TAKING NOTHING FOR GRANTED

heidi08 Beaver Art June 15, 2018

Yesterday we finished collecting auction items and picked up brochures. Erika’s talented friends at the Walnut creek civic arts clay class were very kind to us and she was pretty nice too. I spent some time making flyers for the items so I thought I’d share.

Adding these to our already received items brings the total to 88, Divided fairly equally between things to do, jewelry, wall art, toys, and household items. The total value of all the items donated tops 4000 dollars. Hopefully we’ll be able to raise half that to keep the home fires burning.

I’ve been saving this link from James Blatter of Noir poetotography in Colorado for a while, and this seems the perfect time to share.

There is a beaver pond on Garfield Creek about 4 miles from my home, three years ago there were no beavers there, they have migrated down the watershed over a course of 12 miles over six-eight years. This year in the pond system they’ve been building at the local spot now has four beavers.

Watching the ecology of this little, I’d say half mile square, area change has been amazing. Where once the water flowed freely and there was very little wildlife there are now an abundance of fish and song birds, a flock of wild turkeys, an abundance of deer, some raccoons and coyotes. Ducks wintered here for the first time the last two years. Just witnessing this has been one of the best experiences of my life.

We know just how you feel, James.

‘ANTON’ STRIKES AGAIN

heidi08 Beaver Anatomy June 14, 2018

The brochures are ready for pickup today, along with a few last minute wonders for the silent auction. I have an interview lined up for friday with a reporter from the East Bay Times. And last night at the rcd ‘beaver program’ in Napa we got a lovely plug. (Thanks to Brock Dolman and Kate Lundquist for the shout-out and Rusty Cohn for the friendly spying!)

In the meantime there are plenty of dramas to keep us engaged. Most recently the much-hailed debut of a bourbon flavored with castoreum. Yes ,you read that right.

New whiskey flavoured with beaver secretions launched

The 44% ABV flavoured whiskey, which has a Bourbon base, is described as having a “vanilla nose underscored with the addition of spice from the birch oil and wild ginger”. On the palate, the rather elaborate tasting note reads: “dry, smoky spice with fleeting hints of fresh-cracked boughs and mint that open up to reveal rustic-sweet sensations of wet hay, vanilla, wood sugar, and saddle leather interspersed by waves of red fruit”.

A yellowish secretion of the castor sac located under the beaver’s tail, castoreum can form part of a substitute for vanilla flavour although it is rarely used in the food industry today. It is listed as a safe food additive by the US Food and

Drug Administration (FDA) and continues to be used to flavour Swedish schnapps brand BVR HJT.

In an effort to source local castoreum, the distillery teamed up with a beaver trapper called Anton.

“Anton is a beaver trapper and often gets called in by the state to remove beavers. Beavers are also extremely territorial, making relocation of beavers extremely difficult. So Anton, like all good trappers, uses every part of the animal. The fur is sold, the meat is eaten and the castor sacs are used as lures for future trapping bait. This source of New Hampshire beavers makes for a responsible market practice,” the distillery reports on its website.

Eau de Musc, as the whiskey is being called, is described as a two-year Bourbon, which in addition to castoreum, has been flavoured with raspberry, Canadian snakeroot, fir needles, birch bark (tar oil and regular oil) and maple syrup.

It is reportedly being sold in 200ml bottles for US$65 a pop.

I. Can’t. Even.

As bizarre as it is to make a beaver-butt flavored whiskey and write an article about its introduction like a promotional commercial for that hot new barber in town “Sweeney Todd” – it’s the charming profile of ‘Anton’ the trapper that sets this truly apart. Anton! The name alone speaks of rugged voyageurs in the Canadian territories – bring civilization on their backs to an unruly land with their uniquely wild avarice. I especially like how they mention he devotedly uses ‘every part of the beaver’

Drink this! It will make you rugged!

GO AHEAD, GUESS!

heidi08 Beaver News June 13, 2018

Hurray for June! Guess what our Napa beaver friend saw yesterday morning for the very first time! Go ahead, guess!

Ohhh so beautiful! When I was done being ravenously jealous (and it took a while) I was very, very happy for him. i remember that breathless feeling very of kit discovery so well. It will stay fresh in my mind until the very last thing is forgotten. It was something that happened annually for nine years, and every single time was different and magical in its own way. 2007 was such a surprise I hardly believed it. 201o was wrought with heartbreak.

2013 is probably my favorite, though.

There was so much more. Yesterday was a wild swarm of wonders, starting in the morning when city staff came to the park to hang the banners. I can’t tell you what an awesome feeling of pride it gave us to see them go up – both because they were amazing looking AND because the city of Martinez was spending manpower hours to benefit a beaver festival. After the all the hours they spent trying to get rid of them! There are 14 in all, and he carefully hung them and ziptied along the bottom to secure.

It turns out that winning the argument is the best revenge.

Doesn’t that look wonderful? Amelia did such a fine job! The ones the children colored at earth day were especially beautiful hung in place. We put all those in the center of the park so that folks could sit and study them,

While we were hanging them a man strolled by with his son to ask about the festival. He said that his son went to Creekside Montessori – the daycare right beside where the beavers live that happens to be run by someone who is not a fan, The man said his son and all the kids knew about the beaver dam and the beavers and loved them! They would be sure to make it on the day.

(If there are better ways to put pressure on the adults to do the right thing I surely can’t think of any.)

Just to give you an idea of how bizarrely fluttery my day felt yesterday, I later got a note from Ben’s publisher saying the book was being released and they were sending me a copy. Then I got a note from Ben himself, asking very politely if he could have 100 copies delivered to the house for the events he is doing when he gets here. And posters too. Could we just put them in the garage of something until he arrives?

100 beaver books delivered to my house? Guess what I said! Go ahead, guess!

JUNE IS BEAVER MONTH

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact June 12, 2018

June is beaver month, and don’t let anyone tell you any different. It’s when we would start seeing kits for the first time, it’s when the mornings and evenings provide great dawn and dusk beaver watching, and this year it will be month for the largest beaver festival ever. EVER! Not the largest in the the county, or the state, or country, or the hemisphere. But EVER.

Jon picked up a proof copy of the brochure yesterday and it was stunning, I actually love the new shape, it looks more like a program and less like a children’s keepsake. Supposedly today is the day the banners go up in the park. Fingers crossed I will post pictures of their debut tomorrow.

June is also the month that Brock and Kate from OAEC will be presenting on beavers for RCD at the Napa library. Let’s hope they mention a certain FESTIVE celebration! Of course RCD decided to advertise the event with a photo from our own Cheryl Reynolds, because let’s face it. Martinez beavers are Worth A Dam.

WILD Napa ~ Beavers ~ June 13 ~ Bonus Tour @ 6pm!

June 13 – Beavers, Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center

6 pm – Special Tour – Meet behind old Napa Firefighters’ Museum

7 pm – Lecture – Napa Library

Yearling grooming 2010: Photo by Cheryl Reynolds Worth A Dam

Come learn about the fascinating history and ecology of beavers, and how they are helping both urban and rural communities across California restore watersheds, recover endangered species, and Increase climate change
resiliency. Brock Dolman and Kate Lundquist, Co-Directors of the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center WATER Institute, will share research done on the historic range of beaver in California and how you can contribute to the
Bring Back the Beaver campaign.

When: 2nd Wednesdays, 7 pm; NOTE: On June 13, special beaver tour will be held starting at 6 pm behind Napa Firefighters’ Museum

I’m sure they would welcome some out-of-towners if you want to go hear. Of course they should do the tour after the lecture so folks might get to see some actual beavers! As if this wasn’t exciting enough Rusty’s photos ran a spring series in the Napa register this morning.

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

Updated featuring photos from Spring 2018!

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.”

Beaver lifts stone onto dam: Photo by Rusty Cohn

Isn’t that an amazing photo? Go to the article to see them all. Such a nice flat stone. Do you think he’s looking for a skipping rock?

BEAVERS GET THE BEST ARTISTS

heidi08 Beaver Art June 11, 2018

Yesterday was amazing. We met Amy in the park and she was delighted about the space and immediately kicked off her shoes to pace it off. She’s going to start early friday morning just so she gets more than half done the day before, and leave the beavers to finish up while people watch on the day. Amy is exactly like you’d imagine her, friendly, frank, and fun! She was so excited to be helping we were sure we were in a dream and never wanted to wake up.

She even said, gosh there are SO many negative ideas about beavers! Why is that? And told me she had just done some work for a large southern state client who had a huge nature reserve with rivers. Since he was interested in preserving the land and restoring wetlands of course she had asked about beavers – and he said quickly “No! Fish and game told us to kill them right away!”

Apparently they were told that beavers would dam up the streams and prevent OTTERS from getting over the dam.

Amy had the good sense to be shocked by this and was now joyful to be part of an event that celebrated beavers instead of lying about them!

Later in the day April and Alana Ludlow dropped off the sandwich chalk boards they had helped design over the weekend. The boards will be in a sign near Amy to explain what she’s working on during the festival. Didn’t they do a great job?

In case you don’t recognize them, here’s a much younger reminder four years ago after they had seen the Nature Documentary by Jari Osbourne.