Month: May 2020

BETTER CHANGE THE NAME TO “RIVER-BROKE ESTATES”

heidi08 Who's saving beavers now? May 21, 2020

Now this is just the kind of story I like best. A family that loves their wetlands built by beavers and a mean old developer who wants it drained for his parking space. If I hadn’t been so immersed in Oakley shenanigans lately it would have been all we talked about. But everything comes in good time. And they still get a letter.

Beaver dam battle pits Sandown family vs. developer

SANDOWN — Jeff and Heather Blake have always enjoyed sitting with their kids along the edge of the wetlands in their backyard and watching the wildlife, but their slice of serenity is in jeopardy.

A large portion of the wetlands on the Blake property vanished without warning last Friday when a local housing developer who owns neighboring property hired an excavation crew to tear out a small beaver dam and remove a section of a larger dam.

Jeff Blake watched in horror as the acre of wetlands quickly drained. He said the water and silt “rushed out like whitewater” as he scrambled to transfer about 40 baby turtles to the nearby Exeter River as their habitat was suddenly disturbed.

Hey I bet some baby beavers were disturbed too. Or maybe a pregnant mother since this is New Hampshire. I bet a whole lot of birds and frogs didn’t like it either. It’s hard to believe their aren’t rules about ripping out a wetland in New Hampshire. Art?

Developer Bob Villella, a Hampstead resident and owner of Boemark Construction, said he wants to sell the land for a new house lot, but the beaver dams, which are located on his property, had flooded a small roadway in an area that’s planned to be used for a driveway.

Villella said he needed to address the damming problem and insisted that he did nothing wrong as state law allows property owners to remove beaver dams on their land if done properly.

“The beavers built it up. I have the right to take it down and that’s what I did,” he said Monday.

It’s always the developers. Have you noticed this? It’s always the almighty dollar that is willing to rip out beaver dams even when very photogenic children want to protect them. I see a battle coming on. I see a million preschoolers in beaver tails on the evening news, Don’t make me come over there.

“I just felt like it was gone. It’s a piece that was so relaxing to us, especially now. I’ve been home with the kids with daycare closed (due to COVID-19) and we spend a lot of time outside. That’s what we’ve put a lot of focus on lately, just enjoying the simple parts of life,” Heather Blake said.

While the wetlands have filled up again, the Blakes say they’re still about two but he said he has no plans to completely drain the wetlands on the Blakes’ property and the several more acres of wetlands behind other homes.feet lower than they were before the dams were disrupted.

Villella has built several homes in the Riverbend Estates development and is planning more, but he said he has no plans to completely drain the wetlands on the Blakes’ property and the several more acres of wetlands behind other homes. Villella said his only goal is to reduce the flooding on the land he wants to sell, which may mean lowering the wetlands to a depth of about two feet.

“I understand they’re upset, but the beavers are doing damage to other properties,” he said.

You are fighting progress sweet family. You are demanding the right to be in nature against a well funded landloard. It’s a hard struggle. It takes stamina. Courage. And a firm belief in that a brighter future is possible. And there’s only one way to do it, With an army.

I’d advise you to fight as dirty as possible from 6 feet away. Maybe get every child in her preschool to mail the judge a hand drawn picture of their favorite animal that once lived in the wetlands. And a photo of themselves in a beaver tail.

That’s a start.

THE GOVERNOR’S PARDON ARRIVED TOO LATE

Any beavers’s death diminishes me,
because I am involved in beaverkind;
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.

Why are all beaver victories Pyrric and sad? Because beaver death happens so fast, faster than beaver alarm and concern. Yesterday I was sent a beautiful photo of the little dam the beavers had made in Marsh Creek. And then I cajoled my Oakley sister to paying it a visit and learned it had been ripped out. The little dam was on a public path, next to a park and two blocks from an elementary school. It was in the perfect place for a teachable moment. But it was too late.

I heard from the woman from American Rivers working on a large project in the area that CDFG had granted a depredation permit at the beginning of April good for up to five beavers taken over the year, and I knew that we were probably too late.

Later that night supervisor Burgis called to say she had talked to the head of flood control and learned that two beavers had already been dispatched. Weeks ago. Probably the only beavers there which is why the dam hadn’t been repaired. Unless God forbid there were kits already born and they just starved to death in their little bank hole.

It makes me SO SAD. That was such a tiny beautiful dam. It wasn’t hurting anyone.

We had seen the bosses name on depredation permits over the years. I remembered her because it always frightened me that the address was Martinez. But it was the county address, where the head of flood control manages flooding all over Contra Costa. Not our little sleepy creek.

The good thing, and there IS a good thing, is that the supervisor told the head of flood control that killing beavers wouldn’t be a option anymore. For any city, and definitely not for Marsh Creek. She then said that the head of flood control needed to have a meeting with herself, the project manager from American Rivers and that woman from Worth A Dam to learn about options for keeping the creek flowing and still saving the beavers.

So that’s being set up. And its very good news for the next beavers that come to Marsh Creek. I cannot stress enough how entirely rare and unheard of it is. And what a fluke of all forces known to God and man it relied on. Victory happened. And we’re grateful for it.

But its no reprieve for these beavers. Because beaver victories almost always come too late to make a difference. It’s like the governors pardon arriving three minutes after the switch on the electric chair has already been pulled. It’s always too late.

Except for in Martinez.

BEAVER “STING” OPERATIONS!

heidi08 Beavers May 19, 2020

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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NEW FRIENDS HELPING BEAVERS SKATE THROUGH

heidi08 Who's defending beavers now? May 18, 2020

Sometimes I fall behind in the news. I admit. Either because I’m giving a zoom talk the next day or because I forgot to pay attention and started to work on something else, like the exciting new project I’ll be showing you later. This had all the elements of a good story too. But as its in Oregon I’m going to assume it found its way without us.

Beaver battle

There is a beaver stirring up trouble in Ochoco Creek.

At one end of town, near the local skate park, a flat-tailed critter has chewed up several trees, causing some to come down. Closer to Main Street, a tree with incriminating chew marks lays across the creek next to a jagged, pointy stump.

Prineville Police Officer James Young is aware that beavers have settled into Ochoco Creek at different times through the years. They seems to prefer the skate park area.

“If you go through that area, there is actually years of different beaver chew through there,” he said. “There is old stuff that is grayed over.”

But since about January, the problem has worsened and created a safety hazard.

Ochoco creek is in the middle of the state and the fact that this problem existed for 5 months means the skate park isn’t really located anywhere important. In fact if you tried to evaluate which species most Americans hate more, beavers or skateboarders you’d have to really think about it, And use charts and nano-scales. It’s that close.

But city officials usually like the parents of skaters more than beavers. So they are unlikely to let trees fall on their head.

Something had to be done, Young decided, so he did some research and learned about a Bend-based organization called Beaver Works Oregon, which provides mitigation services for people dealing with beaver problems.

But before contacting the organization, Young decided to reach out to local stakeholders like Ochoco Irrigation District, City of Prineville Public Works and Crook County Parks and Recreation District to find out how they would like to handle the situation. They all encouraged him to contact Beaver Works.

Young connected with Program Director Reese Mercer.

“We did a walk of the path and I showed her the areas that were of concern,” he said. “I ended up having a couple of conferences with them. Then COVID-19 hit and that pushed things back.”

He has continued to communicate with the organization by phone and the group is not putting together a proposal with different options, which could include anything from tree protection or fencing to beaver relocation.

Wha-a-a-a-?

A beaver group I do not know about? Do such things exist in the world? Have I lost my cutting edge?

Yes, I have. And that’s a good thing. It’s like having too many chickens to know each ones name. That’s a good place to be. We are HAPPY when we learn of new beaver efforts in the world. Not far away. We celebrate the good news even i we weren’t including on the mailing list.

Beaver Works Oregon is the growing vision of dedicated volunteers working to build this effort and activities as a program under Think Wild (Wildlife Hospital and Conservation Center), in Bend.

Here is their website: Beaverworks.org

There’s lots to explore on the website AND they’re doing a showing of the beaver believers on May 28 that you can sign UP for! Something tells me we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other soon. Click on the image if you’d like to register.

BOBCATS AND BEAVERS

heidi08 Beavers and Bobcats May 17, 2020

Time for another episode of that loved Sunday morning show “Beavers and any other species. Ever” This morning we’re featuring the bobcat, which enjoys visiting beaver ponds to hunt. Of course there’s lots to eat around a beaver pond – or in it. Enos Mills wrote about a fight between a bobcat and a beaver where the beaver actually WON. So its good not to set your sights too high.

The beaver is peaceful. Although the males occasionally fight among themselves, the beaver avoids fighting, and plans his life so as to escape without it. Now and then in the water one closes with an otter in a desperate struggle, and when cornered on land one will sometimes turn upon a preying foe with such ferocity and skill that his assailant is glad to retreat. On two occasions I have known a beaver to kill a bobcat.

Well Bobcats may need beavers, but the feeling isn’t mutual. Here’s a nice look at how beavers matter to their short tailed neighbors from camera trap expert and FB friend Janet Pesaturo.

Bobcats and Beaver Ponds

The bobcat (Lynx rufus) is the most successful of North America’s wild felines, and one reason for its success is its diet. Like its cousin the Canada lynx, the bobcat relishes a meal of rabbit or hare, but takes a wide variety of prey and can even thrive where rabbits and hares are scarce. In New England, bobcats seem especially common at beaver ponds.

That’s no surprise, given that beaver wetlands are hot spots for a wide variety of animals, including ducks, geese, frogs, snakes, fish, muskrats, voles, raccoons, mink, otter, deer, moose, and bears. Bobcats hunt the adults, young, and/or eggs of many of these species, and the vegetation around beaver ponds facilitates the feline hunting style. When beavers cut trees around the pond, more sunlight reaches the forest floor. This stimulates growth of stump sprouts, saplings and shrubs, which create the low cover that bobcats need for stalk and ambush hunting.

Color me not at all surprised! The beaver pond is the grocery story where other animals go to shop. Or be shopped. And you don’t need to wear a mask either. (Although the raccoon does).

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Bobcats may hunt anywhere around the pond, so there’s a good chance of getting one with a trail camera facing down the pond edge. However, to significantly increase the likelihood, target the beaver dam, for bobcats (like many other animals) regularly use them as bridges to cross the water. To further increase the odds, find a beaver dam near the type of cover bobcats prefer for resting and denning. Dense thickets or cliff refugia fit the bill.

One of the many benefits to the landscape of having beavers. Truly beavers are the job creators of the animal kingdom. Watching a beaver pond means never knowing what you’ll see next. Bobcats are wild neighbors, even in Martinez. Keeping an eye out for them is well worth your time. Although it’s not every day you’ll see something like his:

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