TWO UNSHOCKING UNDISCOVERIES ABOUT BEAVERS

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers November 21, 2021

Honestly, sometimes you wake up and read the beaver headlines and it’s tough to decide which one is the worst, Is it better to be ignorant and misinformed or just WRONG. I think misinformed is better. Because we can hope someday things will get better. I doubt very much there’s any hope at all for the Grey Lady when it comes to beavers. Ian Austen’s article is no exception.

Beaver Dams Mean No Love Lost for Canada’s Emblematic Animal

ALGONQUIN PROVINCIAL PARK, Ontario — The beaver may be one of Canada’s official national symbols, as iconic as the maple leaf, but Canadians have a love-hate relationship with the creature, with the emphasis for many more on the second emotion. (more…)

BEAVERS TAKE TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK

Yesterday was a helluvaday for beavers, with a high velocity shot across the bow for our California historic population paper. We are still formulating our response but just in case you wondered, we noticed. I usually post links to articles I talk about but I’ll just post Emily’s tweet in response because they don’t deserve one so you can google it if you’re interested,

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IT’S INFRASTRUCTURE WEEK FOR BEAVERS!

heidi08 Beavers and Roadways November 19, 2021

Beaver author Ben Goldfarb has an important article about wildlife infrastructure in Vox today. Apparently there are very very few places that he cannot get published. And all the animals are lucky.

Animals need infrastructure, too

Earlier this month, the House passed the INVEST in America Act, a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden is expected to soon sign into law. The bipartisan package earmarks billions of dollars in funding for highway maintenance, broadband internet, and airport upgrades — as well as $350 million for animal-friendly infrastructure like bridges, underpasses, and roadside fences. Although that provision is a tiny slice of the bill, it’s easily the largest investment in wildlife crossing. (more…)

FIRST, DO NO HARM

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact, Beavers and weather November 18, 2021

If I were queen of the beaver world, (and don’t tell me it can’t happen), I would make dam sure that any article that was supposed to be teaching about how important they are for water storage and biodiversity wouldn’t have stay mistakes or non-facts. Like saying that they eat fish

Or that they live in the dam.

Beavers use their dams as their homes. However, the dam also creates deeper water, making it easier for them to use their strength as swimmers to evade predators.

AS THEIR HOMES is the problem, Cole Hersey. If he had only said “For” their homes I would have even given him a pass. No, Cole they don’t use them AS their homes. They use them to raise the water so they can make build their homes in a completely different structure. Of course if you and I were trying to build a beaver dam in the middle of the creek we would find out pretty darn quickly that it doesn’t work really well if it’s hollow with a center space to live in. But you knew that, right? (more…)

DON’T TREAD ON BEAVERS

heidi08 Beavers and Nitrogen removal November 17, 2021

I think it’s time for some lone star state beavers, don’t you? Let’s listen in as Texas describes what they think is a unique subspecies of beaver that was not trapped for fur and is smaller and lighter colored.

NATURE NOTES:The Rio Grande Beaver: A Water-Lover at Home in West Texas

There is nothing more life-giving than flowing water in a land of little rain. And the rivers of desert West Texas are a lifeline not only for humankind, but for diverse wildlife. The Rio Grande and its tributaries sustain creatures found nowhere else on Earth – from endangered mussels to dozens of native fish species.

And beaver. The Rio Grande beaver is uniquely adapted to its this region. Several years ago, scientists surveyed beaver in Big Bend. They found that these water-loving mammals are holding their own. (more…)