Here’s the excellent documentary I was talking about yesterday. Don’t ask how it became possible to share it – just enjoy the ride! The Martinez story starts around 15:30 after a trapper segment – but you’ll be smarter if you watch the whole thing.
Yesterday I spoke to a VERY packed house at Martinez Kiwanis, who were eager to know what was up with the beavers. I gave them the full update and talked about the mural and our very odd summer with Suzi and the unexplained beaver deaths. Lara Delaney from city council was happy to have the update. People said afterwards it was one of the best talks they ever had, so I going to assume I did okay. There was a lot of interest in the little Napa segment I added, and people were very surprised to learn how little controversy their arrival had caused in Napatopia as opposed to Martinez.
Unfortunately they mentioned during the meeting they had already voted last week to decide funding allotments for scholarships. So I hope they remembered how much they loved beavers then! The greedy marketer in me would rather Worth A Dam was fresh on their mind when they considered our grant application!
Now my desk is officially cleared and I have no other commitments before Portland. That will give me time to focus on that speech and the mural progress. Mario didn’t work yesterday because he had business in the city, but hopefully well march onward today and tomorrow? I would sure like to have a full bridge before we leave town.
I woke up this morning to a very special treat from a tech-savvy beaver friend in the UK. Beavers las Vegas is a WONDERFUL discussion of beavers, drought, and the water savers we need. It features Nick Bouwes and Joe Wheaton harnessing beaver dams in Bridge Creek. Carol Eves in Nevada doing wonders in Susie Creek Oh, and Martinez.
One of my favorite parts of our story was their telling the civic response by showing some of the fantastic clips of public comment at the high school meeting lo these many years ago. Martinez comes off looking so smart and community focused. And the beavers are amazing.
Donna Mahoney
Hope Savage
Linda Kozlowski
I will try and figure out how to illicitly show you at least the Martinez story, but it might take a while. In the mean time, if you can’t wait, send me an email and I will send you a treasure map that will lead to the link. (I see no reason why my treat shouldn’t be your treat until interpol shuts me down.)
Meanwhile Mario’s mural is generating enough attention that yesterday it was discussed on Claycord. He spent the day engrossed in the details of the green heron, which is on it’s way to looking lovely. I think his normal pattern got disrupted by wanting to show people what he was doing before he had laid out the design, so I’m sure everything will be back to normal very soon.
In the meantime, EXCITING things are happening at our little dam, which is going to need a new name soon. Even more exciting is the fact that acclaimed wildlife photographer watched that video and said, (with no background or prompting from me), “Wow! That beaver on the right looks like mom! Remember how she had the white muzzle?”
That seals it for me, the head shake and a second ID from a women who’s observed them very closely through a massive lens for 5 months. They’ve obviously been made a little more cautious by their harrowing summer and whatever life they’ve lived for the past 8 months, but at this point I’m willing to say that our family has come home.
One day you’re a perfectly normal woman leading a normal life. You have a labrador and like to make things from beads. You work with children, rotate your tires and make soup. And them some beavers come along and change everything. I’m sure every woman dreams of one day starring in a film called “Beaver Las Vegas”. Don’t they?
My mother will be so proud.
CLICK TO WATCH VIDEO
So this was on TV last night in the country of Jon’s birth and the home of the queen. I’m sure my in laws all had an amusing wtf moment as the flipped through channels before bed. Honestly the interviews happened so long ago that I had convinced myself it was all a dream. The unembeddable trailer shows a clip about our story and Greg Kerekes wife dancing in costume at the beaver festival in 2012. Trust me, click on the photo and watch the trailer. Here’s the description from Las Vegas.com:
Sam Challenger and David Sumnall of Middle Child Productions have filmed an amazing documentary here saying, “Las Vegas is in desperate danger of collapsing not for a want of money but due to dwindling water resources.”
Their true-life story is one I wasn’t aware of and don’t think has been covered as much in depth by our TV news people here. I could be wrong, though. “Beavers might have the answer to the Las Vegas drought,” said Channel 5 program chief Ben Frow.
Apparently they decided to call the program ‘beaver las vegas’ because ELVIS!! and it’s all the West anyway, right? Martinez is practically in Las Vegas isn’t it?
(I am reminded that in the UK folks have zero idea of the relative size of the United states. Even on the east coast they are completely ignorant about California. I had a friend from Boston who came out for grad school in LA, spent the weekend in SF and thought,’well I can just drive down in an hour or so sunday night’.)
The other clip looks a little more serious. A friend has volunteered to tape it all for me so I am sure we’ll get the whole thing soon enough.
CLICK TO PLAY
You would think that being an international film star would turn my head, but you’d be wrong. I had a perfectly normal red-carpet free life yesterday, practicing my speech for Kiwanis tomorrow, filming Mario doing some colorful progress on the mural, and even going down in the evening to wait for the elusive beavers that never came.
(I’m beginning to think that these beavers hate me. Never mind. I’ll grow on them soon.)
Folks are really excited about the mural, and that’s wonderful. Mario loves to smoke mexican cigars while he’s working, and that’s a little smelly, but you should go watch him. It’s really fun to watch it all unfold. Jon and I are starting to look at our front porch and think ‘beaver mural?’ And I’m not kidding. I was very disappointed we saw no beavers last evening, but it was pretty nice to be there again, and many folk stopped by to ask about them. One gentleman said he works at a warehouse down there and sometimes sees a beaver stop by to nibble their old grape vine, which he was a good sport about. I told him if it ever turned into a problem to contact us, and he said there were no concerns. Good soul!
Are things back to normal? Here’s a pretty wonderful indication from Susan who stood at the footbridge for an hour last night.
Was there from about 7:15-8:30. At the bridge closest to Amtrak saw a big beaver swim down the middle under the bridge then stay on the right side and swim down til I couldn’t see him anymore. I think a smaller one went up behind him but the big one FOR SURE.
You know you’re a long way from home when ‘normal’ would be such an exciting way to be! Thanks, Susan. You have definitely encouraged us to try visiting at night for ourselves. I’ve been keeping an eye on the tide, because I don’t think I’m going to get be able to film them in the morning unless its lowish tide. But maybe I’ll try the evening? It’s impressive how pragmatic beavers are. Jon was just saying that their little dam is backing up water all the way to the old secondary now. So that means they can have wider territory to explore and we might see from the footbridge. I’m guessing they might start work on the secondary soon.
Hey! Maybe someday they’ll even swim under their own mural!
Here’s a glimpse Moses got of the pair working on the lodge. They seem uncomfortable with the light, and that suggest they’re newbies to me. But it’s all grasping at straws really, and I’m just glad they’re here.
And here’s the work Mario added yesterday. Jon saw a journalist stop on the bridge and photograph during the day, so he’s getting attention. And the post got more than 60 likes this morning on Martinez Rants and Raves, so the community is paying attention.
Not at all to be outdone, Rusty from Napa sent some grand photos of Tulocay pond last night and I thought you needed to see this. Maybe Napa might need a beaver mural too?
Beaver side by side: Rusty CohnSwimming home: Rusty Cohn
We are just two weeks from the purifying ritual that occurs every year apparently at SARSAS in Auburn. Before they invite me to come tell the truth about beavers, they conjure the opposite so as to soothe the evil bureaucratic spirits. I guess them helps sneak me in the gates, so to speak, since the powers that be are thus duly convinced they hate beavers. By the time my booming beaver beatitudes arrive no one of consequence suspects anything.
By evil spirits, I’m referring, of course, to Mary Tappel, who still takes time out of her busy life on the water board to spread vile lies about beavers. I once called her the ‘human beaver deceiver‘. Her bio in the SARSAS newsletter has some rich allegations of her merry volunteer brigade and their wondrous application of various nonlethal techniques. But this is my favorite one.
Mary also dealt with beaver management questions and in foothill areas such as Granite Bay, Loomis, & Roseville; and towards the Bay/Delta area in Fairfield & Martinez, and to the south in Elk Grove, all in creeks and small retention basins.
So not only does Mary have the outright gall to take credit for the unrivaled beaver slaughter in Elk Grove and Granite Bay (The biggest beaver genocide in 2007 and the site of the most depredation permits in 2013-14.) She also PROUDLY proclaims her work in MARTINEZ.
We’re actually on her resume.
What was her service to the home town of John Muir you ask? Fortunately nothing at all that was useful or true. She told the Gazette that beavers breed for 50 years. She told our mayor that flow devices never work. She advised city staff to kill the father beaver so that the mother would be forced to mate with her offspring. And, at a public meeting of 200 people nearly a decade ago said that the beavers were leaving Martinez, and wouldn’t be a problem anymore.
I have to say I remain very grateful for her unique level of competence.
Maybe I’ll thank her publicly when I come present in June and talk about the many transformations that beavers made to our creek in Martinez. I’m constantly reminded of how many individuals’ incompetence was instrumental in saving our beavers. The lawyer on the subcommittee who wanted them trapped, for instance, was lackadaisical at best in his half-hearted efforts to convince the city they would ruin the creek. He brought a large stuffed beaver once to the meeting with a sign that said ‘send me to Plumas county’. I thought maybe he was just ineffective generally until I saw him speak on another issue in opposition at a meeting. In that instance, he was forceful, competent and had done all his homework, which is what my lawyer friends told me he was like in court.
If THAT attorney had shown his face on the subcommittee we might have had a very different outcome.
As it was, folks just didn’t really care that much. Maybe enough to toss some money to hire a lawyer, but not enough to do research and really examine the allegations in the case. Like say, um, me for instance. If I had been my opposition, there would have been trouble.
Here’s the excellent documentary I was talking about yesterday. Don’t ask how it became possible to share it – just enjoy the ride! The Martinez story starts around 15:30 after a trapper segment – but you’ll be smarter if you watch the whole thing.
beavers. I gave them the full update and talked about the mural and our very odd summer with Suzi and the unexplained beaver deaths. Lara Delaney from city council was happy to have the update. People said afterwards it was one of the best talks they ever had, so I going to assume I did okay. There was a lot of interest in the little Napa segment I added, and people were very surprised to learn how little controversy their arrival had caused in Napatopia as opposed to Martinez.
