Month: April 2015

Cinderella story: Otters & Beavers

heidi08 Beavers April 5, 2015

Bay Area river otters make a comeback

Our friends at the River Otter Ecology Project get a fitting tribute to their hard work and recent publication. Congratulations for making an important difference! They are proud to welcome otter presence back to eight of the nine bay area counties. Since otters are no doubt there because of the recovering fish population and cleaner water, it’s something we should ALL be happy about. We’ve watched ROEP grow from a hint of an idea, to a plan and into a massive success and I couldn’t be happier for them! They are this year’s winner for the John Muir non-profit of the year conservation award, and have always been grand beaver supporters of our efforts and happy to cross pollinate. Check out their new publication and enjoy the recovery for yourself.

I have to admit though, despite all good intentions, when I consider the charmed life otters lead, with their cheerful beloved antics and their lithe fish-eating ways, I can’t help getting jealous. No city ever makes a decision to kill otters and no one gets mad at them for flooding roads or blocking culverts. In California the otter’s biggest threat is accidental trapping if it wanders into a conibear set for a beaver on purpose. Otters rarely get mistakenly attributed in photographs, and people don’t call them pests. Their comeback inspires a ticker-tape parade, and beavers are greeted with pitchforks and torches. It can feel like beavers are the red-headed step child of the aquatic mammal world. And for that matter, why didn’t our three beaver prevalence papers make the news? The three were monumentally hard work overturning 70 years of thought!

And then I read this:

“…we strongly recommend attention to their potential role as a keystone species in the San Francisco Bay Area”

Could that be true? I knew of course that sea otters were a keystone species, because of their diet of sea urchins, which otherwise deplete kelp forests, where so much sea life lives. But river otters? Was nothing sacred? Would there be otter keystone charm bracelets next? I went searching around for clues and found this from our old friend Steve Boyle saying it has to do with the role of nutrient exchange:

The river otter has been termed a keystone species because of its role in nutrient transport between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and a sentinel species because of its sensitivity toenvironmental contaminants and other disturbances (Bowyer et al. 2003). As such, river otter presence

should be considered an important element in aquatic and riparian ecosystem health in Region 2 habitats potentially suitable for river otters. The existing and additional management efforts described below should help to make river otter populations across Region 2 more widespread and secure.

Oh alright then. Otter poop it is. (Snark Alert: Can’t really imagine what that bracelet would look like?) I hrmphed off to Rickipedia who reminded me not to worry because the thing that makes beavers wondrous is that in addition to being a keystone species they’re also ecosystem engineers. Which is much, much rarer.

So I think it’s time for new graphics, don’t you?

Ecosystem Engineer

Now here’s something entirely positive about beavers, Peter Smith’s discussion of their Economic Impact at the recent Scottish Beaver Conference.

And of course, this!

Fit for a Prince

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Chewing, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Who's blaming beavers now? April 4, 2015

How many beavers is too many for Calgary’s Prince’s Island Park?

There are estimated to be several hundred beavers living in Calgary, clustered along the Elbow and Bow Rivers. One beaver can easily kill more than a hundred trees a year, which is a concern for the city, especially in its most-used park.

Manderson says the city is considering whether it makes sense to let the family stay in Prince’s Island Park, or perhaps limit the number of beavers allowed to stay.

“After the flood there has been a lot of change,” he said. “There are new areas the beavers are exploiting that they may not have in the past…what we do is keep on top of that with increased monitoring and wiring. I don’t know if there is a major number that I can say, ‘this size of park, this many beavers,’ I don’t know if it’s that easy.”

The city also wants to protect the trees and areas around the lagoon, said Manderson, but without harming any of the animals. The last thing officials want to do is to trap or relocate any beavers, as that too often ends in the animals’ death. The first option is to encourage the beavers to move along on their own.

Calgary Prince Island park is one of those city parks set in the middle of the river (this time the Bow River) with one side developed for festivals and the other side tapering into wetlands for birds and birders. For the most part it is accessible only by footbridges and is a treasure in the city as you might well imagine. Here’s a map that gives you a general idea.

When I read a headline like “How many beavers is too many” I immediately think of the answer “I’ll tell you the number if it gets close to happening”. But obviously in an area like that they could get lots of beaver visitors. They think they have hundreds, and they can’t really. What they actually have is a drive thru banquet table on the middle of a beaver highway. And even if they kill 500 beavers the only way they’re going to protect those trees is to protect those trees! If they don’t want to individually wire wrap them all, then build several brick perimeter fences around a clump – at least 3 feet high. Don’t raise the bed. Beavers don’t climb and what they can’t reach they won’t eat. I promise.

I think Mr. Manderson gets a letter.

Now onto more local interest. Guess what’s on page two of this issue of Bay Nature Magazine? I’m pretty happy with the way it came out. Even for a small ad it’s pretty eye catching don’t you think?

I would be pretty unhappy if I were one of the other three ads on this page. Knowing what we paid they paid a chunk of money and who will even see them when there’s adorable beavers to catch their eyes?

Which reminds me that I just got permission from artist Mark Poulin to use his button designs in some kind of shirt for Worth A Dam staff. Just to show off their purpose. I really like the way this looks so far, but am still tweaking.

Two final pieces of very good news. Look at our lovely footbridge dam! It’s getting so big I know Dad thinks there are kits to protect!

And ooh just look what one of our new stakes is doing! Doesn’t that look delicious?

Beaver Spring

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? April 3, 2015

We need a real beaver update first off. The secondary dam (name to be changed soon) is HUGE. And one of our new stakes is already sprouting! Jon spied a mother with 12 baby ducks yesterday and we went down to beaver watch this morning. Our kit (almost yearling, birthday in May) was swimming back and forth in front of the hole where they live, and a parent swimming up from down stream after a night feeding. She had to CLIMB up over the monumental dam before heading to sleep for the day. A great beaver morning.

I’ve been waiting forever to share this great new research from Dr. Ellen Wohl. There is so much happening lately there’s never time to catch up. If you want to remind yourself who she is listen to this short clip. It remains the single most pithy description of beaver benefits I’ve ever heard. Photos courtesy of Worth A Dam, of course.

See how she just slips in the good news about beavers along side the already largely accepted news about wood??? Her research has made a huge difference in the way folks look at beavers, and I’m sure there’s more where that came from. Go read the whole thing here:

It’s Cherry Blossom Festival time which reminded to share an old story. A while ago some patriotic beaver started chewing down the National trees, and the decision of whether to kill them or not caused a bit of a stir. Now the trees have their own mascot to protect them. Paddles the beaver, which reminds visitors not to pick blossoms.

There’s a new resource for beaver restoration in the world, compiled by Rebecca Haddock of the Miistakis Institute of Alberta. She attended the state of the beaver conference and liked what she learned. This is what I would call a great start, although it is missing info on several key players like the Lands Council and/or Methow Project in Washington, The Beaver Advocacy Committee in Oregon, Sherri Tippie in Colorado, even more locally to them Cows and Fishes in Alberta! -)Not to mention you know who in California…) The full report is online at OAEC here.

And as our beavers get more visible, the ones in Napa do to. Here’s footage Rusty shot yesterday of Mom and Dad swimming together.

Lastly, I just got a request from Mountain Lake in NY to use Cheryl’s photo in a podcast they were releasing about beavers. They gave us a very nice plug, Go see for yourself.

Beaver Cheer x3

heidi08 Beavers, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? April 2, 2015

Ooh this is a fun day. There is so much good news to share, I’m like a kid in a beaver store! You will be too. Let’s start with a late April Fools from Canada that I received yesterday afternoon. I was excited by the headline, but you’re sure to be thrilled by the photo.

Beaver-deceivers to beaver believers

What started out as an ecologist’s dream ended up a nightmare mired in mud, myth and misery.

Rainer Wasserman is a 38-year old ecologist at The Ohio State University of Ohio, whose work used to focus on wetland restoration and ecosystems.

“When I first heard it, I didn’t believe it,” he said, shaking his head. He was referring to the first confirmed sighting of the Castorimorpha megaloenochae, a giant aquatic relative of the beaver, whose destructive power is equalled only by its orneriness. “I never saw one; neither did anyone else I’ve worked with over the years. Until recently, that is.”

The almost mythical creature came to the forefront recently when a 3-acre detention basin along King Street flooded in 2014. Great piles of debris blocked a culvert that allows for the basin to properly drain. And though beavers were fingered as obvious culprits, no one, in the basin’s ten year history, had ever actually seen the animals in the act of building the dams.

Hahaha! It reminds me of what I often say about our Castoroides skull….THIS is the size of the problems the city thought the beavers were going to cause! YS Ohio has definitely stepped onto the beaver stage this year. It has swallowed their news cycle, just like it did in Martinez. Funny to read a giant beaver is ruining a retention pond. To tell the truth though, considering the untrue things you say about beavers all the time, this article really isn’t that special.

Now it’s time to thank Connecticut because they had enough state pride to promote their resident filmmaker’s 3-part series on CPTV starting next week. I thought it was only going to show on the east coast, but when I called I learned that it will air on all PBS stations. The second part airs on tax day and will be about beavers!

CPTV to Air New Three-Part Nature Miniseries from New Haven Filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum

Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) will premiere the new three-part miniseries “Animal Homes” from filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum of New Haven, Conn., as part of the long-running PBS natural history series Nature on Wednesday, April 8 at 8 p.m. Parts 2 and 3 of the series will air on Wednesdays, April 15 and 22, also at 8 p.m.

This three-part series provides intimate, never-before-seen views of the lives of animals in their homes. It investigates just how animals build their remarkable homes around the globe and the intriguing behaviors and social interactions that take place in and around them.

Filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum, an avid outdoorswoman, has produced television documentaries for the past 20 years with a focus on the arts, science and nature. Her 2010 documentary “Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air” was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Nature Programming, and her film “An Original DUCKumentary” won the 2013 Emmy Award for Outstanding Nature Programming. Both films also aired on CPTV as part of the Nature series.

“Animal Homes: Location, Location, Location” (Premiering Wednesday, April 15 at 8 p.m.) – Finding a good base of operations is key to successfully raising a family. One must find the right stream or tree, the right building materials, neighbors and sometimes tenants. In the wild, every home is a unique DIY project, every head of household a designer and engineer. Cameras chart the building plans and progress of beavers, black bears, hummingbirds and woodrats, examining layouts and cross sections, evaluating the technical specs of their structures and documenting their problem-solving skills. Animal architecture provides insights into animal consciousness, creativity and innovation.

Whoohooo! More beavers on PBS! Thanks CT for the promotion, because I might not have known. I guess they were pretty happy with how Jari Osborne’s documentary did last year. You can read all about the upcoming miniseries here. Here’s a great promo to whet your appetite.

Something too look forward to on April 15th. How often can you say that?

Onto my favorite part of this trifecta of beaver cheer. It’s the just-spring update from Spring Farm Cares an animal sanctuary in New York. They’re good friends of Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife. Their beavers have just broken through the ice to check for treats. They made sure they weren’t disappointed.

BP 3 30 15 22 — Beaver under ice – Spring Farm Cares

BP 3 30 15 25 — Breaver Breaks Through Ice – Spring Farm Cares

BP 3 30 15 43 — Iceworld – Spring Farm Cares

: Beaver emerges- Spring Farm Cares

Aren’t those lovely? You might want to go see the whole thing for yourself here. Consider dropping something in their tip jar because they are doing wonderful things. There’s even adorable muskrats under ice photos. I’m very jealous that we never get to see beavers under ice, but there is one thing they photographed that Martinez has seen many, many times before.

which first — Leaving nothing to chance – Spring Farm Cares

This is NOT April Fools!

heidi08 Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental April 1, 2015

Folks you know might play tricks on you today, and tell you you’re shoes untied or there was an eviction notice on the porch. But not me. I am only going to tell you the absolute truth. It just seems unbelievable.

Greenbelt bucks beavers with tree plantings at Buddy Attick Park

Jamie Anfenson-Comeau/The Gazette
Greenbelt residents Lynne Cherry and Gergory Rankin wrap a wire cage around a tree at Buddy Attick Park on Saturday to protect it from beaver predation.

Over 50 volunteers braved chilling wind and 40-degree temperatures to plant new trees at Greenbelt’s Buddy Attick Park and wrap cages around trees to protect their bark from the bite of local beavers.

Saturday saw the largest volunteer turnout ever, according to city officials.

“In Greenbelt, we’re really passionate about our tree canopy, and to see so many volunteers coming out for this is a reflection on the dedication and passion all of you have,” said Greenbelt Mayor Emmett Jordan.

Volunteers planted white oak, spice bush, black oak, persimmon, paw-paws and other trees, and they placed wire mesh cages around many of the young trees to protect them from beaver predation.

In addition, the red twig dogwood was planted specifically to feed the beavers, and next year — when the dogwoods have settled in — the cages will be removed, said Greenbelt horticulturist Brian Townsend.

Not only are the smart volunteers in Maryland wrapping trees instead of killing beavers, they are actually PLANTING TREES FOR THEM TO EAT in the future! How wonderful is that? Apparently they have some university volunteers as well as their own Americorp coordinator, and they’re even using the right kind of wire. I couldn’t be happier.

Unless it was in Texas.

What was made by man over a decade ago has evolved into a natural habitat.

“It’s a constructed wetland to replace a creek that was where the mall is now. It looks so natural,” Dianne Wassenich with the San Marcos River Foundation said. “It’s amazing and it has crawdads, it has beaver, it has lots of birds. It’s a great habitat now.”

Normally, the creek is a narrow strip of water, but a beaver dam has caused the water to pool. The beavers have been seen coming in and out of their home, but things aren’t always beautiful.

“With the creek coming under the freeway, the trash coming off of the freeway, and then any stuff blowing in from the outlet malls or people leaving the outlet malls, it tends to accumulate trash,” Kirwin said.

For the second time this year, volunteers have cleaned the site, hauling dozens of bags of trash out of the water.

Click on the image for a nice video about the work and habitat. Apparently folks could even get excited about beaver in Texas. I’m reminded of the Detroit river when they were sooo happy to see beaver come back on the landscape. Beavers are slightly better than pollution, for a while but just wait. The cynic in me says they’ll be complaining about them in no time.

How about some surprising news closer to home?

Tracker Finds Beaver Sign in Humboldt

In March 15, Kim Cabrera, who runs a website devoted to tracking, spotted beaver sign on the South Fork of the Eel River.

Rain had softened the sand where the impressions were discovered south of Dyerville but Cabrera, an experienced tracker, is confident that the signs belong to a beaver. (See photo to the left.)

Cabrera says that even though no beaver dams have been spotted in the area doesn’t mean that there aren’t beavers. According to her website,

“Beavers do not always build dams. They can live on a river and use burrows and eat vegetation without building any structures. Look for their tracks and signs along sandy river banks. You might find areas where limbs have been dragged into the water. Beavers will come ashore and gnaw off branches then take these back to eat later. Look along the shores for branches showing the tooth marks of these large rodents.”

Great news! Kim is a facebook friend and I asked about this. She said she’s been hiking the area for 20 years and this is the first beaver sign she’s seen!

This is a range expansion. Beaver have not been on the South Fork for many years. In my 20 years of tracking along this river, it is the first find of a beaver track here. I was so happy when I found it!It was the weekend before last. I am really hoping that they continue to disperse up the South fork! It would be so awesome to see them coming back!

Ready to welcome beavers with open arms. (Much better than firearms.) Thank you to Kim who spread the word and Eli who sent the article my way. I’m always happiest when folks think beavers are good news rather than the contrary.

Mind you, beaver footprints, (especially REAR foot prints), are very rare. In 8 years of watching our beavers that we know are present every day I think we’ve seen clear rear tracks a handful of times. Which might suggest that just because you haven’t seen them in 20 years, it doesn’t mean they’re not there!

Ohh Alright! I’ll give you ONE April Fools Headline. I was honestly so excited when I saw this: