Dendrophobia is described as the fear of trees, from the Greek root dendro meaning tree + Phobia meaning irrational fear. Martinez has long suffered from this difficult-to-treat condition. And yesterday we were informed that the transported willow shoots laid down by our noble volunteers Saturday were being dug up. Because of concerns that they would cause flooding.
No, I’m not kidding.
Now disappointing a bunch of beaver supporters is no big deal, and the city is free to do it with impunity. As they have shown, over and over again. But these trees were planted with the authority of the SF waterboard with a grant through the California Urban Streams Partnership. And it is a slightly bigger deal to disrupt their work. And to exhume the trees they have planted. I’m not sure what will be the immediate outcome, but I’m sure they’ll be another shoe, and I’m sure it will drop. Stay tuned.
In the meantime, this is what they were not alarmed about on the very same day, filmed by Bonnie Logan up where we saw the beavers last by the Junior High.
If you’ll notice the stiff trunks in the middle of this flow are NOT willow. And are NOT bending with the water. In fact, some of them broke and washed downstream creating further hazards as they went. Willow has actually been shown to bend in high flow and increase the velocity of the water. But that only matters if you care about facts.
This is the idyllic view where I spent a decade gazing into the lives of beavers. Their lovely family. Their five dams, (six if you count the one down stream this spring). The entire Alhambra channel was a beaver neighborhood for more than two presidential terms.
This is what it looked like yesterday. I know folks don’t always click on the videos, but CLICK ON THIS ONE. This was shot by Martinez resident Bill Nichols with his phone just before high tide yesterday morning. Did you have a bad day yesterday? This proves definitively once again that beaver lives are way harder than yours.
So buck up.
Rusty Cohn
Rusty was also concerned about his Napatopia beavers in all the rain. He went down late morning and took these photos. This wise beaver is once again playing snoopy and sleeping on top of the submerged lodge. You wouldn’t know he was disconcerted, because while he’s homeless he decides to have a snack and groom.
Beavers aren’t exactly multi-taskers, but everything they do is useful. Our little dramas seem kind of silly in comparison to their epic struggle. Whatever comes their way, beavers are firm believers in the oldish adage:
“Don’t sweat the small stuff. And its all small stuff.”
Mind you, if my house was in the middle of a scene that looked like this, and I was flooded out of it in the middle of my night, waiting for hours after evacuation before I could get back home and gather my things, I probably wouldn’t idly be grooming.
One of my favorite things about beavers is their steady unflappability. They cope with life as it happens. They do not worry, plan, or panic. Which is not to say they’re unemotional. Look at this one who finally drifted asleep on his ‘red-cross cot’ at the shelter. He just can’t stay awake a moment longer. He’s done all he could coping with this calamity and looking after his family. Shhh, he deserves the rest. But look at his paws. He’s clutching a security blanket – er- branch after all his trouble.
OSU is getting ready for it’s grand “Showtime” reception for the Beaver Tales art exhibit this Thursday. They are already getting a nice flurry of attention as folks begin to see beavers in a newway. Organizer Charles Robinson sent their event poster you can see here.
The exhibit, now on view at Giustina Gallery in LaSells Stewart Center, is the creation of volunteer curator Sara Vickerman and president of The Wetlands Conservancy, Ester Lev. The two wanted to promote more appreciation and understanding about the important role beavers play in ecosystems, Vickerman said.
“We thought sometimes environmental politics just make people tired and angry,” she said. “That’s not what we want here. We want people to have some fun and enjoy looking at this art.”
Some artists took field tours provided by OSU to the North Coast and Portland to observe beavers in their habitat.
“People were just amazed. Here they (beavers) are living among us, working quietly and not so quietly,” Vickerman said, and laughed. “The artists went out and started looking for beavers on their own.”
About 125 pieces are displayed in the exhibit. Featured mediums include photography, clay, fused glass, stone mosaics, and wood pieces.
“There is everything from people who paint with watercolors, oils and acrylics to sculptures, even a woman who paints on cross-cut saws,” Vickerman said.
“My Oregon home” by Jen Richmond is a beaver painted on a cross-cut saw that is mounted on barn wood.
She was also impressed with photographs of beavers taken in Alaska by retired OSU professor Sharon Rosenkoetter and her husband, Larry.
The beauty of photographing beavers in Alaska is you don’t have the problem of them only coming out only when it’s dark, and you can’t get decent pictures. They have pictures of beavers taken in daylight that are just incredible,” she said.
The exhibit is part of SPARK, OSU’s year of Arts and Science.
“Charles Robinson (College of Liberal Arts faculty, coordinator of SPARK-OSU Year of Arts & Science) got us space at OSU for the exhibit. He thought it was the perfect illustration of the intersection of art and science, because people are doing research at OSU,” she said.
A percentage of the sales of art pieces will benefit The Wetlands Conservancy and other conservation groups, Vickerman said.
I have to admit, I’m having castor envy. I especially LOVE the idea of a beaver painted on a saw blade. Jen that is beautiful work! Something like this is a huge undertaking. They were in the early stages back when I went to present in May. There are so many moving pieces to coordinate, and so many details to keep track of, all my hats are off to them. It’s so exciting that folks will gather to see this art and think about beavers differently – maybe for the first time!
(It was nice of the beavers to win the Civil war this year, that will probably help even more with attendance.)
I would feel like a total beaver slacker by comparison but last night Suzi Eszterhas approached me about the upcoming feature in Ranger Rick and asked me if she could give my contact info as a “Beaver expert” for information and resources in the article. You know the one coming up that will be mailed to children in every state and beyond. Would it be okay to give her editor my phone number? They’d like someone to be able to check for accuracy and verify details about our story and beavers in general?
I must have beamed around the living room for a full 20 minutes before I floated back to the keyboard and assented. “Oh alright” I typed, scowling contentedly,
The Germans are tired of the UK having all the good beaver stories. They want some of their own to talk about why beavers matter. Hence this report from DW, which was also published under the headline; “Beavers on the Rampage“. Go figure.
When it comes to erecting remarkable structures, few animals are as talented architects as beavers. Almost hunted to extinction in Europe, the creatures are now bouncing back. Few animals create such impressive structures or alter their environment so dramatically as the beaver. Few, except for humankind.
“Beavers are like the architects of our waterways,” says of Iris Barthel of German conservation group Nabu. “They build dams, burrow, gnaw and fell trees and shrubs. In this way, beavers have shaped our riverscapes for millions of years.”
But despite – and sometimes because of – a shared propensity for reshaping the landscape, humans and beavers don’t always make good neighbors.
“The beavers aren’t aware of property ownership. They see the riverbank as a place they can dig their burrow,” says Barthel. “They see tasty food in fields or orchards. So it can happen that a tractor breaks a beaver lodge or a beaver fells a favorite apple tree.”
She adds that beavers have been accused of burrowing into dams and dikes, disrupting manmade flood defences, but says there are well-practiced defenses against this kind of damage.
“If beavers are pilloried by politicians, it’s primarily to distract from their own failures in flood prevention,” says Barthel.
Lords of the Rivers! I like it. Shorter than Lord of the Rings and less stompy than Lords of the Dance! I love that last line. It’s true, that the first thing cities do after their culverts fail is blame beavers. And power companies when their service fails. And internet companies when their cables go out. (And fisherman when whatever). Often without any reason. Take Mountain House for instance, built out of landfill and roadways eroding. They ripped out the real creek to make room for a planned one. They are sure beavers excavated large cavernous tunnels that sucked their precious pavement into sink holes. Or at least that’s what they alleged until they got challenged.
Biologist Jessica Dieckmann told DW that part of her role as newly-appointed commissioner on beavers for the German city of Hamm was to help deal with conflicts arising between homeowners and their beaver neighbors.
She explained that because injuring or killing beavers or damaging their dams and burrows is forbidden in German, “a solution has to be found tactfully.”
“A solution could be that landowners sell a 20-meter-wide (66-foot-wide) riparian strip and make it available for nature protection,” says Dieckmann.
Her other tasks as beaver commissioner include finding out whereabouts beavers are in Hamm and how many there are, to know how best to deal with the creatures in the future.
Beavers usually live in burrows in the river bank accessed by an underwater tunnel. The dam ensures the water is deep enough to hide the entrance to their “lodge” beneath the surface.
But while human construction often runs at complete odds with the needs of other living species, beaver dams bring benefits to a whole host of other species.
“They create small ponds, deadwood, marsh areas or open up areas of soil,” says Barthel. These provide habitats for dragonflies, amphibians and reptiles, for fish and birds. “Where humans have to spend a lot of money on preserving biodiversity, the beaver helps out for free.”
“At the same time, it contributes to the cleanliness of water, re-natures rivers and supports natural flood prevention.”
The editors at DW think this is a beaver. But it’s NOT. This is a nutria (Or coypu Myocastor coypus). It’s BAD for the environment and the UNbeaver
Hurray! We love Jessica and Iris. There are smart beaver thinkers in Germany, and some of them are coming to the State if the Beaver Conference at the end of the month. The language and knowledge has taken root on foreign soil. Or maybe started there and is taken root on American soil. I don’t care who gets the credit. I just care that we all get the knowledge.
Oh, and that papers stop running THIS photo and pretending to believe it’s a beaver. You can even see the TAIL in the back. And look at those nostrils and white whiskers! What’s the matter with you?
Only good news on Sunday’s right? Well, yesterday’s planting party surely applies. 14 people showed up from Martinez, Napa, and Oakland and Berkeley to put some magical willow cuttings in the banks of Alhambra Creek. (I say magical because at the right time of year willow can be cut from trees and turned back into trees. Imagine that!)The willow was trimmed from our own prodigious trees downstream and hauled back to be bundled into fascines or trimmed into stakes. The fascines were lovingly layed in trenches and staked in place. Study lone stakes were tapped into rain soaked soil where they will sprout. They planted at both Henrietta and Escobar streets. Everyone felt the conditions were ideal for an excellent planting. Ann Riley from the SF waterboard is always an outstanding teacher and Friends of Alhambra Creek Volunteers turned out to hear what she would say. As you can see, Cheryl was on hand to snap some wonderful photos of the moment. And you might recognize beaver-inventer Bob Rust even without his beaver bicycle! But if you need reminding, check the video below. Here’s Riley showing how a fascine is laid in trenches. Afterwards most of the folks came to try out the wrap sandwiches and they must have been adequate because they were gone! All in all it was an excellent way to spend Saturday morning. I happen to be very fond of this lovely close-up of Riley and Jean bundling. I like to imagine they are wrapping very delicious beaver Christmas presents. Good work team beaver!
This week’s mail delivered a bevvy of beaver bounty for the silent auction. Starting with an adorable sterling silver beaver necklace from “Stickman Jewelry” in Montreal, Canada. The charm itself is even cuter because it is so tiny. I anticipate rabid bidding on this cherishable trinket so start saving your pennies now.
The other glories came from artist Deborah Hocking in Portland. I didn’t even realize she was the brilliant artist behind the children’s book “Build beaver build.” I just really, really liked this print she was selling on etsy.
I wrote her about the beaver bicycle Bob Rust made for our festival and she was immediately hooked. She ended up donating 8 prints and a copy of her book! She might even design something for the festival! Sometimes the best part of asking isn’t the things you get, but remembering that there are like minds all over the globe.
