Month: August 2017

The Bright Fortune of Beaver Friends

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Who's saving beavers now? August 31, 2017

Has there ever, in ALL of history, been a beaver day like August 31, 2017? There are literally 7 positive stories to cover about beavers today, each more wonderful than the last. You dream of a day like this, when you’re just starting out telling folks that beavers matter, but you never think it will happen to you! Obviously I can’t cover them all today, so I will focus on our friends, because if this website is nothing else, it’s an old ~~boys~~ beavers’ club. And beaver friends lives matter.

Let’s start with our good friends at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve in Atlanta Georgia. Founder Nancy Jones trekked to Martinez to visit our beavers and hear the story years ago, and even made it to the festival one year. New Executive Director Kevin Jones came out as well and brought us a beaver chew from Georgia! Nothing could make us happier than to start with this story from WABE in Atlanta. I’m told it was on the radio this morning, and a link the the audio is coming later.

Beavers In Buckhead? Yes, And They Help Restore Nature

When you think of the wildlife in a city, beavers may not be the first animal that comes to mind, but they’re all over the place in Atlanta. And while the big, goofy-toothed swimming rodents can be a nuisance, it appears beavers may also help our environment.

“What I see is just the potential for all kinds of biological processes to be happening,” says Sudduth. “Cleaning the water. The wetland hosts a huge diversity of bird life that you wouldn’t see otherwise.”

Amphibians and fish thrive in Emma Wetlands, too.

What Sudduth is especially interested in is water quality. She’s studying if this creek is cleaner because of the beavers. She’s not quite finished with that work yet, but it has been done in other places.

“There’s more and more research coming out about that,” says Greg Lewallen, a Ph.D. student at the University of Saskatchewan, who studies beavers. He co-wrote a handbook on using beavers in river restoration for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and recently wrote a new chapfocusing on urban beavers. [Eds. note: with a little help. Sheesh]

Lewallen says beaver dams trap pollutants, and wetland plants help clean the water. Out West, in states including Oregon, Idaho and Colorado, there have been some projects that actively try to attract beavers. That can save money on river restoration work that would otherwise require things like backhoes.

Beavers do it for free, with their teeth.

“They’re an incredible species,” says Lewallen. “We can relate to them in a lot of ways as humans in my opinion. They’re incredibly industrious and hard-working, and for a rodent species, they are extremely family-oriented.”

Lewallen says almost all major cities now have beaver populations. We don’t see them much because they’re nocturnal.

Hurray for Greg and BHNP. I am so happy to see urban beavers discussed on NPR, you can’t imagine. Kevin wrote me this morning and was really excited about the news. BHNP is a success story like no other, and I’m so proud of everything they achieved. I’m thrilled that this report included our chapter in the restoration handbook and talked to Greg too. If folks are going to see urban beavers differently success stories need to come from all around them. Congratulations Greg, Kevin and Nancy!

More great news about our beaver buddy in Napa, Rusty Cohn who’s fabulous photos appeared in an Essay on the beavers of Tulocay Creek. I’m not going to post every photo here, just a few favorites, but GO LOOK AT THE ARTICLE it’s well worth your time.

Photos: Life at Napa’s Beaver Lodge at Tulocay Creek

The Tulocay Creek beaver pond is located next to the Hawthorne Suites Hotel, 314 Soscol Ave., Napa. At the creek, you’ll find river otters, mink, muskrats and herons as well as beavers. Here are some photos of the critters taken by local photographer Rusty Cohn.

“Since Beavers are nocturnal, the heat doesn’t seem to bother them,” Cohn said. “They come out a little before sunset and are mainly in the water. During the day they are sleeping either in a bank den in the side of the creek bank under a fair amount of dirt, or inside a lodge which is made of mud and sticks mainly.”

Go look at the whole thing and I PROMISE you won’t regret it. Wonderful work Rusty, Napa beavers are so lucky to have you.

And wait, there’s more, this from the big glossy magazine of the center for biological diversity. Guess who finally got the memo that beaver help salmon?

To Restore Salmon, Think Like a Beaver

Manmade “dam analogues” could help beavers recolonize former habitats — and help fish in the process.

In one project landowners and public-land managers have started building structures called “beaver dam analogues,” which are essentially starter kits designed help beavers recolonize rivers.

The premise is simple: Drive a row of narrow logs into a streambed and then weave the pilings together with cuttings sourced from nearby trees. The structure slows the pace of the water and traps sedimentation, allowing a small pond to form and creating favorable conditions for nearby beavers (Castor canadenis) to move in. Then the beavers can build their own homes and continue to modify streams to meet their needs.

Their use has spread. In California Brock Dolman and Kate Lundquist, co-directors of the WATER Institute at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, facilitate the effort to introduce beavers to watersheds. Because the animals provide ecosystem services, Dolman and Lundquist see them as underutilized allies in watershed recovery efforts. Their handiwork transforms the landscape, creating a mosaic of habitats. First, beaver dams modify streamflow, creating slow and fast-moving bodies of water. This leads to an increase in the types of streamside habitats available to a variety of wildlife, boosting biodiversity in the process.

Lundquist says the North American beaver is the continent’s original water manager, renowned for storing and caching water for future use. Since beaver dams are temporary and permeable, she explains, the structures allow water to flow, thereby reconnecting mountain streams with the floodplains below.

As California looks for ways to become more resilient in the face of climate change and the prospect of prolonged droughts, the construction of these dams may prove to be advantageous. They could even buy more time for stressed aquatic species such as oceangoing salmon and steelhead trout, which have been left high and dry by California’s prolonged droughts, deforestation and water-diversion projects meant to help farmers.

What remains unchanged is the beaver itself. “They are highly adaptable animals and able to persist,” Lundquist says. “What limits beaver are water and wood — period.” And that combination may be a damned good way to restore streams and solve water woes in California and other parched states.

Hurray for Brock and Kate and writer Enrique Gili[s for the wonderful article. It is great to see the benefits of beavers get discussed specifically in California. We all need to start having more serious conversations about water storage and beavers in our state, so I’m grateful for this push. It is great to have this issue noticed at the upper levels.

One thing that’s not clear in the article is that actual beaver relocation in California is still illegal. Unlike many other states who understand that value of sending in beaver to work their magic, our state still thinks of them as a pest and you aren’t allowed to relocate pests. Unless you’re on tribal lands, and then you can do anything you want. I’m happy the center for biological diversity came to the party, but wish they had clarified that one nagging detail! It’s hard to organize a campaign to change the law if the folk think the law already allows it!

Another Inexplicable Beaver Headline

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, stupid solutions, Tail slap, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now? August 30, 2017

From WBRZ in Louisiana comes the weather report we’ll be wondering about for years to come. There is something in the writing that seems very what we called in my trade ‘word-salad‘ – maybe it was computer generated? It’s hard to believe anyone ever transitioned from talking about Harvey to talking about beavers, but who knows? They’ve been blamed for many ridiculous things before.

Pat Shingleton: “The Storm and Beavers…”

Our weekend intentions are extended to the folks in Texas.

In closing, the second largest rodent in the world is the beaver. The engineering of their dams, canal and personal lodges not only protect them from predators but provide still pools for floating food and building materials. When startled, beavers are also able to initiate an alarm on those quiet pools by energetically smacking the water with their broad tail; forwarding a message to others. Stockpiled sticks provide a food source and an insulation of snow prevents water from freezing around their homes. Examples of beaver complications include the Lawrence, Massachusetts, Conservation Commission’s report that additional flooding was caused when residents removed a local beaver dam. The water release overwhelmed a smaller beaver dam, exiting onto local roads.

The Eagle-Tribune reports that the undisturbed dam would have minimized two road washouts.

That’s why we don’t let google translate bots write copy for the news. Some jobs should just be performed by humans, you know? But okay. This is a fine opportunity to mention that if more beaver were allowed to build dams in more streams backing up more water across the state there would be more wetlands to soak up storm events and everyone would benefit.

Just sayin’. Although this is we more typically get with some human-generated word-salad.

Beavers create flooding problem at Colona

COLONA — Beavers have contributed to the plugging of a 15-inch culvert at the southwest corner of the city. As a result of beaver activity, trees and logs have jammed up the tube, and flooding has affected residents on 10th Avenue.

The property isn’t in city limits, and aldermen voted Monday to contact Colona Township to ask if they will assist the city in fixing the problem. “The problem is the city equipment is not able to do what needs to be done. We need larger equipment,” said Mayor Rick Lack.

“We need an excavator, not our backhoe,” agreed public works director Rick Crew. Ald. Tom Jones, 3rd Ward, said the city should ask the township or the county to maintain the culvert. “It would be better for our residents to have a solution than a bureaucratic circle,” said Ald. Tristan Tapscott.

Okay, that part makes sense. Beavers block culverts, we all accept this. And if there’s one thing we ALL KNOW it’s that boys like to say they could solve any problem if they just had bigger equipment. And if you chose not to install a beaver deceiver to protect a culvert, you need to spend time cleaning them out.

(See how I’m delicately avoiding mentioning their bureaucratic circle [jerk] because that’s just the kind of sensitive woman I am? )

But this is what confused me.

Alderman Mike King said duck hunters occasionally fire close to homes there, and the floodwaters displace coyotes, exacerbating that problem.

?????????

Mr. King said if it were zoned as a conservation area, the city could have control over letting people hunt, suggesting coyotes could be hunted there.

???????????????????????????

Now you might think I’m editing out the context of this paragraph to make it sound more confusing. But go look at the article yourself if you want. The paragraph is context-free. I’m still trying to find it. So if the gunfire and flooding hadn’t pushed them out the coyotes would eat the beavers and fix our problem? Or if the coyotes were around to eat the ducks there wouldn’t be so much hunting there? Or maybe the duck hunters could shoot beavers? Or just shoot out the culverts?

Or maybe I just wanna shoot coyotes so I’m changing the subject?

You aren’t making any sense, Mike. But, fortunately for you it doesn’t seem to matter much in Colona, IL whether you make sense or not. Your colleagues or constituents don’t seem to mind, and the reporter writes it down and reports it as if you actually contributed. Good job.

You might be mayor soon.

Stonewalled by the Quarry

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beaver Behavior, Beavers and water, City Reports, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? August 29, 2017

I had an indescribably beaver day yesterday, if it pans out I’ll fill you in on the details. Let me just say that it started at dawn with a phone call from Karen Corker of Maine WildWatch, who is testifying tonight and wanted to learn what was most helpful in Martinez. We had an epic chat about how to enlist support without alienating potential allies. We also talked about how folks get numb or hostile to the animal rights message, and how to frame arguments differently for the maximum effect. I stressed the importance of pragmatic solutions and talked about the art of the possible.

We basically revisited these ideas, which is so fun to do again. Especially without the personally impending dire consequences. It was like going to your high school reunion without any snobs. Very fun. I am wishing Karen all the luck in the world today.

Accidental Advocate

Then my copy of The Knotty Pine Mystery Series arrived! I was so excited I couldn’t wait to settle down in a comfortable chair and read the adventure. On the very first page Mr. Beaverton looks up at the wall of his lodge where he sees the portrait of his grandfather who had “always walked with him along the banks of Cobble Creek and explained how the land was healthy because of their dams“.

Ha! Do you think I’m going to keep reading? Go ahead guess!

I was so interested in the origin of the tale I asked artist Sara Aycock about it. Did the illustrations come first or the story? She wrote back,

“It was actually my artwork. A little over a year ago I decided to paint animals dressed in Victorian clothes. My very first painting was Mr. Beaverton and I was in love. I saw his personality and profession. (I actually finished him on August 24, 2016 and exactly a year later on August 24, 2017 we released our book!) As I continued to paint the characters, I named them, came up with their jobs, and wrote up the personalities. I decided to feature North American animals (except our hedgehog, which book 1 explains how he got to North America). In September 2016, I approached my sister-in-law (who lives clear across the U.S.) and asked her if she would be willing to write a children’s chapter book based on my characters. She said she’d love to! She was amazing to work with and took the characters and town that I had envisioned and gave them a lovely story. We have 8 books planned and have made a list of problems that animals may experience in the wild and made a long list of things to teach about nature that we hope to sprinkle throughout the series. It’s been such a fun project and I’ve learned even more about nature as I study different animals and whatnot.”

Sara Aycock

What an adventure! And I’m so grateful that it worked out our festival got to be part of it. I love the idea of the image of Mr. Beaverton starting the whole thing. Beavers do change things, you know. Maybe you haven’t ordered your copy yet. But you REALLY SHOULD. I’m already very curious who has been stealing things around the forest and am relieved Mr. Beaverton is on the case.

Too bad the folks at Ruby Construction in Vermont didn’t have a similar appreciation for the animal’s work.

Wells quarry operators fined $9K for excavating beaver dam, cleanup required

Montpelier – The Agency of Natural Resources announced today that Ruby Construction, Inc., former owner of the hilltop property containing the Mammoth Quarry in the Town of Wells, and the company’s lessee Royal Harrison, were jointly held responsible for a massive discharge of water and sediment into Lake St. Catherine. They have been fined a minimum of $9,000 and are required to appropriately remove the deposited sediment from the lake.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon in April 2014, neighboring homeowners on West Lake Road, a residential road along Lake St. Catherine and downhill from the Mammoth Quarry, were outside enjoying the weather when an enormous discharge event occurred. The homeowners described witnessing a wall of water that rumbled down the forested hill, quickly overwhelmed an intermittent streambed, blocked a culvert and overtopped West Lake Road. The Wells Fire Department and road crews responded to close the road and assist in diverting the water away from the two homes, one of which had water flowing into the basement. The water moved swiftly for several hours, ripping up and dragging slate flagstones across one homeowner’s property and gouging out new pathways into the lake on the other. Debris and sediment flowed well into Lake St. Catherine. The event temporarily cut off road access to residents of both Wells and Poultney on the northern portion of West Lake Road, which dead-ends.

One homeowner followed the water up the hill behind his property in an attempt to investigate the cause of the release. He followed the rushing water up the steep hill and identified recent excavator tracks around the area. While the excavator was no longer at the site, there was clear evidence of unnatural excavation of a beaver dam at its downstream point, which was now draining the large reservoir of water. Later that day, Town of Wells officials retraced the flow of the water, which had subsided but not stopped by the evening, and tracked the excavator marks away from the draining pond. They followed muddy tracks to a full-size excavator, parked, and with a warm engine.

Following the event and investigation, the Agency issued notices to Ruby Construction, Inc. and Royal Harrison alleging the violation of an illegal discharge into a water of the state, and outlining the process to clean up the damage. Ruby Construction, Inc. and Royal Harrison never admitted fault for the discharge, and requested a hearing in front of the Vermont Superior Court, Environmental Division. The two-day hearing was held March 2 and 3, 2017, and the Court issued a decision on the merits and judgment order on July 28, 2017 affirming the Agency’s position. The Court’s order requires Ruby Construction, Inc. and Royal Harrison pay a penalty of $9,000 and apply for a permit from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s Lakes and Ponds Management and Protection Program to appropriately remove the sediment from the Lake by next fall. All sediment removal and lake restoration is to be paid for by the respondents, and an additional penalty of $3,000 will be assessed if compliance is not achieved by October 31, 20

The damn dam-wreckers! I guess we shouldn’t be surprise that when they were confronted with their own wrongdoing the Quarry owners stonewalled, but I’m glad the authorities tracked them down anyway. I personally wish it was MORE money they are being fined but I’m sure the 9000 will sting a little. I love the idea of the homeowner following the excavator tracks and laying his hand on the engine to find it was still warm. I actually did that myself once in Martinez at the secondary dam. Ah, memories.

Maybe that should be the next knotty pine mystery!

Fear the Siren’s Song

heidi08 Beaver Art, City Reports August 28, 2017

Do you remember the story of Odysseus and the Sirens? He was on his way home from the Trojan war and had to pass one of the greatest perils known on land or sea. The ‘Sirens’ would sing their beautiful alluring songs and appear to sailors as beautiful, nubile women looking for a good time, but when the sailors tried to come to them they would crash to their death and be ravished by terrible clawed monsters.

Odysseus was warned of the Sirens, and wisely protected his crews’ ears with beeswax as they sailed past. But of course he wants to know what all the fuss is about, so he uses none for himself. He has the sense to have his men tie him to the mast so that even if it turns out to be irresistible, he’ll be prevented from escape.

To Odysseus, who is bewitched by the song, the Sirens look as beautiful as Helen of Troy. To his crew, made deaf with beeswax, the Sirens seem like hungry monsters with vicious, crooked claws.

The ship speds forward and no one took out their earplugs or unties the captain until the song was an echo of an echo. The grateful captain comes to and realizes what a terrible fate he was saved from.

Ever since then the road sign “Welcome to Siren” is not a sight that fills anyone with anticipation.

Siren Village Board talks animal issues

SIREN—Several matters regarding animals in Siren came before the vilage Board.

No chickens in Siren: After discussion, the board left in place an ordinance that prevents residents from raising chickens or other farm animals in the community.

Board President Dave Alden added, “We have worked very hard to clean up some places in the village and I have a hard time allowing chicken coops that may be an eyesore. I personally don’t want them.”

Alden said he has received a request from an established trapper, Scott Thomas, to change the village ordinance to allow trapping of somewater-based animals within the village. Alden said, “I think animals will cause problems in the village if we don’t remove some of the beavers, muskrats and other animals we have. That’s my opinion. It could cause us serious financial difficulties to remove them and un-dam some culverts that will be plugged up.”

Regarding who should be allowed to trap, Alden said, “I personally can name the six experienced trappers in this county,” adding that very few trappers remain.

I’m confused. Is this a Village Board meeting or the personal-feelings-of-Dave-Alden-meeting? I wouldn’t have brought donuts if I knew. I fail to comprehend why it would be a good idea to let trappers next to school grounds, but that’s just me. I’m just spit-balling here but does anyone else think that when Dave says “it’s just my opinion’ he actually means IKNOWTHEBESTSOLISTENUPEVERYONE.

Poor, poor Siren. Not only has to live with a terrible name, it has to put up with trappers in their city limits and no fresh eggs!

We finished our new banner yesterday. How do you think it came out?

Loose Beaver Ends

heidi08 Beaver Art, Burrowing Owls, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Tree-Wrap Rap August 27, 2017

Do you know that nagging feeling you get when you know you need to do something but you can’t remember what? Yesterday I finally paid attention to it and realized I was supposed to send the CCC Fish and Wildlife commission a summary of the festival with an accounting of how their grant was spent. It’s honestly really hard to remember that long ago in this beaver whirlwind. But I did the best I could.

Summary of “Working for the ecoSystem” 08-05-17

The tenth annual beaver festival was both familiar and surprising, with over 1000 attendees , 40 wildlife exhibits, a lecture on beaver benefits given BY a beaver, and for the first time unexpected beaver experts from three separate states. Each had heard about the festival and wanted to come see in person the educational component we offered. We were excited by the interest, but the many children were mostly excited about wildlife tattoos and eager to begin their treasure hunt while learning.

Rather than place the tattoos on beaver tails, we decided to help the children make nature journals with beaver chew bindings so their earnings could be proud displayed on the covers. We hoped this would let them record the nature they saw later in their own lives. The watershed stewards helped children make the journals, and Worth A Dam volunteers helped the children affix the tattoos to the covers. One of the most delightful parts of the day was watching children’s eyes light up when the watercolor images ‘appeared’ on their journals as if by magic.

About half of the children completed the simple post-test (n=48) with a 85% accuracy rating. The participating booths said that distribution was smooth and everyone admired the tattoos and wanted their own. Attached you will find the invoice for the tattoos and leatherette, as well as the printing costs for the map children used to find booths. Thank you again for supporting this wonderful eco-learning event!

This week I’m headed to Kiwanis to tell THEM how their grant was used, and give them a run down of the festival. I also plan to mention that the beavers are back and if they have any friends near Creekside Montessori to let them know to contact us to have their trees protected. Meanwhile, Jon and I are working on a little banner for the booth using our leftover tattoos. I got the idea after appreciating the neat butterfly swag they had at the butterfly garden booth this year at the festival. Why not make our own? (Although peeling off the plastic gives me RENEWED appreciation for the outstanding job Erika and Jon did at the festival.) This is about half finished – a 10 foot linen swag and we think it’s going to be lovely. We plan to use it first at the Visions of the Wild Forest Service Event we’re doing in September in American Canyon.Meanwhile I was contacted this morning by Karen Corker of Maine whose great letter I wrote about earlier. She would like access to the ecosystem poster to use for her beaver education program in Maine. In case your keeping track at home that’s three states where it’s been adopted so far.

Four if you count California.

Oh, and I included one additional item in my grant summary for the CCCFWC. This was in the New Yorker years ago. I dearly love it, but I don’t see why it’s funny at all.