Score one for the good guys! Well two actually.
Marsh Creek runs down the East side of Mt. Diablo into Oakley and out to the San Joaquin Delta. Yesterday I got an email from someone who attended the Marsh Creek Watershed meeting last week. He used to live in Martinez and was alarmed to hear that 5 beavers were going to be shot in Oakley. He was horrified and wanted to make sure that nonlethal measures were being used to solve problems.
So this is when you get out your wildlife rolodex. Or the slightly smaller but very essential beaver rolodex. Diane Burgis is now county Supervisor and used to be the head of “Friends of Marsh Creek”. We actually went to high school together and she invited me to come talk about our beavers at one of their meetings many years ago. So I figured she’d be a good person to try. I contacted Diane and she called the city manager to ask about it.
I am sure that is not a conversation he ever expected to have.
He told her that flood control had told him they had ‘moved’ the beavers. I told her that beaver relocation in California was not legal so either they were lying or had ‘moved’ the beavers in the sense that they had sent them to ‘live on the farm‘ so to speak, (Along with that puppy your parents didn’t let you keep). She was horrified and said beavers in Oakley are never shot!
(Ahh spoken like a true politician!)
Anyway she’s going to ask the CDFW officer out there and talk to some other nonprofits, and I will try and follow up with the source. Now do I think flood control workers might come back one night to shoot beavers and save themselves an hour of work? Yes, I do, but probably not in the city, and not on a weeknight. I know for a fact that there have been depredation permits given for beavers in Discovery Bay and just up the road at the Los Vaqueros reservoir beavers were shot years ago under the pretense that they were ‘ruining the habitat for red-legged frogs’, So its possible.
It’s all possible.
But sometimes a little daylight can do wonders to halt a bad plan. I’ll keep you posted. Let’s just see what happens. It was nice to have that adventure and wake up to this headline.
DNR officer hides in swamp to bust men who tore apart beaver dam, shot at beavers
MARQUETTE COUNTY, MI – A DNR conservation officer spent several hours hiding in a swamp to catch a group of men who tore apart a beaver dam before shooting at the animals.
According to an official report, CO Josh Boudreaux decided to investigate the matter in early May after receiving a complaint about individuals removing a beaver dam on public property without a permit in Marquette County.
After being alerted, Boudreaux walked through a swamp to find a good vantage point tucked in the brush approximately 25 yards from the group.
For a few hours CO Boudreaux sat in the swamp watching them tear apart the dam and talk about how they were going to “come back and sit in the truck with a silenced .223, a case of beer, and shoot any beaver that tried to plug the holes.”
Oh goodness this is like the BEST netlix series I could ever hope to watch. Tell me that there’s video of him laying in wait! I love how he waits for a shot to be fired so that the culprit can’t lie and say he wasn’t going to shoot anything. I sense a new Matlock series coming up soon! An undercover wildlife officer who saves beavers! I could help with the script. Call me!
The driver stuck a gun and flashlight out the driver side window and fired a shot into the pond. As the driver exited the vehicle, CO Boudreaux turned on his flashlight and announced his presence.
The subject was caught totally off guard, according to the report. He later admitted he knew he made a huge mistake the moment he pulled the trigger. The individual’s firearm was seized, and a citation was issued for possessing/using a loaded firearm from a motor vehicle.
Numerous other charges are under review and include shining with weapon in possession, taking a beaver without license and taking a beaver with a firearm.
Whoooeee man that’s a good story. They should put it on the teevee and show it every christmas. It’s perfect, it has a message of hope. Of redemption. And teaches people to do the right thing. Hey, maybe I’ll just send that story to the good folks at Oakley Flood Control. I’m sure they’d get a kick out of it.
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