Month: August 2014

England, get ready to YOP!

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's Killing Beavers Now?, Who's saving beavers now?, Why We Care August 7, 2014

Public meeting over Devon’s first wild beaver family in 300 years

A PUBLIC meeting is being held in Devon to ask local people their views about the future of the first wild beaver population in more than 300 years.

In July, Defra announced its intention to catch and remove the beavers, citing the risk of disease and the animals’ potential impact on the landscape as reasons.

However, a growing number of voices have stated that the beavers should remain; saying that beavers were once a part of the English landscape and that they could be again.

The meeting to discuss the beavers on Tuesday August 19 will be held at The Institute in the east Devon town of Ottery St Mary (EX11 1HD), close to where the beavers are believed to be living on the River Otter.

I’m curious why DEFRA, the harshly tone-deaf agency that is willing to kill badgers that the public reveres, has decided to hold a public meeting on the fate of the beavers they already said they would put in zoos? Even I, with my trusting beaver nature, can’t imagine the decision is open for review. But maybe they were scared at the public response they got. Or maybe they hope no one is going to come and thereby justify their decision?

You can guess what I want to happen.

Worth A Dam from Bill Schilz on Vimeo.

(I’m very grateful to Bill Schilz for making this for us. It’s a terrifyingly large file and I never could process it myself.) The odd thing is that my comment is missing! Coincidence? Hmm…

Devon Wildlife Trust’s Steve Hussey urged people to attend the specially convened meeting: “The wild beavers on the River Otter have certainly attracted a lot of attention. We’ve had media interest from as far away as New Zealand and the USA wanting to know what their fate will be. This event is the opportunity for the local community to now make their views known.”

Steve continued: “We need to hear from people whether they think the beavers should remain as part of their local landscape, or whether they think they should be removed.”

“We want the event to be a chance for people to ask questions and to tell us their views. As an independent charity working for the county’s wildlife, Devon Wildlife Trust thinks the beavers should remain but only after it’s been established if they are disease free, and only if the local community wants them there. This event will help us get an answer to the second of these two questions,” Steve continued.

The event is free to attend and there is no need to book in advance. Those unable to attend can still give their opinions using the dedicated email address devonwildbeavers@devonwildlifetrust.org or by letter to Devon Wildlife Trust, Cricklepit Mill, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4AB.

Now Devon, you know your lines. And readers of this website, your letters go here. I believe you all know what to do!

(Does anyone else almost feel a little sorry for DEFRA?)

On a separate note, I have another interview with Fur-bearer Defender’s Radio this afternoon on the role of anger and compassion in advocacy. It’s the first time I’ve talked like a shrink about beavers (well, on purpose), so it’s a little weird and worlds-collidy. Wish me luck!

I’m thinking of calling it the “Psychology of Ecology.“

Appreciations

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Educational, Festival, Who's saving beavers now? August 6, 2014

It’s been a week of treasures and it’s only Wednesday. Yesterday I received this email from a family we met at the dam two weeks ago. They were from Long Beach and eager to see the famous Martinez beavers. Of course our mascots did not disappoint. Since our visitors were so delighted with the show I suggested they might write the mayor and let them know how pleased they were.

Yesterday Michelle sent the entire city council this:

Dear Mr Mayor,

My name is Michelle Lee and I live in Southern California with my family. We’ve done a couple of great American Road Trips in the last twenty years, but this year, we were privileged to witness one of the most emblemic of all Northern American wildlife: the hardworking, family-oriented and stoical Martinez Beaver.

Prior to setting out on our trip this summer, a few weeks ago, we had only ever seen American beavers on film in movies. There is apparently one homed in the Singapore River Safari theme park, but knowing beavers to be highly social animals, we were disappointed but not surprised when we failed to spot it in its enclosure during our visit last year. Imagine how thrilled we were, then, to discover, while researching for our summer trip, http://www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress, the Worth a Dam web site put up by Heidi Perryman. We have beavers, thriving in their natural environment, right here, in our own backyard!

Martinez was immediately included on our itinerary. Your location was perfect, for us visiting college towns like Stanford, Berkeley and Davis. You have one of the best Thai restaurants in all of California, north through south: the Lemongrass Bistro. Muir Lodge, which provided us with a most tastefully decorated and comfortable room, was just what we needed for our layover. Sal’s Family Kitchen was the perfect breakfast wake-up in the morning.

And you have the beavers. And they were wonderful. We waited at the secondary dam right by the Amtrak station on 14 July 2014, around 6:30pm, and managed to see three beavers, including the kit. Not knowing as much as we could about the habits of these nocturnal mammals, though, we were pretty bummed we didn’t stay till 8 🙁 That said, the beavers we saw kept us entranced for a good hour or so, just swimming about, nibbling in the rushes, doing generally beaverly things.

Now that we’re home, and able to more fully process our summer vacation, which included visits to the Carlsbad Caverns and the Grand Canyon, we can honestly count the Martinez Beavers as one of our most satisfying wildlife experiences. We in Southern California are used to the arid desert, even in this ongoing drought, with our well-watered landscaped city and suburban lawns, so it was quite distressing to see how devastated the land around us was while driving through NorCal. Those tenacious beavers, as corny as it sounds, gave us hope that this drought will eventually pass. Our only regret was we were not able to spend longer in your lovely town than one night. Now, our true regret is having missed this year’s Beaver Festival!

The fact that Martinez has a Beaver Festival indicates that many people do share our fascination with these enchanting animals. However, we were a little surprised, that, of the people we talked to in town, only one person was able to point us in the right direction to the beaver dams, because you have a real treasure in the beavers, and in Worth a Dam. This is such a unique situation you have in Martinez that people are able to observe outside of the artificial and expensive set up of a zoo. We are hopeful that continued education and increased appreciation for the Martinez Beavers will be encouraged to perpetuate and grow. We cannot thank Worth a Dam enough for their information-packed web site. We came from Long Beach just to see this happy beaver family!!

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Michelle Lee, with Kevin Traster and Loyalty Traster-Lee

Long Beach, California

5 August 2014

Now tell me that wasn’t the best letter you EVER read! Not only did it remind the mayor that the beavers and Worth A Dam are an asset, it must have made those little dollar signs appear in his eyes like on cartoons. She did such a good job that I told her to share it with the local papers so I’m hoping we see it again very soon.

The only part that kind of bugged me was that only one person in town could tell her where the dam was. But when I thought about it I realized that’s actually wonderful. In 2007 when every shop owner on main street was terrified of being flooded every, Susie, Stacey or Sam could have told them. Now the fact that the story isn’t news anymore means that the beavers are no longer a threat and that’s just what we wanted to happen. I thought of Carl Sandburg,

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.

Shovel them under and let me work—

I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg

And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.

Shovel them under and let me work.

Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:

What place is this?

Where are we now?

I am the grass.

Let me work.

Carl Sandburg

Well, I suppose the grass has worked in Martinez. Even I can barely remember the injuries of a city who wanted to destroy its treasures. Now I simply bask in the glow of a job well done and a chapter well written.

And this delightful epilogue about “Joe” made me smile.

Martinez Beaver Festival celebrates beaver family living in downtown creek since 2006

Dam fun

Children parade to the strains of Bruce Maxwell’s bagpipe, above, at the start of the seventh annual Beaver Festival on Saturday, in Martinez, that celebrates the beaver family that has been living in Alhambra Creek since 2006. The event, sponsored by Worth A Dam, attracted visitors from everywhere for activities, music and tours of the beavers’ environment by Joe Ridler, right center.

They don’t show the photo on line, but something tells me I’ve seen Joe before.

Beaver-saving symphony

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? August 5, 2014

Nashua, New Hampshire

Beaver deceivers are better than killing

Letter to the Editor

The benefits of beavers and their ponds to the environment far outweigh the drawbacks. Ponds provide vital habitat for great blue herons, osprey, kingfishers, mink and otters, among others, and support many plant species. Beaver ponds act like sponges during heavy rainfall, preventing flooding, filtering water running through their ponds and increasing groundwater levels. Communities suffering from the effects of drought often move beavers onto their lands to build dams.

Pond-building by beavers sometimes floods the property of landowners. The usual method of solving this problem has been to destroy both beavers and their dams. This inhumane action is ineffective, however, because other beavers move into these areas and the problem begins again. A more humane and permanent solution is to install beaver flow pipes and fences. These devices, sometimes called beaver deceivers, maintain an acceptable water level in the pond for all concerned, both human and animal.

And before you ask, no, I didn’t write this. But I have a suspicion our engineering friend Art Wolinsky did. I can’t see the name of the author without paying 10 dollars for a subscription, and Art hasn’t written back. But I’m fairly certain! You might remember Art is the retired engineer and educator who worked with Mike Callahan to put in a flow device at his condominium in New Hampshire. He’s also the clever mind behind this:

Now don’t start thinking that all the good things happen in New Hampshire, just look at the remarkable work that was done Sunday at Taylor Creek in Tahoe. For those of you following along at home Taylor creek has had a fairly schizophrenic history with beavers as it is the site of one of the most respected beaver dissertations ever, and remarkably the place where native beavers are annually trapped to protect the non-native Kokanee salmon.

The Sierra Wildlife Coalition, Sherry and Ted Guzzi have been working for years to educate the rangers on the utility of flow devices, the value of beavers, and the many ways to solve problems. Their Herculean efforts involved Kate Lundquist of OAEC and Rick Lanman and a myriad of others who chiseled away at the mountain of resistance literally one frustrating nano-chip at a time. Honestly, it would have been faster to shift the pyramids of Giza with a pair of tweezers. Many folks are keeping an eye on these beavers. The amazing beaver images on the cutting boards in the silent auction were from Sheri Hartstein who’s been photographing those endangered beavers for years.

Well, two weeks ago the earth moved and USFS finally relented. The Sierra Wildlife Coalition was given the green light to install a flow device. The forest service called it a ‘research project’ and said they didn’t want to watch or oversee the work and asked that it be done late in the day. The cynic in me imagines they are looking at their watches and waiting for it to fail so they can employ the better-loved Plan B. (Which rhymes with ‘snapping’) But I’m not worried. Ted and Sherry will make sure this works.

If that hard-working face looks a little familiar, it should. Ted and Sherry were just at the beaver festival the day before. They woke up early to high-tail it home and install a flexible leveler on federal land. How awesome is that?

Taylor-Creek-protective-fencing-for-leveler-pipe-8-3-14

Taylor-Creek-leveler-pipe-for-side-channel-8-3-14

Taylor-Creek-installing-fencing-over-pipe-8-3-14.

Taylor-Creek-finished-leveler-side-channel-8-3-14

Taylor-Creek-small-beaver-dam-on-side-channel-before-install-8-3-14.

Taylor-Creek-side-channel-leveler-under-water-8-3-14

Taylor-Creek-covering-leveler-on-side-channel-8-3-14

Taylor-Creek-arranging-cobble-at-leveler-pipe-8-3-14

Now all that’s left is to wait and see how things unfold. Sherry sent a photo last night of the dropping water levels.

Ted and I checked on the leveler this afternoon, and the beavers did not disturb a thing, and the water level in the side channel is still down. But since it rained steadily all day today, we can’t tell if we might need to lower the pipe a bit – water is still going across the trail (it’s never that deep), but that could be just from the rain. We’ll keep checking, but since the beavers do not seem bothered by our work, lowering the water in 2 smaller steps (if needed) will be easier than one larger step…. so feeling pretty good. Here’s a photo of the beavers’ main dam on the main creek – Sherry

Great work Sherry and Ted! If it needs adjustments you are just the pair to make them. And congratulations Taylor Creek Beavers on your lovely new life-saving furniture!

Good Day, Sunshine

heidi08 Beavers August 4, 2014

Something was different about this year’s festival. I’m still trying to put my finger on it. It wasn’t more crowded, I think we had about the same attendance, (but folks from “wildlife row” who were moved to the outer lanes thought there were fewer, and folks from the outside moved in to the main drag swore there were more.) It wasn’t just better publicity, although this was the luckiest we have ever been with the press, including print, TV and radio. It wasn’t just the exhibits, although we had more than ever before including a tail slapping beaver and a boat! It wasn’t just the solar-powered amplification although it knit the park together and made it seem like a real event. And it wasn’t just the awesome sewn and painted tails or charms.

Jon’s tours were more packed with knowledgeable wildlife fans, volunteers at every booth got more thank yous and donations in their ‘tip jar’, people all seemed to have a brochure and were actually using it, and there were fewer moments of abject confusion and last minute mayhem than there usually are.

Oh and a few awesome things happened to me personally. The day started with a visit from forest service filmmaker, Steve Dunsky who I was introduced to by Tom Russert when I asked for beavers to be included in the 50th year anniversary. Steve is working on the Vallejo – based festival for the celebration of 50 year anniversary of the wilderness act, a three day extravaganza of which the Martinez Beavers will be a small part with a tour on September 6th. If you’ve not heard about it you really should go read up and find out how you can be involved.

Poster design by artist Monte Dolack to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Wilderness Act.

The “Visions of the Wild” Festival celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. Join us for all the festival has to offer: films, speakers, art, music, and field trips.

The “Visions of the Wild” Festival celebrates California’s public wilderness lands and invites you to find wild things wherever you live.

The Visions of the Wild Festival happens September 4th, 5th and 6th in Vallejo.

I was happy to see it offered with this poster, by a painter you should recognize, Monte Dolack. You might remember the artist best for his donation of this to the beaver festival in 2012. His leave it to beavers graces my office and makes me smile every day I see it.

After I met Steve, an older gentleman introduced himself as a member of the Alameda Fish and Game Advisory Commission and asked who we were funded by. He said we were an ideal candidate for a grant and should apply to the Contra Costa FGAC because it was such a positive wildlife event. He’d be happy to help. (!) Then the head of our new non-profit fiscal agent, Dr. Loren Cole, walked up and shook my hand, saying what a great event it was and how happy he was to sponsor Worth A Dam!

Could the day get better you ask? How about the visit from Jack Sanchez of SARSAS (Save Auburn Ravine Salmon and Steelhead) who I met in Santa Barbara at my talk. He had trouble with beaver dams in the ravine and needed someone to help with a flow device. I introduced him to Ted and Sherry Guzzi of the Sierra Wildlife Coalition and they set up a day to come see what he needed. Then a woman director from the EPA came to talk about a mine they just got responsibility for in the Sierras, which had beaver dams, and wanted to talk about beavers improving invertebrates and affecting the unstable PH levels. It seemed like beaver dams were making things better downstream but she wondered what could they do to keep them there?

Then I got a visit from Suzi Eszterhas, a free lance international wildlife photograher that has been published in National Geographic. She is working with Bird Rescue to do a Ranger Rick feature, and she wanted to talk about doing a piece on the Martinez Beavers. She was especially interested in showing their family life and the community involvement that sustained them. She said she usually photographed animals on site for several months, maybe as long as a year before doing the story. Did I think that would be a problem?

Considering she had photographed lions and cheetahs in the Serengeti, I didn’t think our beavers would mind her sitting quietly on the bank and seeing their private lives. We’re going to talk soon and I can’t say how excited I am about the possibility. I hope I said the right things to make her very, very interested.

Now you’re thinking “that’s it! There can’t be one more remarkable thing that happened to you that day. You are just exaggerating”. But you’d be wrong;

But that is not all.

Oh, no.

That is not all….”

Dr. Seuss (The Cat in the Hat)

Because just at that very moment a group of women were stopping in the path to photograph my “HOW” and “WHY” to leave with beaver posters and I said, if you want just shoot me an email and I can send you the JPEGs for those. And the woman thanked me very much and introduced herself as a regional manager for the Department of Agriculture, and they were always dealing with beaver issues so she wanted to send them to everyone in her offices.

Just in case the acronym escaped you, that’s the USDA – of which APHIS is part. As in killing birds at airports and woodpeckers in Rossmoor and beavers EVERYWHERE. And the USDA will have MY posters telling it how and why to live with beavers.

So yeah, it was a pretty good day.

People Powered – Solar Powered – Beaver Powered

heidi08 Beavers, Festival, Who's saving beavers now? August 3, 2014

Is it possible to summarize yesterday’s tidal wave of good energy and appreciation? I’m still at a loss for words – (in fact I find I have no voice at all this morning). I’ll let Cheryl’s amazing photos speak for me for now and try to percolate the thoughts that finally coalesce tomorrow. In the mean time thank you SO MUCH to everyone who helped, Hank, Rusty, Bob, Marlene, Paula, my sister Beverly, Erika, Pam, Jeanette, Carla, Estelle, Deidre, Martha, Safari West Junior Keepers, John Koss, Cassy, the incredible musicians and our unbelievably hard working Worth A Dam team: Cheryl, Jon, Lory, Jean and FRo. You pulled off a hugely positive and educational event with massive complications in a postage stamp of space and the greater beaver world is in awe of what you accomplished.