Month: April 2016

Willful Ignorance rally

You know that talk, you’ve been putting off with your co-worker or best friend. It needs to happen but the subject is likely to hurt both of you so you’ve been avoiding it. Meanwhile the pressure is building and building around you, and it’s getting harder to avoid comment.

Well, the ‘Saskatchewan derby’ is that talk.

Saskatchewan is considered a ‘prairie province’ in the middle of Canada. It is the size of Texas with the population if Rhode Island, and it is blessed with nearly as much fresh water as Michigan. It also has the beaver IQ of a three-legged pit bull with an eye infection. And this been going on for more years than I can count.

Saskatchewan is the source of sole dark passage in Jari Osborne’s famous beaver documentary. Long ago its outrageous allegations about the ‘exploding beaver population’ inspired one of my favorite early graphics. While Alberta and Ontario have been making real strides in progressive beaver management, it remains as mentally challenged as it can possibly be. You know those articles you read in National Geographic about tiny tribes in the middle of the amazon that have never seen any part of civilization and don’t know how forks work? Well, every evolutionary stride in beaver management has entirely passed them by. They have only a single tool in their tattered collective box.

And it always looks like a hammer.

Saskatchewan beaver derby sparks fierce debate

It’s the first year for the derby, which runs until May 10. The competition offers cash prizes to hunters or trappers who kill the largest beaver or who come up with the most combined weight in beaver carcasses in 40 days.

The Saskatchewan Trappers Association says the derby helps eliminate bad hunting practices and teaches others how to utilize the entire animal carcass and fur.

It says at this time of year beavers are often killed and left in the field to rot.

“The main thing is that we don’t want to see these animals left in the field of decay and rot without using the entire fur resource,” said spokesman Ken Gartner.

Really? I’m pretty sure that main thing Saskatchewan wants to see is fewer beavers. But if the STA wants to say this ethnic cleansing is to teach hunters to use the entire animal carcass, go ahead. That’s really the best you could come up with? Not preserving a way of life, or allowing other generations to learn from their fathers about trapping or reducing giardisis in the water or some such bullshit? I’m reminded of a favorite Leslie Knope quote.

Fur-bearer defenders suggests you write a letter to Herb Cox, Minister of Environment (regardless of where you live at env.minister@gov.sk.ca). I haven’t yet because I’ve been overwhelmed by the enormity of this level of ignorance. I can’t understand why the entire country isn’t humiliated by recurring national and international discussions of these problem-solving black holes and photos like these blasted all over the internet.

A fine day in which Mr. Muir was entirely surrounded by beavers

heidi08 Beavers April 24, 2016

Yesterday we found ourselves surrounded by the very best helpers, which was just as well because the beaver hat activity was more successful than any we’d ever tried. Literally hundreds of children and their parents made and wore hats. We used up all our pre-cut bags, and two roles of craft paper PLUS scraps. Children worked with their parents or with our amazing helpers and independently. And they were delighted to put them on.

Every where you walked around Earth day you saw a sea of beaver hats. People wore them when they ate lunch and when the browsed the other booths. They wore them with their own hats or with personal touches like flowers or buttons.

sideby side - Copy There was bright weather and an awesome turnout. There were amazing beaver connections made at every level. And there were questions about our beavers and real hope that they would come back. There were even people I recognizer as against the beavers who were sorry to see them go. And lots of people who knew why yesterday’s article was silly.

Oh, and there were awards. Which was pretty affirming if you think about it. Here’s Jon accepting the Conservation award with the president of the association and the superintendent of all the Bay Area national parks.

There was also special recognition from Congress signed by both Saulnier and Thompson which Cheryl accepted. We missed George Miller by a year, but I know he knows about the beavers and likes us anyway.

And an unexpected award from the county commissioners specifically naming ‘Heidi Perryman’ and ‘her determination.’

Which makes me very happy. Because I didn’t even know they gave awards for stubbornness, did you?

And it should be, it should be, it should be like that!

Because Horton was faithful! He sat and he sat.

He meant what he said

And he said what he meant…”

And they sent him home happy

100 Percent.

What on Earth [Day]?

heidi08 Beavers April 23, 2016

Yesterday I was irked beyond reason by this article, and ended the busy day of Earth Day preparations by knocking out a letter to the editor in protest. Clearly, somebody had to do it.

With beavers gone, fish migrating in creek

MARTINEZ, Calif. – Last week, another species of fish was spotted migrating up Alhambra Creek near Ward Street. The rare sighting is the second of its kind since January of this year, and is a positive marker for the local watershed.

While the January sighting was identified as a single Steelhead, the larger school of fish seen Saturday, April 13, were Sacramento Suckers. Several sightings of the suckers have since taken place in the pools near Ward Street.

The suckers are a native species of minnow. The hearty fish that thrives in warmer, muddier water, can easily reach over a foot long. According to Michelle Leicester, a biologist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, these fish usually prefer deep pools and undercuts common in reservoirs.

“More than likely, they will be able to complete their spawn and return to their pool habitat before flows drop too precipitously,” Leicester said.

But why the sudden reappearance of migrating fish? There’s some speculation it may be due to the absence of beaver dams in the creek.

“It’s a grey area,” said Gordon Becker, senior fisheries scientist with the Center for Ecosystem Management and Restoration (CEMAR). “If you have a narrow channel and good engineers (beavers), it’s possible passage could be restricted.”

After the deaths of several young beavers and the apparent absence of adult beavers that once populated the area, the City removed the dams and dug deeper channels throughout the creek last October. The alterations were performed in the hope that predicted El Nino rains wouldn’t flood the downtown business district. Since that time, no beavers have been spotted in Alhambra Creek, but more fish have begun to appear.

Now I realize that this well-intentioned article gives credit to the beavers for making the creek a better place to be. But it very clearly states that fish were prevented from going upstream to spawn because of the dams, and that beavers finished off their helpful cycle by leaving. All these fish they’re “suddenly seeing now” were there before, and we can prove it.

There’s a reason they didn’t notice them before. Can you guess what that is?

The editor wrote back in alarm last night and said they had talk to many knowledgeable fishermen to source this article including a “70 year old man who had been fishing the creek for 60 years and never seen spawning so high”. She was surprised I wasn’t pleased with the article and the way it credited the beavers! You know me, so unappreciative of damming with feint praise efforts in the media.

I pointed out the TITLE and the fact that if she had spoken to Worth A Dam we could have shown her a decade of footage documenting suckers AND steelhead in the creek WITH the beavers here. In fact the reason I even know about suckers is because Moses took footage of them spawning in the creek BEFORE the flow device, when the dam was 5 feet and I contacted folk to find out what they were.

I also pointed out, just because people were seeing MORE fish in the creek now that the water level was LOW didn’t mean that conditions were better for the fish themselves. Normally all those fish are happily in the water. Where fish are supposed to be.

We’ll see if the letter gets published. At least the expert they talked to wasn’t as ignorant as they were, and most of what they said made sense. In the meantime, we all need beavers and pizza to cheer us up.

So a beaver walks into a pizzeria…

THUNDER BAY – A beaver ventured far from home Thursday and eventually found itself outside of a local pizzeria across from County Fair.

The beaver tried to enter Franki’s Pizzeria via a back entrance when a staff member opened the door. The animal’s attempt to enter were successfully thwarted.

“How it got here, I do not know but it came from the gas station, apparently walked all the way down Regina Avenue and then ended up at our front door and ventured off into the back alleyway,” said Frank Franze who owns Franki’s Pizzeria.

I love the fearless purposefulness of that beaver, just heading were instinct leads him regardless of te concrete. Don’t worry about the fate of the little disperser. Apparently no one from animal control would come help, but a nice trapper brought him back to the water.

And your parents took that puppy to live at the farm. I promise.

Ohh and I almost forgot, these AWESOME photos from the library event at Mountain House. Look familiar?

Helping the Helpers

heidi08 Beavers, Earth Day, Educational, Environmental April 22, 2016

Earth_Day_2016_HR

Tomorrow is Earthday Birthday celebration at the John Muir Historic site and the AWARD WINNING nonprofit Worth A Dam will be on hand to answer beaver questions and do a fun beaver activity with the children. Here is a noble volunteer demonstrating said activity.

Now usually our activities are run by a handful of loyals who form the backbone of Worth A Dam. But this year two of our core members are literally out of state, and FRO has gotten so busy being an artist that we only get her for the festival, so I got a little panicky and started asking for help. I asked Deidre of Oakland who runs the silent auction at the festival. And she was doing another event in the morning but was happy to come in the afternoon. Then I thought of these charming girls and their hardy grandma. They have been beaver supporters since the very beginning, know everything about them, and even asked about doing a children’s booth at the next festival. Here they are on the footbridge after watching Jari Osborne’s “Leave it to beaver’ documentary on PBS. They will be helping in the morning with their intrpid grandma!

Not fully staffed yet, I thought I’d reach out to Caitlin McCombs of Mountain House. She was very interested in learning about how to help and agreed to come all day! She even had the courage to be exited about it! So I felt pretty confident we could carry the day off well.

It never rains but it pours, they say. Yesterday I got an unexpected message from someone I never met who’s a student at UCB ‘naturalist’ program named Leslie. She lives in town, works for the city, and wondered if she could help in preparation for a presentation she’s giving in May that needs a service component. Surprisingly, she is coming to help us unload and staying all day tomorrow.

Well, okay then.

I figure if we end up with more volunteers than actual children, I’ll talk April and Alana to being undercover agents and get them to recruit. Or just pretend their doing the activity and having ENORMOUS fun and make other kids come investigate. So it will all work I’m sure.

Or, we can leave it all to their capable hands and Jon and I can just drive to Reno. 🙂

Just to keep us all on our toes, there was another dramatic story of a beaver attack yesterday. This one from Latvia. It hasn’t received multiple reports yet, but I’m waiting.

Beaver attacks Latvian man, who couldn’t be helped because police thought his report was a prank call

Inna Plavoka, editor at the local Seychas daily newspaper, told Latvian Radio 4 that the man, who was referred to only as Sergei, was walking outside late at night when a beaver ran up out of the bushes and bit him in the leg. Knocked to the ground, he tried to get up and run away, only to be bitten again.

The beaver then stood guard, refusing to let him get up. In the words of the Latvian Public Broadcasting report: “The beaver was in effect holding Sergei hostage.”

Sergei attempted to call police for help, but was hung up on because they believed he was making a prank call. So he then tried a friend, who also believed him to be joking, until Sergei finally convinced him he was in peril.

Then the beaver was holding him HOSTAGE and he couldn’t get away. His friend sped to the police to get help and was pulled over for speeding. When he told them what he was doing they thought he was drunk and asked him to submit to a breathalyzer.

I think I’m drunk just because I’m typing this BS.

So a beaver, leapt in the to attack a TWO MEN, bit one twice, and then HELD that man hostage? And the police didn’t believe it because it was unbelievable? And the article reports its true but only manages the first name of Sergie? I find myself unable to offer a comment on this claim. I’m going to have to rely on my good friend Monty to help.

Guess who’s insured?

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Who's saving beavers now? April 21, 2016

And no, that is not the name of an exciting new game show about driving in LA, it’s a question about OUR MURAL and tw 8 delay days we have endured so far trying to get this thing done. Well, it’s more done, and because its a rider attached to our existing insurance with ISI, it cost us a whopping total of 50.00. I couldn’t be happier.

Now we just have to wait for the very busy city attorney to reissue the contract to include Worth A Dam, THEN have Mario and us sign it, then get “Exhibit E” completed to exempt him from covering employees, THEN turn it all in and get a nod from the raja and THEN start painting!

Believe it or not we are closer to this all happening than we have ever been before. And thank god – because this was starting to feel like planning a second beaver festival. You know it reminds me of this post from 2014 about the first book I learned to read as a child.

The woman finds a crooked sixpence while sweeping her house and decides to go to the market and buy a pig, but on her way home the new pig won’t go over the stile, (which is a little english wooden platform that allows people on the public footpath to get thru the gate, but keeps livestock from getting out.) It looks like this.

After trying to push and coax him onto it, she goes to a nearby dog in frustration, asking “Dog, dog! Bite the pig! Pig will not jump over the stile and I shall not get home tonight!” But the dog won’t cooperate. Is this ringing a bell yet? You should be hearing it in your head soon. She goes to a stick and says “Stick, stick! Beat the dog. Dog will not bite my pig, pig will not jump over the stile and I shall not get home to night!”

Of course the stick won’t cooperate either, but she keeps asking for help – first for fire to burn the uncooperative stick, then water to put out the vexing fire, then an ox to drink the uncooperating water, then a butcher to kill the stubborn ox, then a rope to hang the difficult butcher, and finally mouse to chew that lazy rope.

The mouse is the only one who’s ready to consider her offer. He asks pragmatically “What’ll you give me if I do?”

Surprised, she reaches in her apron pockets and finds a tiny crust of bread which she lays in front of the mouse. He nibbles appreciatively, then agrees. And after all that asking the mouse begins to gnaw the rope. and the rope begins to hang the butcher, and the butcher begins to kill the ox, and the ox begins to drink the water, and the water begins to put out the fire, and the fire begins to burn the stick, and the stick begins to beat the dog, and the dog begins to bite the pig, and the pig decides to finally go over the stile…

And that little old woman really does make it home that night!

Consider the pig half way up that stile today.

A little project this morning, because I saw a cute scrabble tile design and it gave me an idea. This was fairly easy to adapt for beavers. Now I just need to print it and try it out. I could think of the first four historical books, but couldn’t come up with the fifth. I of course went to Bob Arnebeck’s remarkable beaver page and found as usual, just what I needed. What do you think?