A good old-fashioned beaver rant

Last night at dusk we were one of 16 special houses to experience a very localized power outage. Fortunately it arrived with just enough waning moments of daylight to scramble for the candles and flashlights before we settled into very pretty darkness. We managed to bring it up to 6 whole candle power and kept warm with the cozy fire, but it was still very dark and the storm was raging outside. We suddenly understood why the pioneers used to go to bed so early. Fortunately, thanks to some hardy linemen, power was restored in 90 minutes and we were thrust back into the 21st century.

Too bad North Carolina isn’t so lucky.

As beavers move in, dams cause destruction in town

It seems the critters that clog country creeks and turn farmland into swamp have gone big city in Fayetteville. And when nature’s engineers encroach on man, trouble rises faster than the water behind one of these impressive dams.

Most recently, a beaver dam on Clayton Road in Sampson County ruptured after heavy rain, flooding the road. The road was closed to traffic until water receded.

Homeowners across the Cape Fear region have found more dams blocking culverts and backing up water this winter than in years past. Part of that, wildlife experts say, is because North Carolina’s wet winter has created new opportunities for beavers.

And once they’re set up, beavers just don’t take a hint and leave. Bust a hole in their dam, and they’ll have it fixed overnight. Blow the thing up, and they’ll start rebuilding. Trying to chase them off is a Sisyphean task.

There’s only one option, unpleasant as it seems.

Adams noted that in the past, “we have tried both nonlethal and lethal methods. We found that nonlethal methods are ineffective. Live trapping and relocation is against state law, so that leaves lethal removal with the use of specialized traps.”

“If you want the dam building to stop, the beavers have to go,” Backus said.

“In the past, they’d try relocating them. But any place you’d put them now already has beaver. There’s nowhere to go.”

A generation ago, the beavers could have been put almost anywhere. By the end of World War II, beavers were all but extinct in the Cape Fear region, hunted out of existence.

In fact, several were relocated here to get the native population started again.

Cumberland County was an area selected for beaver restocking. They were considered a “renewable resource,” since wildlife experts figured farmers and trappers would catch them for pelts and keep the population constant.

By the 1970s, roughly 1,500 annual licenses for trapping beavers were issued in the state. It quickly became apparent that beavers do two things very well.

They build dams. And they make baby beavers – lots of baby beavers. Statewide, the current beaver population estimate is more than 500,000.

Ahh memories! There is nothing quite like a good ol’ beaver panic article! We haven’t had one in ages. This one hits all the right notes, exploding populations, flooded towns, and useless nonlethal methods. Nicely done, Fayettville and Chick Jacobs of the fofayobserver.com. You repeated all the lies you were supposed to and then some! Just for folks at home, lets consider the population estimate of 500,000. Wikipedia tells me that North Carolina is about 53000 square miles, or which 9.5 is water. Which means that they are claiming they have around 80 beavers per square mile of water, which is pretty dam hard for me to imagine.

It would be funny, if the dams weren’t so destructive. There’s no way to put a dollar total on damage statewide, but officials say thousands of acres of farmland and timberland are flooded annually. Septic tanks are rendered useless as water tables rise.

In the five years between 2008 and 2013, more than 3,500 Department of Transportation projects were damaged or delayed as USDA Wildlife Services workers destroyed dams.

The state pays more than $1.1 million per year in beaver control efforts, mainly to catch the animals and destroy dams in urban areas and along highway projects.

I’m so old that I can remember when John McCain joked about North Carolina using stimulus money to blow up beaver dams! I guess it takes a lot of money to do things badly. And I guess you would know.

“For now, it’s all we can do here,” Backus said. “We’ve got to catch all of the guys living here before it makes sense to take this one down. I figure that’s at least a dozen of them here.

“When that’s done, we’ll be able to drain the water slowly. Then we can use dynamite. Remember, all those booms you may hear around here aren’t coming from Bragg!”

I guess if you’re a beaver trapper in Fayetteville, business is booming!

Yesterday I worked on photos for the urban beaver chapter. The funny thing is that I want photos as urban as possible, and pretty much every photographer (including Cheryl) takes frames as natural as possible. I put out a special plea to our friends for urban photos, and this was a favorite that came from Robin Ellison of Napa.

Urban dam Napa Robin Ellison — *Robin Ellison*

Suddenly can’t resist posting this:

Good News for Beavers

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? March 5, 2016

Great News! We have a date! The beaver mural is finally on the city council agenda for 7:00 April 6! That means that only 6 months after I originally met with the artist and proposed the idea we can find out if its possible! Any and all supporters who want to come should attend because it would help to show public interest in the project. Mario’s coming by next week with his latest edits of a fish and a frog in the two birds mouth, and I’m starting to feel like this can actually happen.

More great news! Another beautiful article from naturalist Patti Smith in the Battleboro reformer. You may remember her as the author of “The Beavers of Popples Pond“. Her writing style is so calmly affirming I love to read about her beaver visits. They are nothing like the train-whistle blowing, swearing homeless-drinking visits we enjoyed in Martinez. But ohhh they’re nice to read.

*The Beavers of Poppels Pond: Patti Smith*

The View from Heifer Hill: A tough break for the beavers

In the middle of January I gave up on waiting for snow and set out on foot to check on the beavers. I had not been to the pond since late November, but felt optimistic that the old one-eyed Willow and her new mate would be doing well; on my last visit I found that the two had built a small lodge and had quite a fine cache of branches piled up outside their door in the pond — their food supply for the winter. Their lodge still needed some work, but they had plenty of warm weather and open water in December to finish sealing things up.

Willow and her suitor had moved to this downstream location last summer and patched up the large hole Tropical Storm Irene had blasted through an old dam. Behind their repairs arose a fine pond, perfectly acceptable habitat for a pair of beavers. I arrived on that January day expecting to find the beavers tucked into their lodge and living beneath the ice, instead I found their pond was gone — the dam had broken in one of the heavy rain events of this weird winter.

Woebegone, I walked upstream to the lodge. The entrance was well above water, fully accessible to predators and therefore no longer suitable for beavers. Their food supply sat like an untidy haystack in the middle of the brook, most of it above the level of the water. Beavers prepare for such emergencies by making bank lodges, simple burrows dug into the bank of a pond. I suspected these beavers had moved into a bank lodge in a small pond just upstream. I could see a few openings in the ice above the intact dam of this pond, and from one of these a slide led down the face of the dam into a plunge hole in the ice at the base. Dusk settled — time for the beavers to become active. Sure enough, a beaver’s head appeared in the water above the dam. I said hello to Willow. She climbed onto the dam and slid down into the beaver-sized hole below. She reappeared downstream at the old food cache and came up through the ice for an apple. She appeared as calm and unruffled as usual. She had not seen the weather forecast — a deep cold would seal the ice on their pond within a few days. She and her mate would have no longer have access to their food supply.

Oh NO! A destroyed dam, exposed lodge and a food supply gone to waste! Poor Willow! How will she manage all winter long without food?

Since then, I have been keeping an eye on the weather for her. Whenever the beavers exit holes freeze, friends and I have hauled a sled load of poplar and beech to the pond, whacked a hole in the ice with a maul, and shoved the beaver food into the water. Our altruism has been doubly rewarded; not only do we suspect how welcome our deliveries are to the hungry beavers, but this wild stream valley is especially beautiful in winter. We have never seen the beavers on these delivery missions, but our offerings always disappear within a few days.

I wish that everywhere there was a beaver there was a Patti Smith to look out for it. This article gives me immense joy and the ending of it is worth reading. I won’t tell you what happens because you should go read it for yourself here. Robert Browning’s Pippa Passes offers a clue.

God’s in His heaven
All’s right with the world!

The Path to Inevitability…

heidi08 Beaver News, Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? March 4, 2016

Nice article in the Gazette might help nudge the mural forward….

Questions surround beavers as upcoming mural celebrates legacy

Although an alleged recent sighting of a lone beaver in Martinez might bring some hope for their return, it still seems no answers have been forthcoming regarding the sudden disappearance of the Alhambra Creek beaver colony late last year.

According to Heidi Perryman of Worth a Dam, a beaver was spotted near Creek Monkey Taphouse on February 18 by a Martinez resident. The sighting is the first reported since September of last year, around the time when several young beavers suddenly and inexplicably died in the Alhambra Creek. During that time several adult beavers also disappeared, leaving the creek void of beavers for months.

Perryman says the lone beaver is likely what is known as a “disperser,” a young beaver seeking territory to mark as his or her own. She explained that currently there is no evidence that the beaver decided to stay in the creek.

Months ago, the California Department of Fish and Game oversaw the necropsy performed on a young beaver at UC Davis, however tests were inconclusive. Disease, toxins, and some poisons were all ruled out as well.

While it seems no answers or progress have been made on determining the cause of the beaver deaths, Perryman and Worth a Dam are hoping to honor their legacy in Martinez.

Worth a Dam has been working with the city on a wildlife and beaver mural to adorn the cement surface of Marina Vista Bridge Wall. Back in November Perryman pitched the idea to the PRMCC of a mural located on the south facing side of the Marina Vista Bridge at Alhambra Creek.

“The beavers made a real impact on Martinez, and that’s something we want to capture with this mural,” said Perryman. She hopes the mural reminds people of the “living creek” that runs through the center of downtown Martinez.

The artist for the mural is Mario Alfaro, who has also worked on the Joe DiMaggio mural on the Main Street Plaza Bridge. The cost of the mural will be covered by Worth a Dam for a total of $6,000. The organization hopes to cover the cost with grants.

The art committee of the PRMCC approved the mural design, so the next steps come with the city council. Perryman noted that, because the city council meeting agenda is fully booked for the month of March, the project likely won’t be on the council agenda until April.

I’m always happy when accurate and positive information about the beavers and Worth A Dam is printed. Thanks, Joseph Bustos. You made the mural even more inevitable by linking it in the press to the loss of the beavers. Hopefully it will help nudge us a little farther along queue for getting on the Agenda for city council! Fingers crossed.

Imagine how surprised I was to come across this yesterday with the help of a friend. I don’t know how I missed it in the flurry of the holidays and retirement. But imagine how especially surprised I was to read the bold sentence from Dr. Michael Pollock himself;

Manmade Beaver Dams Save Fish

At Wenas Creek, they are putting in manmade beaver-dam analogues by pounding posts into the streambed and then weaving branches among them. A few workers can run a post pounder with biodegradable hydraulic fluid and achieve hydrological results similar to those of an imported-beaver colony. The result, says Tobin, is that, “fish and farms coexist in the same reach.”

The natural solution: beavers. In the past, “problem” beavers have been relocated to streams in need. Their dams back up the water, raising streambeds while still allowing passage for salmonids. The downside is that it costs money to trap beavers and house them prior to relocation, and despite the offer of seemingly ideal habitat, they sometimes leave. Besides, says Tobin, manager of the North Yakima Conservation District, “you can’t control where they’re backing up water.”

Enter Michael Pollock of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who pioneered the idea of reinforcing blown-out beaver dams with posts. “That’s the best strategy, because they’ve already done all the work,” says Pollock. “We’re just reducing the dams’ failure rate.”

Pollock suggested dispensing with beavers altogether.

SACRILEGE! Some one hand me the smelling salts, I’m feeling faint. And tell me, how are repairs going to be made on those dams once injury occurs? Will a team of humans be living on sight just in case? Will they also dig in the mud to encourage invertebrates? And how will the trees coppice with no one to chew them?

Of course a sentence like that could NOT go unchallenged. So I sent him this last night:

With the exception of this aberrant infraction, he’s still mostly a good guy and at his heart a beaver believer. He quickly wrote back:

You are having way too much fun with your new found skills. 🙂

Which I confess, is wholly true. That was the most fun I had all week.

The results of a Trickledown Economy that works!

heidi08 Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers March 3, 2016

More great coverage of the otter recovery out of Sonoma. Humans are happily taking credit for restoring the streams and improving their fish, but I’m guessing they had some other flat-tailed helpers along the way. Great photo from beaver friend Tom Reynolds too.

River otters coming back to Sonoma County

Winter rains have swollen streams and rivers, recharging groundwater, filling ponds and lakes, and making more visible the network of waterways that traverse Sonoma County. One species that makes good use of this aquatic web is the river otter. Have you seen a river otter recently? If so, you’re one of a growing number because river otters are on the comeback.

The Bay Area is seeing a rebound in river otter populations. Experts speculate that this is a testimony to many overlapping efforts to improve water quality and restore habitat. Megan Isadore of the River Otter Ecology Project says, “The most amazing thing about the otters’ return is they have done it completely on their own. There have been no efforts to reintroduce otters. What we are seeing is the response of the species to improved conditions.”

This time of year, female otters are denning and having pups. Maternal dens can be under large fallen trees or even inside old beaver dams. Each female gives birth to between one and four pups and then, shortly after, will breed with a male in preparation for the following winter. One amazing fact is that females experience “delayed implantation,” harboring fertilized eggs and then keeping the pregnancy dormant for up to 10 months.

Most young otters live with their moms for at least a year, with females often staying to act as helpers with the new pups. Young adult males leave after a year and strike out on their own to find and establish their own territory. Otter observations are often made during the February through March time frame as these disbursing juveniles take chances crossing subdivisions, ridges, roads and farm fields in search of a new and abundant source of fish.

Otters have benefited from on-the-ground habitat improvements and from the evolution of environmental policy. In 1961, California outlawed commercial otter trapping. Otters were trapped for two reasons: to sell their rich, thick pelts to the garment industry and sometimes to protect localized fish populations. Otters have large home ranges and are constantly on the move, so large scale fish populations remain intact even if individual fishing holes get temporarily depleted.

Another policy assist came from the 1972 passage of the Clean Water Act. This ushered in a generation of investments in cleaning the bay and eliminating many sources of industrial and agricultural pollution. Like bald eagles and peregrine falcons, otters illustrate that policy decisions do matter, and that we can repair degraded environments. As recently as 1995, state maps did not even show Marin and Sonoma counties as part of the river otter’s range. Today, scientists confirm that otters occupy much of their former Bay Area territory.

We’ve all benefited from the evolution of environmental policy, that’s for sure. But I’m also thinking that the recovery of another mammal who actually happens to make the water cleaner and increase the fish population might have helped a little too. (Ahem). Congratulations to Meghan Isadore and her merry band of Otter Spotters at the River Otter Ecology Project. We’re always happy when creeks draw human eyes!

Here’s a lovely promotional message from an otter himself demonstrating who he believes has helped his survival. Just look at the shapes he is posing under for a clue about who he thinks helped him most. This video by Moses Silva on Valentine’s day a few years ago shows an otter grooming atop the old beaver lodge.

Although, if otter trapping has really been outlawed 55 years in this state I’d be cautious about how much promotion of their “healthy recovery” I’d want to do in the media. Just sayin’. The nearly extinguished beaver population was protected for all of around 11 years and they decided the population had rebounded enough to restore trapping. River otters have been spared in California for more than half a century!

Ixnay on the opulation-pay evovery-ray is my advice.

Beaver Nature in the City

heidi08 Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Urban beavers March 2, 2016

Vancouver wildlife returning to the city

That someone created a social media handle for “Downtown Deer”, who was known to roam through the park and adjacent West End streets, shows just how rare it is for a large animal to make its home within the city limits.

And yet the city has recently become a haven for a variety of wildlife that have reestablished in the most urban parts of Metro Vancouver, from the ubiquitous coyotes, raccoons and skunks in every neighbourhood, to small but thriving populations of beavers in several city parks.

“We have this affinity for nature. We really do. Whether it is a whale in English Bay or beavers in Olympic Village, there is something very captivating about wildlife in the city,” said Nick Page, the resident biologist for the Vancouver Park Board.

Could it be that what we LOVE about wildlife in the city is the HUMANITY with which it tinges those many anonymous faces with which we are forced to share our sidewalks and hallways? How many people did I talk to about the beavers that I never would have spoken to without them? Even in the days before Worth A Dam. How many places would I have stopped and chatted with strangers on the street if it wasn’t to ask if there’s a beaver on their side of the bridge yet?

Earlier in February, the park board unveiled a new “biodiversity strategy”, aimed at restoring or enhancing 25 hectares of natural areas in the city over the next four years. Concerned about continuing threats to the city’s natural environment — from habitat loss to climate change to environmental contamination to invasive species — the city is trying to create more natural spaces in which animals can thrive.

A broad range of animals once found in Vancouver are now listed as “extirpated” or locally extinct: deer, elk, bears, chipmunks, red-legged frogs, the spotted skunk, cougars, martens, grey wolves, red fox, bobcats, the short-tailed weasel. The park board says the populations of many species of native birds, insects, frogs, fish, plants and small mammals are in decline. It lists at least 20 species at risk, including the western painted turtle, Johnson’s hairstreak butterfly, the Vancouver Island beggartricks, a wetland sunflower, and the western bumble bee.

Hinge Park itself has become an unusual gathering spot for urban wildlife. Created just seven years ago at the western edge of Olympic Village, the narrow park encompasses a creek that empties out in front of man-made Habitat Island. The small park has become home to a pair of beavers, coyotes, river otters, raccoons and waterfowl.

“How cool is it that you can say you live in Olympic Village and have beavers in your backyard,” Page said. “I think in the last few years we’ve seen more diverse wildlife move back into the city.

I like having beavers in my city, but I’d REALLY like having biologists like Nick Page working here. Good lord, they are lucky to have him. And I’d like to think he’s read this website a time or two. It’s striking to remember how many conversations I’ve had with strangers that were about wildlife. If it wasn’t one of us asking for directions, it was one of us asking what bird that was or if those were beavers.

As a young tween my parents toted me to on a trip to Italy once they had fantasized about and saved for for years. I, of course being barely 13 was busy fantasizing about Shaun Cassidy or Star Wars, but amused myself while they fawned over masterpeices by feeding pigeons. Without any respect for the enormity of where I was I would tuck the role from breakfast into my purse at whatever historic hotel we were staying in at the moment, and stroll into the squares or gardens while they listened to tour guides and amuse myself by feeding pigeons.

One time, a little Italian child joined me and we had a great time encouraging them to come closer and closer in St. Marks Square. After the pigeon-enticing bread was gone she turned to me in all seriousness and spoke the urgent words, “Que lingua parla?”. When I stared at her without understanding she repeated them again more slowly, until I had enough bad spanish and foreign movies to guess that she was asking “what language do you speak?” When I answered ‘English’ her five year old face hardened with concentration as she reached around in her mind for any phrases she might have learned.

“Thank you.” She finally said, proudly, and ran back to the elder gentleman waiting for her in the plaza, I always imagined it was her grandpa.

On our trip to Italy I saw the statue of David, the Coliseum, and the Sistine chapel. But what I remember is feeding pigeons with a little girl who bravely broke the culture barrier.

Nature in the city, indeed.