! Of course they couldn’t have installed a beaver deceiver to protect that culvert. Why do you ask? Honestly, Brunswick might want to rethink their media management policy. The entire article basically reads, “We knew it was there, we knew it’d would be a problem, we came up with a solution, but decided to do nothing.”

Never mind that their ‘solution’ wouldn’t have worked anyway. Lets just use their own logic to point out their negligence.

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Letter: County should look into beaver contamination

I would think that looking into the beavers camping out and backing up the water would be a good place to start investigating the bacteria in Strawberry Creek. On the East Coast there is absolutely no swimming in beaver ponds due to a condition commonly called “beaver fever.”

Since there is no other real logical explanation I would hope the county looks into that as a possible source of contamination.

You see this Humbolt County beach got a bad grade from the water advocacy group because it had bacteria. And this letter advices them to STOP looking in the problem and just blame the beavers.

Heal the Bay gave Clam Beach County Park near Strawberry Park the low water quality rating for “potential bacteria sources,” which include “onsite sewage treatment systems, wildlife, domestic animals and vegetation,” according to the annual Beach Report Card. The beach also made the organization’s annual “Beach Bummer” list for the second time, ranking No. 6.

Right. I wouldn’t worry about that “onsite sewage treatment”. I’m reminded of one of my favorite old jokes where the woman sees her husband on his hands and knees in the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” She asks.

“I lost my contact lenses” he explains, and she starts to help.

“Wait, didn’t you lose them in the living room?” she wonders

“Yes, but the light’s better in here.

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Don’t you ever have any good news about beavers? I’m glad you asked. I’ve been saving this lovely treat from our retired engineer beaver friend in New Hampshire. He has been lovingly engaged with a battle with some beaver blocking the culvert in his condominium. He installed a flow device upstream, but now they plugged the pipe downstream. He retaliated by fencing the pipe. And just look what happens.

Awesome footage Art, and I don’t want to bore you with too much psychology but there are very detailed and advanced procedures used for measuring empathy and awareness of point-of-view in toddlers, that if applied to the “helper beaver” would dramatically improve the social IQ of beavers in general. (Not to mention the fact that the adult probably came in the first place because the kit was whining). Someone call the Smithsonian!