Month: April 2015

“More Killy – Less Frilly!”

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Environmental, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's Killing Beavers Now? April 15, 2015

It wasn’t an accident that the poet said “April is the cruelest month”. Have you noticed how everyone and their cousin is deciding to trim their trees and hedges right during nesting season? It’s as if no one looks outside all the rest of the year but as soon as they want to barbecue they have to start killing some nature to make the yard nice. Apparently, it’s true for beavers too.

Beaver bounty considered for 2015-16 budget

BOLIVIA — The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners has been asked to consider a beaver bounty for Brunswick County.

Stephanie Lewis, director of operation services, proposed putting $10,000 into a pilot program to remove beavers and clear their dams that cause trouble throughout the county.

Lewis added that while trappers would remove the beavers, the county is already removing the beaver dams except when explosives are required to clear them.

Commissioner Frank Williams said he receives more calls about beavers than any other types of calls in his district.

“Where are we in the curve? Are we ahead? Are we caught up?” Commissioner Marty Cooke asked regarding how the county has handled problems with beavers.

“Right now I’d say the beavers are winning.”

They’re definitely winning in the IQ contest, I’ll give them that. And why on earth would you call a town in Prince Edward Island “Bolivia”? It makes zero sense. Which, is perfect I guess. Because paying more money to get more of something that’s not working is pretty senseless.

To save trees, Park Board approves beaver cull

FARGO—Experts will begin trapping and killing beavers living along the Red River this fall or next spring, in an effort to spare trees from the animals’ teeth.

The Park Board on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve the cull, which will be handled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Beavers have been chewing into too many trees, causing financial damage and much consternation, park officials said.

“Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve known there’s been beaver damage to our trees,” Parks Director Dave Leker told the Park Board. “It’s just gradually, over the past five years, getting worse.”

Roger Gress, executive director of the parks district, said thousands of dollars have been lost due to beavers chewing into the city’s trees.

“We’ve planted new trees,” Gress said, “and then they’re gone.”

Expert trappers, led by the USDA’s John Paulson, will handle the cull, which will take place at Lemke and Trefoil parks, at a cost of about $1,000.

Paulson’s team will start by analyzing and locating the beaver colonies before laying the traps.

Yes, first hire the hitman and let him figure it out. Never mind about those crazy beaver-huggers saying you can wrap the trees or protect them with paint. They don’t know how much easier it is just to kill them. Bring in the traps!

Dead animals discovered at Charlotte neighborhood park

At least this park in Charlotte North Carolina has the good sense to be mortified by the site of these grisly deaths. Which is almost like being appalled that they happen at all.Something tells me they’ll be more discrete in the future.

King County crews work to clear beaver dam breach

And let’s end on a slightly more positive note because Washington is refreshingly good to beavers. If I were one of our flat-tailed friends I would swim north until I crossed the Columbia River and then start looking for a place to settle down.

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding

A little life with dried tubers.

T.S. Eliot The Wasteland

Remember to watch Episode 2 of animal homes tonight on Nature PBS for first ever seen footage inside beaver lodges!

Beaver message trickles East

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Chewing, Beaver Chewing, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's Killing Beavers Now?, Who's saving beavers now? April 14, 2015

Busy as a beaver: unique partnership helps maintain riverside trees

UI allows the native beaver to gnaw down invasive trees, while saving protected species. Keeping the University of Iowa campus beautiful is a full-time job. Luckily, the UI Landscape Services team gets a little assistance each year in the form of some notoriously busy helpers: the nocturnal, semi-aquatic beaver.

Beavers, a native Iowa species, typically gnaw down trees along the UI campus riverbanks, which is fine for some tree species, but not for others. Instead of stopping the beavers’ behavior, the tree care team decided to work with the beavers’ natural talents. By wrapping valued native and planted trees with protective wire, the invasive and common native species like Boxelder, White Mulberry, Siberian Elm, Willow, Green Ash, and Silver Maple, are left for the beavers to utilize in their underwater homes for food and shelter.

It is true that beavers can be destructive if their work is not redirected; however, under the right circumstances they can be used as an effective, low-cost management tool. Next to humans, no other animal appears to do more to take care of its landscape.

“While there may be a number of trees gnawed off along the riverbanks, the beavers’ work will not kill the tree as the root system is still intact, so the tree typically will resprout. As long as they continue to do this to the invasive species, we don’t have a problem with them. They’re a spoke in the wheel of life as are the trees, as are we,” says Andy Dahl, UI arborist. “We’re happy to have them as our partners to manage the riverbanks.”

Go Andy and UI! Awesome to read that the Hawekeye State has at least an island committed to coexistence. Sometimes I get the feeling that the beaver good news is spreading so far and permeating so deep that there eventually won’t be a single state where it doesn’t exist.

Except Oklahoma. Because, you know.

“The flood recovery is helping us to clean up and better celebrate the Iowa River. Those busy beavers are helping to contribute to that effort,” says Don Guckert, associate vice president of Facilities Management.

Even in Fargo ND the attitude towards beavers is changing. Just look at this:

Beavers beware: Fargo Park Board mulls trapping, killing

FARGO—Because of tree damage caused by beavers along the Red River, the Fargo Park Board will meet tonight to consider trapping and killing the animals in hopes of reining in their population.

“We’re not trying to eliminate all the beavers,” said Dave Leker, director of parks. “We’re just trying to reduce them.”

Leker said the district has received a number of calls from residents worried about beavers harming mature, riparian trees. He said there’s no problem with beavers using small trees for food and dam building, but the destruction of decades-old trees concerns district officials.

Sam DeMarais, the district’s forester, said he’s counted roughly 70 trees gnawed by beavers in city parks. Many of the trees have been felled, and in other cases, beavers have chewed off the bark all the way around the lower trunk. This is known as girdling, which is a death sentence for a tree, Leker said.

“Beavers are part of the natural ecosystem, and so are trees,” he said. “It’s kind of a no-win situation. You’re going to have people that, you know, are rooting for the beavers, and you’re going to have people that are rooting for the trees.”

Hmmm Fargo hasn’t exactly exhausted their resources trying to solve this problem. But it’s still better that they don’t want to kill ALL the beavers. An inquiring mind might ask how many beaver they have? And how they’ll chose which ones to kill? The Sophie’s choice of beavers, I guess. They are going to contact USDA next. Now how could that possibly go wrong?

Lifetimes and Beavers

heidi08 Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Educational, Environmental, Who's Killing Beavers Now? April 13, 2015

The California Roadkill Observation System is operated by the Road Ecology Center at UC Davis. Our friend Eli worked to get it to show the incidence of beaver deaths around the state caused by drivers, which is a grimly useful tool for getting a handle on population. We can infer where there are breeding colonies and where beavers decided to disperse. The interactive map tells you what was seen and where, The one near San Jose is from highway 1 at Pescadero, which is a colony we know about. The one that makes me sad is the yellow one (meaning a large beaver) which was trying to cross highway 37. This means he or she VERY nearly made it on his way to colonize Marin, which might be harder to do than we realize with all the lethal motorways in between.

I like knowing there is a resource to report these deaths at least. I’m especially troubled by highway deaths when those lethal spacers block the center of the roadway. There is no place for the animal to get through and they just are forced to wander aimlessly looking for an opening.

This is a depressing conversation for a monday, so I’m going to give you a LARGE DOSE of cheer.

Napa River restoration begins a new phase Upvalley

OAKVILLE — After 13 years and $21 million, restoration of 4.5 miles of Napa River banks in the heart of Napa Valley is complete, offering improved habitat and reducing flood damage.

Federal, state and local leaders celebrated the accomplishment Thursday as they prepared to launch phase 2: 9 miles of bank restoration from Oakville to Oak Knoll costing another $21 million.

Almost 100 people turned out for the by-invitation morning event along the rivers bank at the Opus One Winery in Oakville, including Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St Helena.

“This river is part of what makes Napa County the iconic landscape that it is,” said Samuel Schuchat, executive officer of the California Coastal Conservancy. “I strongly believe this is the future of river restoration in California.”

One of the most exciting things at the Salmonid Federation Urban Streams Workshop I attended, was this talk

A “Living River” Runs Through It, The Napa Creek Flood Management Project – Leslie Ferguson, San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board

which described the 20 year job of restoring the Napa River. No kidding, 20 years of involving stake holders, wooing business leaders, and politicians. 20 years of weekly meetings to talk about letting the river return to some of its natural state, which means vintners had to agree to give up some of the most valuable land in the entire country.

More than a decade ago, vineyard owners in the group called The Rutherford Dust Society started the effort. The result is the newly completed Rutherford Reach project between Zinfandel Lane and Oakville Cross Road.

Twenty-eight landowners participated in the $21 million project. The county’s Measure A flood control sales tax provided $12.5 million, with federal and state agencies contributing $7.9 million. Landowners gave up 30 acres of vineyard land worth an estimated $9 million and agreed to pay a maintenance assessment.

Davie Pina of the Rutherford Dust Society and Pina Vineyard Management has seen a difference with wildlife along the river. He’s seen beaver dams and ospreys and Swainson’s hawks.

“Things are coming back, and we are doing the right thing around here,” he told the gathering.

Once again, the arrival of beaver dams are recognized as a reward for the very hard restorative work done. I say ‘again’ because I was lucky enough to once have a lovely conversation with the revered Hughlet Hornbeck about just this topic in terms of cleaning up the Marina, Granger’s Wharf and the mouth of Alhambra Creek in a sustained effort of 50 years that lead to the arrival of our beavers. He said the beavers were a reward for their effort. He wanted to meet the young lady who had “scared the city council” into letting them live.

( A memory to treasure until the end of my days for sure.)

Back to the topic at hand, learning about the marathon efforts at work in Napa have helped me understand just why their response to the beavers has been so uniformly idyllic. They are river-smart in Napa because they spent literally decades studying. Meeting every week, arguing with landowners, persuading the thick-headed and zealous over patient dialogue, compromising and never getting half of what they wanted. They did a remarkable thing,

We should all hope to be a part of something beautiful that is so long in the making.

Swimming Upstream to Trout Unlimited

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere April 12, 2015

We left bright and early for Coloma yesterday with lots of time to spare thank goodness because google’s infinite wisdom directed us to a private road and dead end. Luckily there was an actual map in the car to guide us although I wouldn’t swear it was printed before 1975. As it was we had to ask a ranger at Coloma state park for the last turn, and would never have seen the tiny lane heading off to the American River Resort. We had literally minutes to spare when I set up, threw the equipment together and tried to make sure that everything was working.

The rustic event center where it was held was marked with a huge stone fireplace and scattered with round tables where the (mostly male) presidents gathered after lunch outside to hear the strange beaver-lady. Some parts of the room were a tough sell, but I did my dammedest [sic], and there were many good questions and much appreciation when I was done. My host, John Sikora of El Dorado Trout Unlimited was very grateful and presented Worth A Dam with a 15o.oo dollar check for the service. I met Cindy Noble, the president of TU from the Feather River who had recently asked to link her project to the website. And Brian Hines the man whose presentation I had followed the SRF workshop on urban stream restoration. And Jerry Bender, the president of Santa Rosa’s TU who was eager for beaver in Santa Rosa and wanted me to think about talking to his chapter or to his Kiwanis group at 7 on the morning! (Ahem.) And the we loaded up our equipment and made the long winding way back home.

These photos should give you an idea of the day. The tiny brown dot at the back is me talking beavers. Some of the crowd were very appreciative and into the topic but there were a few scowling men who were less appreciative. A few untreated cases of ‘mansplaining’ posed as questions at the end, which always irks me greatly. I left with the feeling that I would love to get alone them in a room and lecture them privately about beavers for hours. One of the surprising parts to me is how eager many of them were for Fish and Wildlife to change its rules about beaver location. They all felt it should happen imminently – which my channels tell me unlikely. The more pressure the better! And their impatience will only help.

A good day, a hard day, and useful inroads were made. I was exhausted by the time we made it home. Now we have to shift our focus to Earth Day next week!

Here’s the sorry update on ~~Choppa~~ Chappa. Apparently I’ve been spelling his name wrong. Although I’m not sure he can spell anyway. Looks like it’s only a matter of time.

Trout Unlimited welcomes Martinez Beavers.

heidi08 Beavers April 11, 2015

Choppa’s brief freedom might be coming to an end. But at least he’ll get outta that cage and in a real habitat it sounds like.

Chapa, the missing beaver, found in Arkansas River

Chapa, the missing beaver, has been found.

Now, caretaker Connie Storrie just has to figure out how to coax him back into captivity.

Storrie, who has coordinated the search and rescue effort for Chapa since Tuesday, said the beaver was seen in the Arkansas River around 8:45 a.m. Friday. He broke out of his enclosure at the Kansas Wildlife Exhibit in Central Riverside Park sometime Tuesday morning.

She is not disclosing where Chapa was found because she is still trying to coax him out of the water – extra gawkers may spook him, she said.

A photo that surfaced yesterday of a beaver near Marina Point Apartments, near 21st and Amidon, ended up being a different beaver. The tail on that beaver was too short and the fur too dark, Storrie said.

How does Storrie know this is the genuine Chapa? She said she called his name while searching the river on Friday and the beaver started swimming toward her.

As far as she can tell, Chapa is unharmed from his four days in the wild.

“I haven’t seen him close enough out of the water, but he does look good in the water,” she said.

Oh man, he was so close! But her concern is kind of endearing.

We’re trying to convince him that he wants to come home,” she said. “He’s still having fun, and he hasn’t run into any trouble yet.

“If I knew that he would be OK and maybe find a lady friend that could show him the ropes, then that would be great, but I don’t know if that would happen.”

He most likely will not return to Central Riverside Park, she said. She said she has an area where she can keep a close eye on his re-assimilation into beaver life until he will one day be released.

I was hoping he’d never be found, and it would turn into a kind of ‘spartacus moment’ for all the beavers in Kansas. I guess not.