State of the Beaver

heidi08 Beaver Conference, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? August 31, 2016

So what are you doing in February?

SOB-embellished‘

That stunning picture in the background is the remarkable artwork of Larry Duke who was commissioned by the WA ECY to do a Wetlands poster. If you go to the original it’s actually interactive – because, Washington. I’m sure I’ll be arrested for copyright violation any minute now, but I just felt like it wanted to help me promote the conference. Don’t you agree? Think of it as ‘quilting’ not stealing.

The first conference was in 2007 before Worth A Dam existed. The first one I attended was two years later, where the Martinez Beavers were treated like rock stars. I met Sherri Tippie and just streamed tears joyfully all through her talk. I met Mike Callahan for the first time when he picked me up from the airport, and was to afraid to talk to the famous Mary Obrien or Glynnis Hood because I was fan-struck. I later thankfully got stuck in the airport with Glynnis and we had a wonderful talk when her flight was delayed. I left that conference on so inspired, thinking beaver people were the best people in the world, which is true.

Leonard and Lois Houston work their collective butts off for this every two years and you should make a plan to go and personally thank them for providing a cataclysmic event that started an uncountable number of connections and liaisons. The beaver world would be a different place entirely without their very hard work, and if you can’t attend yourself, pass this along to someone who should.

Since the conference is only every other year, I figured they could have our old poster. Reduce, reuse, recycle, right?

Beavers created community

heidi08 City Reports, Environmental August 30, 2016

12 BEAVERS IN BEAVER DAM

The Daily Citizen in Wisconsin released a series of 12 photos chosen to represent the beavers of ‘beaver dam’ which is just outside Milwaukee. I think their beaver imagery leaves a lot to be desired but I was impressed with the fireman who looks more hound than beaver.

Lory wrote last night that her neighbor, Martinez lion and former EBRP ward supervisor Ted Radke had died. Ted was a champion and one of our first official beaver supporters. Many years ago he invited myself and Igor to present at the 70th anniversary of the EBRP and I wrote about it here:

Ted has high regard in my book, as he was one of the first “big names” to show support for the beavers. I read in an EBRP newsletter nearly two years ago that he had shown my beaver videos to the board, and quickly wrote him in appreciation. I got back a lovely handwritten card, thanking me for my work and saying that he and his wife, Kathy enjoyed visiting the beavers from time to time. I was so tickled the card went straight into the scrapbook. One farmer’s market Sunday he strolled by and flipped through the book appreciatively, and was startled to find his own handwriting. (It had to go in the book, was all I could say. Honestly his support was the first indication I got that we might prevail.)

I am more than a little grateful for his help over the years, and saddened by this passing. The list of former beaver champions that have died is getting longer and it’s startling to think about how long this story has been playing out. The original beaver mother died, the original beaver father probably died, and some of their early supporters too. Still, the story marches on.

It comforts me that his bright, honest environmental lawyer son, chairs the PRMCC that has been called many times the best governing body in Martinez. He was clearly raised to respect the city his father loved. It’s the group that approved the mural, all the festivals, and that we see the most of. Ted we will miss you, but your spirit will live on.

Urban Wildlife

heidi08 Beavers, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, In the News August 29, 2016

If you can’t beat them, join them? Of course this got my attention:

Portland-Vancouver Urban Refuge Program

Launched in 2015, the Urban Refuge Program has boldly embraced the 21st Century conservation challenge of ensuring our ever-growing Portland-Vancouver Metro Area has a strong connection to the natural world. The Program has drawn attention to a land base of four Urban National Wildlife Refuges that provide opportunities for the community to play, learn, serve, and work. We have also been fortunate to collaborate with many outstanding local partners who have allowed us to join in their ongoing efforts to lift up the community by connecting nature to health, equity, conservation, and public engagement.

Engineering Beaver 150x118

Portland-Vancouver was selected as only the second Urban Refuge Program in the nation — a testament to this community’s history, passion, and innovation in delivering social solutions to complex conservation issues. We have aligned our program focus areas to support important community efforts underway. These focal areas are also key to addressing an overall program goal of ensuring the relevancy of fish and wildlife, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, for generations to come.

I’m not really sure why that beaver’s wearing a helmet. Construction zone? It kind of looks like a bike helmet, but I guess this IS Portland after all. I may not have seen any beavers in Portland but I could tell there were lots of places they’d love to be. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the humanizing effect of urban wildlife to communities- especially in light of this artwork which I recently came across. The artist is Kevin Peterson of Houston, Texas. Be ready for your heart to stop and start pounding at exactly the same time.

I could go on, but I’ll let the artist speak while you go look at his site for yourself. Don’t even ask me if I think he should paint an urban scene with beavers because I’ve already written.

Paleocastor

heidi08 History August 28, 2016

Paleocastor is the a beaver from around 35 million years ago. It was about the size of a muskrat and is believed to have lived in family groups. They were a member of the once very large “Castorid” family of which now only two survive (canadensis and fiber). Like many of their relatives they started as a burrowing terrestrial mammal – instead of a water based one. In fact it was these burrows that lead to their fame.

The Daimonhelix, confused researchers for years until it was understood that it was dug by the incisors of this early beaver making a burrow for its family, which like today’s beavers was based on a K-structure rather than an R-structure. (Meaning rather than have as many off spring as possible in the hopes that some survived, paleocastor had a few youngsters and spent time making sure they knew how to dig their own burrows, find food etc before sending them off in the world.)

Well in honor of our national parks 100 birthday, a paleocastor fossil is coming home.

A fossil returns home

A unique fossil came home to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Saturday as part of the 100th anniversary celebrations of the National Park Service. The return of the Palaeocastor fossil, which was excavated in 2015, brought a close to a unique chapter in the history of palaeocastor fossils and Daemonelix burrows at Agate.

Palaeocastor homes and Daemonelix burrows were some part of what drew paleontologists to the area in the late 1800s. Fossilized mammals from the Miocene Epoch, 23 million to 5.3 million years ago led to the creation of Agate in 1965.

A cranium and part of the lower jaw of the palaeocastor was first documented in 2003. When erosion had destroyed part of the cranium, paleontologists knew the rest needed to be saved. However, this palaeocastor was different. Other burrows have bones in the lodge, Welsh said.
I’m glad it’s someone one else’s job to recognize that pile of scraps as paleocastor because I never would! Some readers might remember back an era ago when we discussed the confusion of these burrows with the little corkscrew horn in the iceage animation. What’s funny to me is to think how different these beavers were in so many ways, and then to realize that just like their modern flat tail cousins, it was their work products that got them noticed.

Apparently even 35,000.000 years ago beavers were never slackers.

Bearly Trying

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere August 27, 2016

We went down to see our actual beavers last night. But there was a clamor of noise you can’t imagine and we just observed sneaky furtive dives as the beavers kept mostly out of view. There were helicopters and police cars on every corner, and we even watched one cop walk down to the creek to check upstream. Apparently a handcuffed black woman had escaped when they were trying to transport her to the detention facility and they were sparing NO expense to get her back. For a while the sky was humming with copters and there was a squad car on every corner down town. By 8:45 they had called off the search because of the ‘nonviolent nature of her crimes’.

And it was dark and not as much fun to use their toys looking for her.

The whole thing made me think of this article and what considerable lengths men will go to justify using a new toy they want to play with – even if it doesn’t work at all.

Beavers Not So Eager To Rebuild Dam After Biologist’s Trick

He replaced a culvert with a bridge, but that just led the beavers to put in a new dam above the crossing.

Enter Scott Harris.

He’s one of WDFW’s private lands biologists, a man on a mission to help property owners in coastal counties deal with deer, elk, bears, beavers and other critters that get in their gardens, treat their berries as buffet lines and fence with their fencing.

Mostly it involves encouraging the critters to go elsewhere through various and often inventive means.

Harris had an interesting idea for beating the beavers giving the forester fits, and it didn’t involve setting up one of those metal beaver deceiver contraptions. He got ahold of something a lot cheaper — the coat of a fellow furbearer.

Once the forest manager got the permits to take out the latest dam and had removed it, Harris strung up strips of bear hide where the blockage had been, as well as underneath the bridge.

The idea is that the smell of the predator discourages the roly poly rodents from returning. Harris says it’s an old trick in the nonlethal toolbox of timber companies and a federal agency that deals with wildlife damage issues. But while it’s been used around culverts, apparently it hasn’t been tried under bridges before, he says.

“It is not 100 percent effective. There are some fearless beavers out there,” Harris says.

Every other time this particular dam had been destroyed, the beavers had begun reconstruction within a day, finishing the job within three, WDFW reported.

So, is the hide helping? It’s going on three weeks now and Mother Nature’s engineers haven’t reported back to work, Harris told me late last week

So rather than use the tool that is proven to work, this particular WDFW officer got some strips of bear hid (GEE I WONDER HOW) and hung them up to scare off the beavers. I’m sure he always wanted that fireplace rug anyway.

The truly stunning part of this article is that this happened in WASHINGTON STATE where there are more smart beaver folk gathered in one place than there are combined anywhere else in the world. The state that was first to have a beaver deceiver website in Kings County back in 2006.

I’m just soo curious how this is going to work, aren’t you? My money is on the beavers using that bear hide to plug dam holes within the week.