Month: February 2015

Salmon experts say beaver risks are ‘simply too great’

Salmon experts have condemned the possible reintroduction of beavers to Courier Country’s prime sporting rivers as a risk that is “simply too great”.

Sporting interests said the reappearance of beavers on those rivers would be an “ill-advised additional pressure on our fragile salmon runs” and have called for the plan to be rejected.

 Beavers have been extinct in Scotland since the 17th Century, although they appear in small numbers in many parts of the country, including Perthshire and Angus, it is thought after escaping from private collections.

 “There is little doubt that beavers can generally have overall positive effects on production of some species of salmonid fishes due to their role in engineering river habitats and influencing the chemical dynamics within the watercourse.

 “However, their influence on Atlantic salmon is more ambiguous because this species of fish is specialised for swift waters, which would be reduced by extensive beaver damming.

 “Furthermore, Atlantic salmon is highly migratory and hence vulnerable to obstruction of free passage.  “It is, therefore, by no means certain that salmon across their range can tolerate negative effects of beavers in the way that once they could.

 Oh puleeze.  Your special punkin’ salmon are migratory and used to fast water? Unlike those lazy couch potato fish in the pacific friggin’ ocean? I guess NOAA was wrong. Honestly, I don’t know what irritates me more – people pretending to be alarmed while willfully ignore facts or people who lie while doing it to the press. No wait, I know. These  kilted prevaricating fishwives are so delicately concerned only this clip will suffice. Replace the word “Guilder” for the word “Beaver”.

Well, since we’ve had a full dose of beaver liars this morning, we may as well have a trapper-adulation article to finish it off. Remember, that every year we get at least 6 of these, wistfully remembering the lost art of the animal-killer, remarking with awe on what thankless work it is, and don’t forget, admiring with lip-smacking subtlety  their physical prowess.

 Poor economy, sanctions in fur-loving Russia catch up with wild-animal trappers in US

Tall, husky, barrel-chested, with a bushy auburn beard and a rosy complexion, he tromps through the forest to check traps capable of killing an animal within five minutes. Stepping onto a frozen pond, he chips through 4 inches of ice, reaches into the icy water and pulls out a 45-pound beaver.

Five years ago, its pelt would have fetched $50. These days, it will likely yield half that.

Economic forces including market slowdowns in big fur-buying countries like Russia, China and South Korea, as well as a continuing trend toward distaste for fur as a result of animal welfare concerns, make Cogill among a dwindling number of trappers catching fur-bearing beasts in the wild.

 “I love trapping, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not going to trap something for nothing,” Cogill said. “If there’s no market for it, I’d have to sit on it. There are warehouses full of fur right now, and no one buying.”

The words Boo and hoo spring immediately to mind.   I remember how surprising it was to be in Alaska and see fur coat stores everywhere in the open streets. No one would risk that kind of public display in San Francisco or New York.

The fur industry has also experienced a slow but noticeable decline in acceptability in the U.S. in recent years. A 2014 Gallup poll found that 58 percent of respondents thought buying and wearing clothing made of fur was morally acceptable, a decline of 5 points from 10 years earlier.

Some delight at the industry’s decline. Mollie Matteson, senior scientist with the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity, said the reduction in trapping will mean less chance that imperiled, non-target species will be caught in traps.

Still, Brian shouldn’t worry. People will still want beavers dead even if they can’t find a use for their fur.