Month: March 2016

Ascending Beaver Stars

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? March 26, 2016

Today is full of inspiration. I couldn’t be happier. We can start with this fantastic story.

After Muskrats Damaged Pond, Beaver Moves In to Make Repairs

Noelker’s parents, the late Walter and Evelyn Noelker, had built the pond some 80 years ago, and the family used to fish in it.

Then a few years back, muskrats showed up and began burrowing holes into the pond bank, damaging it to the point where it was too weak to hold up anymore, said Noelker. A section of the bank gave way and the pond was drained down to just 3 feet or so of water.

Then about six months ago, Noelker — who can see the pond from his house in neighboring Forest Hills subdivision — noticed the pond looked deeper again, back to its original 8- or 9- foot depth.

When he showed up to investigate he found his answer in a row of tree stumps with pointy tips surrounding the pond and a water-tight dam made from those felled tree trunks, other sticks and mud.

A beaver or a family of them had moved in and repaired the hole in the bank that had been created by muskrats.

How much do you LOVE this story? Not only does Mr. Noelker let nature take its course, he also has the good sense to recognize the help the beaver is providing. If I told you to close your eyes and guess what state this is from you’d be right. The beaver IQ capital of the world: Washington.

“We don’t care that the beaver is here. He’s our buddy now,” Leon Noelker said, smiling.

He rents a cottage on the property and wishes he could see them. We wanna stay! Trust me, they will be amply visible in the coming fine summer days that seem to stretch forever. Those hungry kits will wake up before the sun goes down and then he’ll be in for a real treat. Muskrats AND beavers!

Every beaver’s great friend Glynnis Hood is back in the news, this time international.

Beaver Hills area named UNESCO biosphere reserve

*Glynnis Hood, professor of environmental science at Augustana Campus, lives near Lake Miquelon and guides students’ research in the wetlands of the Beaver Hills area.*

An ecologically rich area of Alberta that is home to a University of Alberta research station and fertile ground for dozens of researchers over the years has won international recognition.

Home to a mix of preserved wetlands, green rolling hills and dense boreal forests, the Beaver Hills area east of Edmonton has been designated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve, under its Man and the Biosphere Programme. The area joins a network of 669 sites in 120 countries that foster ecologically sustainable human and economic development. Researchers from various faculties at the U of A have conducted dozens of studies there over the last 30 years, focused on work ranging from wildlife and outdoor recreation to wetlands and land management.

“It’s a hidden gem,” added Glynnis Hood, an associate professor of environmental science based at the U of A’s Augustana Campus. “Beaver Hills is spectacular because of its subtle beauty. There are ecological surprises around every corner, because you’re not looking for the big features like mountains, but for the small surprises.” One of those surprises is the fisher, a weasel thought to be gone from the area that seems to have a healthy population and is now the subject of a collaborative University of Victoria study involving Augustana Campus.

“The Beaver Hills biosphere offers a rich opportunity to keep exploring questions that are right in our own backyard,” said Hood, who lives near Miquelon Lake and has for years guided students in researching area wetlands. She’s also studied human-wildlife conflicts and is currently researching low-impact wetland management practices.

Okay, I’ll let you guess what habitat-restoring engineer has been working hard to keep beaver hills so biodiverse. I’ll even give you a hint: they named the hills after them. We are always thrilled to see the way Glynnis continues to demonstrate their effect on habitat, and our need for wetlands. Now we have UNESCO appreciating her good work as well. This sentence intrigued me.

Last year she and colleague Glen Hvenegaard led the first field course in environmental science and ecology at the Miquelon Lake Research Station, which opened in 2015.

If that name sounds really familiar it should. Dr. Hvenegaard is the author of this paper on the importance of wildlife festivals which is very near to my heart.

Potential Conservation Benefits of Wildlife Festivals

Wildlife festivals promote a variety of social, educational, economic, recreational, and community development goals. As ecotourism activities, wildlife festivals should also promote conservationgoals. This article examines five potential conservation benefits of wildlife festivals which can be generated by providing: 1) incentives to establish protected areas; 2) revenue for wildlife and habitat management; 3) economic impact to nearby areas, encouraging residents to conserve wildlife; 4) alternatives to other uses that cause more environmental damage; and 5) support for conservation by educating local and nonlocal participants.

Truly a kindred spirit of ours. I’m glad they’re working together to teach the importance of interconnected ecosystems and getting out in them!

A final stunning moment comes this morning from Rusty Cohn of Napa. He used his drone to aerial film the creek and beaver lodge. Yesterday he and Robin Ellison met with the Geography Masters student I met at the State of the beaver conference last year. Alexandra Costello. She interviewed me for an urban beaver paper she’ll be doing a poster session for this year at the upcoming Geography conference in SF. While she’s in the area she wanted to see some urban dams. Robin and Rusty were only two happy to assist. The three had a fantastic visit and really surprised her, because even it’s ‘under construction’ spring state, the Napa dam was still bigger than the urban ones she’d seen in Portland. Those are made entirely of grass and mud, she said, with no sticks.

Beaver wanderings

heidi08 Beavers, Educational, Environmental, Who's Killing Beavers Now?, Who's saving beavers now? March 25, 2016

Yesterday was the Pinole Rotary event. They gave us a tasty lunch at Pear Street Bistro while I talked Martinez beavers to them and tried to prepare them for the inevitable beaver visit coming their way. They were very positive and receptive, so I’m hopeful that solutions will cross their minds when beavers tentatively set their paws in Pinole Creek. One cheerful listener even sang the beaver fight song from his alma mater.

Then I came home and found out that Queequeg wears a beaver hat!

Allow me to explain. My youthful self did lots of reading things like Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky, but I never got around to reading more American classics like that famous impossible quest tale of Moby Dick. Probably because whaling was ‘icky’ or some other such reason.

Just by chance on facebook the other day I noticed that they had just finished the complete audio of Melvil’s seminal work, with every chapter read in its entirety by people like Stephen Fry and Tilda Swinton, so I thought, that would be a fun way to fill the gap, and tried it out.

I’m up to chapter for when the narrator unwillingly finds himself sharing a bed at the Spouter Inn with a terrifying painted ‘savage’ who turns out to be not so scary. This is Queequeg, a Mowry kind of tattoed harpoonist who has earned enough at sea to have a few prized civilized possessions. Chief among them is his BEAVER HAT which in the morning he puts on first, long before his actual pants, to show he is fully committed to American life.

Now Moby Dick was written in 1851, when the fur trade had begun to tank. The beaver hat was out of fashion in Europe, and the silk hat was becoming all the rage. Perfect timing because they had killed all the beavers everywhere in Europe centuries ago, and now even Canada and America (including California, the last hold out). Silk ascended, or was adopted, just in time. The same way in which you pretend you like something better when you know you’re never getting the original back. Queequeg proudly wears his top hat in the same way that we might proudly display a rotary phone or one of those a deep square TV sets. Progress has moved on. Even when he catches on he’s already behind.
In case you want to enjoy your own rediscovery, the chapters are here:

Roosevelt win!

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Forests, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? March 24, 2016

One for the good guys! Team beaver did a wonderful job in Roosevelt forest, Connecticut. Apparently there was enough of an outpouring that the powers that be actually stopped what they were doing and listened for once. Hurray!

Forest Commission to endorse beaver trapping ban

The uproar caused by the trapping and killing of beavers in Roosevelt Forest will prompt the forest’s commissioners to call for a ban on trapping.

Forest Commission Chairman Bob David said Tuesday that the commission is expected to approve a resolution that would ban trapping of animals or birds in the forest or any public park in town. The commission will vote on the measure at its meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Town Hall.

The resolution reads in part that the town code “prohibits hunting and trapping in Roosevelt Forest” and states that “No person shall do any hunting or trapping of any game birds or animals or discharge any firearms of any kind whatsoever, set any traps or use any bows or other devices for the taking of any birds or animals within the bounds and limits of Roosevelt Forest or any public park located in the Town of Stratford.”

The resolution would also call for the creation of a nuisance Wildlife Subcommittee “to create a long-term wildlife management plan to preserve the forest for safe and enjoyable usage by all town residents for decades to come.”

Hurray for the good folk involved! Protests, letters and public comment. Sometimes it takes enough of a clamor that that you become harder to live with than the beaver problems they’re trying to eliminate. Martinez should know.

Word of the trap placement angered Stratford residents and animal lovers in neighboring towns. Many said it was inhumane and unfair for the town to kill beavers when the animals are only doing what comes naturally to them. Town officials said previously that they had tried to remove one of the dams in order to prevent the beavers from rebuilding, but they only rebuilt.

So far, two beavers have been caught and killed in the traps that were set, said Public Safety Director Larry Ciccarelli. The remaining traps that are in place will be removed tonight, he said.

“What’s important is that as [David] and I worked through this problem, we gained more information and we found information that would help manage the situation in a kindler, gentler fashion than we knew at the beginning,” Ciccarelli said.

Ciccarelli said the solution they heard about was something they had not heard about before. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said state laws prevent the relocation of beavers.

Let’s be clear. Saying they ‘gained more information‘ is a blazing lie, because I know that myself AND Beaver: Wetlands and Wildlife personally wrote them at the start and told them exactly what to do and how to do it. The ‘information‘ they gained is that other people figured this out too, and weren’t going to stop shouting it in their ears any time soon.

Which I admit, is a revelation of sorts.

I am reminded of the old joke about the stubborn mule. A farmer bragged that all he had to do was ask politely and the mule would do anything he wanted. Then he loaned the mule to his neighbor to plow a field. The mule absolutely refused to pull the plow, so the neighbor dragged him back angrily.

“You said he’d do anything I wanted if I just asked politely. You lied! He won’t even pull the plow.”

The farmer stopped what he was doing and picked up a two by four. He walked over to the mule and walloped him aside the head. (Mind you, when I first heard this joke it was much cringe-worthy and involved a pair of bricks and an appendage) Then he smiled.

” You just need to get his attention, first.”

Now, I was told this joke about teaching teenagers, and I never liked it. But it makes dam good sense about city officials and beavers. Just think of Worth A Dam as a big two by four or pair of bricks, and you get the idea.

Whew, is that all? We worried it was something important…

heidi08 Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now? March 23, 2016

In some states a tannerite blast is so common that nobody lifts an eyebrow when Bubba blows out a couple dams. Heck, I’ve heard some folks pack a picnic to go watch because it’s the best date night in town and better than Viagra at getting cranky old men in the mood.

However, in more civilized climes it can come as quite a shock.

Reports of explosion in Oswego County were beaver dam demolition

NEW HAVEN, N.Y. — Dozens of people across several Oswego County towns reported hearing and feeling an explosion Tuesday night that rattled windows.

Oswego County 911 said it received multiple calls about a possible explosion, but the matter was determined to be non-emergency in nature.

State troopers from the Pulaski barracks responded to a location in the town of New Haven where a subject was trying to dismantle a beaver dam, 911 said, which was apparently the noise and shaking people reported. Dispatchers had no other information.

Listen to the 911 dispatch:

Megan James lives on Miner Road in the town of Scriba. James, a nursing student at Crouse Hospital College of Nursing, was studying for a test around Tuesday night.

“And out of nowhere I heard and felt a huge bang,” she said. “My entire house shook and it sounded like someone was either breaking in or drove a car into the side of the house.”

Firefighters searched roads in the towns of Mexico and New Haven for signs of an explosion. After about an hour a dispatcher reported that someone had called and said they had set off Tannerite.

So the terrorist bomb plot of upstate New York turned out to be just a farmer who had watched too many Duck Dynasty episodes. And everyone was relieved and the police could go back to their donuts or speeding tickets and get to work.

Explain to me again why people blow up beaver dams?

Theoretically they believe they are blasting away an obstruction, but given the fact that a shocking number of people mistakenly think beavers live in the dam, I’m assuming they think they’re getting rid of them too. They’re also blowing up fish and ducks and stirring up a host of debris and mud that they’ll blame the beavers for later.

Which makes this call for a tail bounty in North Carolina fairly commonplace when compared to yesterday’s surprising request to have a beaver expert at the wetlands conference.

I’m so foolish I got all excited when I saw this headline.

Beaver help sought

LUMBERTON — A farmer who is concerned about the increase of beavers in the Saddletree community is asking the Robeson County Board of Commissioners for help.

“I bet we have the World Book of Records for beavers in a two- or three-mile area,” Ronald Hammonds told the commissioners on Monday. “We’ve had a record rain and that’s conducive to increasing the beaver number.”

Hammonds told The Robesonian that 30 beavers have been trapped around Saddletree in recent days. He said that dams are popping up everywhere, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimating there are 15 within four miles.

“We need a beaver management program like they have in Columbus County,” he said. “That program offers a bounty to those who will trap beaver. Any successful program needs to include a bounty as an incentive.”

Robeson County already contracts out with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to supply a wildlife specialist to administer the Beaver Management Assistance Program in Robeson County. That program has been conducted in the county for the past two decades and is credited with saving the county money in beaver-related damage to timber, crops, roadways and drainage structures.

Lumberton is so far south in NC that it is almost SC. Wikipedia lists it as having .1 square mile of water, which makes it pretty hard to imagine 30 beavers being trapped. He says all the rain has made the population increase. (You know, because beavers breed more frequently in damp conditions.) Say what you will about the beaver IQ of this farmer, he’s right at least about one thing.

Just destroying the beaver dams is not the solution.

Good news for beavers (East Coast version)

heidi08 Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? March 22, 2016

The East Coast is ahead of us in impressive academia and sunrise timing, but it other than inventing Mike Callahan and Skip Lisle it sadly isn’t often they win the beaver IQ contest. Looks like several new steps are getting made at once. Starting with Connecticut, which has recently needed more than its share of beaver guidance.

New Hartford Land Trust eyes resurgent beaver population

NEW HARTFORD — Connecticut has become a virtual “Field of Dreams” for a burgeoning beaver population, a fan of the species told conservationists here last week.

New Hartford Land Trust members explored the nature of the beaver and solutions to the problems their instinctual behaviors cause during the land trust’s annual meeting this week. Presenting the program was Michael Callahan, owner of Beaver Solutions of Southampton, Mass.

“Beavers are second only to people as animals that change the environment,” Callahan said. “Biologists call them a keystone species because they help hold an ecosystem together.”

Callahan said “nature likes change” and beavers are agents of that change. As they cut trees to create dams, woodlands are flooded and natural succession occurs. Beavers eventually create an open grassy habitat called a “beaver meadow,” attracting waterfowl.

As aquatic vegetation grows, invertebrates become common, which attracts insect-eating wildlife such as tree swallows, eastern kingbirds and bats. Fish populations change from cool-water to warm-water species. Mink and otter move in and the wetland becomes attractive to muskrats, mallards, Canada geese, black ducks and least bitterns. Nature is on the move.

If beavers remain in an area, they typically exhaust the food supply and the animals move on to a new territory. The old dams break down and mud flats develop that morph into grasslands supporting birds. Eventually trees grow back and the cycle is complete.

“Beavers can cause us problems, but the benefits put it in perspective,” Callahan said. “Overall, they create a vibrant ecology comparable to the biodiversity of coral reefs.”

Heyyy we recognize that man! It’s Mike Callahan the very good friend of beavers and Worth A Dam. So happy he is preaching the beaver gospel in CT. I dropped the breadcrumbs in a very neat line and hoped for the best. But you never know. I can’t help noticing a rather large shamrock in the corner of that photo, so I’m going to have to say his luck of the irish had something to do with it.
Given his name sake and appreciation of what no one yet understands I can’t help thinking of this long-lost commercial. I can’t help posting it.

Roosevelt Forest Commission to revisit beaver trapping issue

STRATFORD — The Roosevelt Forest Commission is expected on Wednesday to revisit its decision to allow lethal beaver traps to be deployed in Roosevelt Forest, a 400-acre woodland that’s home to scores of forest creatures.

A colony of beavers has set up shop near the dead end of Pumpkin Ground Road, where there’s a trailhead that leads into the forest. Beavers build dams, and the dam that’s they’ve built is backing up a tributary to Pumpkin Ground Brook is causing a stir throughout the region.

The Roosevelt Forest Commission will meet in Town Council chambers in Town Hall. The meeting will begin Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Of course revisiting doesn’t mean they’ll be any kinder on the second round, but thinking twice is certainly preferable to not thinking at all. There have been a few protests and flurries about the inhumanity of trapping, so I’m going to fantasize that some Hartford trust member is best friends with some Roosevelt forest member and says at poker night something like, you know we had this fantastic presentation by Mike Callahan. Maybe you should call him?

Okay, these stories are both about a state as big as a postage stamp. Where do I get off referring to the whole “East Coast”? I’ll tell you where, because yesterday I was sent an email by Dave Penrose of North Carolina, looking for a beaver expert to present at the upcoming 3 day conference on stream restoration. Because he thinks that a stream restoration conference needs a beaver presence. Think about that!

I promptly introduced him to some nearby beaver voices in the land, including the good folks at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve. I also sent it to John Hadidian in case HSUS could get Stephanie Boyle involved from Virginia. The conference is three days in August so I said I was absolutely preoccupied and couldn’t help because of the beaver festival. He said, “That’s intriguing. What’s a beaver festival?”.

Something your state needs, I answered.