JEN VANDERHOOF: UNCOMMON SENSE ABOUT BEAVERS

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact, Educational February 28, 2022

The only beaver news today is that the stupid article from HCN ran on Wired and Verve so that everyone can have the chance to blame beavers for climate change. Nice. People often feel so helpless to stop it but just about anyone can kill a beaver, so that must offer hope to the situation.

Grr.

All is not lost though, because this excellent talk by Jen Vanderhoof, senior ecologist of Kings County and president of Beavers Northwest just appeared on and it’s a wondeful walk through beaver wonders with a true expert. If you have an extra ten minutes I would stay to hear the questions from the audience. It’s Washington and they are already SO SMART and ecologically savvy. I know you will enjoy this. She also says she is working on a beaver handbook which will come out this summer. Stay tuned!

[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/UwLa4H2G6vQ” lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]

BEAVER AS SYNCHRONIZE SWIMMERS

heidi08 Beaver Art February 27, 2022

This was an amusing surprise in my inbox. A short film of beaver-synchronized swimmers from Chris Windram, a fan of Ben’s book who wrote;

Thought you might enjoy a short film that was produced by a local filmmaker (Sanjiban Sellew) here in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts some years ago. Sanjiban passed away a few years back, but I had the chance to meet him and spend a little time with him when I was younger. Anyway, I think he’d be tickled to think about me passing on his short film to you.

[wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://vimeo.com/29560297″ lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]

“HORRIBLE, NASTY CREATURES THAT WREAK HAVOC AND DESTRUCTION”

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers February 27, 2022

It seems like just days ago that Ben Goldfarb was privately admonishing me for berating the fact that the New York Times has never managed to print even a positive paragraph about beavers. I believe his exact words were “Never say never”. Well yesterday they reminded me how greatly they dislike the rodent. Even finding time in an article about yuppies escaping to the country to mention how horrible they were.

They Fled for Greener Pastures, and There Were Weeds

City dwellers, who retreated to rural areas in the pandemic, now see drawbacks, from pests and social isolation to the difficulty of finding day care and health care

For Andrew Joseph, the unexpected challenge of rural living was summed up in a single word: beavers. Mr. Joseph was enchanted by baby beavers swimming in the brook on his four-acre property in the town of Saugerties, N.Y., where he and his partner, Paul Pearson, have been sheltering since March 2020.

“I quickly learned that they’re horrible, nasty creatures that wreak havoc and destruction,” said Mr. Joseph, the head of a Manhattan public relations firm who still maintains a home in Harlem. The beavers dammed the brook in three places, creating a swamp behind the house, and built a den that is “the size of a small van.” (more…)

EAGER BEAVERS IN JAPAN?

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver Art, Beaver Book February 25, 2022

Guess what was just printed for release in Japan?

Ben shared this the other day. How frickin’ cool is that? Japan doesn’t even HAVE beavers! I’m so glad Ben Goldfarb get spread the beaver good news to the four corners of the earth. The beaver “hat” image is hilarious! And that text is so beautiful I could frame every page. But certainly the ones about Martinez.

Wow I’m in a book in Japan. Weird.

BEAVER BENEFITS IN TEXAS?

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver ecological impact February 24, 2022

A while back I got an email regarding a beaver dam in Texas from someone at the Rio Brazos audubon society. Of course I was excited because Texas is a hard place to be a beaver, but thinking about the value of beaver ponds to birds I figured it was as good a place as any to make friends.

Well I talked my new friends into inviting me to present.