I am pretty particular when it comes to a beaver relocation story. In order for me to feel truly positive about a moving-beaver article it has to have a few key points. First off, it has to make clear why beavers matter. Next, it has to mention that there are easy solutions that might have been done to keep those beavers where they were in the first place. And lastly and most importantly, it has to involve Sherri Tippie.
This one meets all the criteria.
Nature’s Engineers Help Defenders Prevent, Protect and Restore
Beaver are natures engineers, changing the world around them. They are safest from predators when swimming in water, so they build dams to make ponds that they can swim in. These ponds allow them to safely enter their lodge from underwater, and access more trees and herbaceous plants without leaving the water. They modify their habitat for themselves, but their actions have huge impacts on other species. Fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, aquatic insects, trees and plants all benefit from the changes that beaver create on the landscape.
Sometimes, beaver cause trouble for landowners because they change their habitat so much. There are simple solutions which often allow landowners to live with beaver, such as fencing trees to protect them, but on some occasions, this is not possible. In those instances, Defenders tries to relocate the entire beaver family to lands where they are wanted.
Two down, one to go.
This August, Defenders, along with local live-trapper Sherri Tippie from Wildlife2000, relocated a beaver family north of Denver, Colorado. Relocating a beaver family is a lot of work. Beavers live in extended families, often with four generations living in the same lodge. A mated pair, this year’s kits, and juveniles from the past one or two summers all live together. We set live-traps in the evening and check them first thing in the morning. The traps work like a giant suitcase, folding up when a beaver steps in the middle. We moved nine individuals, including five kits born this spring, to new habitat in the mountains. Their new home used to have beaver, but they have been absent for several years. The old beaver ponds are still there but have not been maintained. The new family will likely repair these ponds, and hopefully create new ones of their own, creating and improving habitat for at-risk native species such as cutthroat trout, leopard frogs, and boreal toads.
Huzzah! We have a trifecta! Nothing but good news in this beaver relocation. Wonderful to read about, Well, except for the line about beavers living in the lodge with four generations. i know what they mean but that’s not accurately phrased. That would be like kits living with their great grandparents, right? Technically there are two generations (parents and children) and two batches (kits and yearlings).
In light of the new Endangered Species Act regulations released last week, it’s as important as ever that we prevent species from needing to be listed. The habitat that we allow beaver to create on the landscape are critical for some of these imperiled species, and the presence of indicator species like amphibians help to show that the habitats are healthy. Defenders works to prevent, protect, and restore: prevent species from becoming endangered, protect already imperiled species, and restore species to the landscape. Beaver are one of the many natural tools that fit in our arsenal for wildlife conservation!
Lovely to see. Thanks Aaron Hall for this excellent article. I had cued it up for yesterday’s post but the local headline of “otters teaching beavers” pushed it back a day. It’s great to see Sherri at work, doing what she does better than anyone in all the world.
Speaking of sticking with what you know, I got an inspiration yesterday to do a booklet specifically about urban beavers and have it available for Beaver Con 202o. I wrote folks asking for their contributions and I’m going to need your help too. If you were lucky enough to watch beavers in your city, maybe you could send me a line or two about what it was like? Send it to mtzbeavers@gmail.com. I’d love to put together something that captures not only how to manage beavers without trapping and why its good for wildlife, but how it enriches communities of humans too.
Here’s the possible first page. What do you think?
