Michelle Fullner is the “Golden State Naturalist” who decided to zero in her podcast on Beavers today. Enjoy this interview with Emily Fairfax and the atascadero dam.
Oh and beavers ROCK by the way, here’s what the little grayson creek dam looked like yesterday. Beavers teach us that just about every problem is just a solution waiting to happen.
Not much happened yesterday. Just THIS: Thank you so much sound wizard John Koss and all the children at the beaver festival. That whirring sound you here right after the recording is my brain thinking of all the things I want to do with this audio.
Remind me to care about something easier next time. Like Koala bears. Or pandas. Something really cute but very endangered and hard to see with no chance of bothering anybody. Yesterday we got word that the beaver dam had been cut. Kind of a specific cut. Like a clean chunk taken out that let lots of water get away.
Water they won’t get back for months.
So of course we checked it out and asked around. They are in the process of ‘goating-grazing’ the area to get rid of the grass. Once again I am left with a mountain of questions and a nagging worry, Like some giant beaver Clue game that is no fun to play and I’m condemned to repeat over and over. Was it Sr flood control with the shovel in the creek? Or was it the Capt goat herder with his staff in the water? Or maybe even Mr, Target employee with his pitchfork in the parking lot?
Of course it matters because of how likely it is to be repeated if the beavers repair things. At the moment there is no way to know. Who ever it is it’s is rotten that this happened now. No one has seen the beavers in 5 days and who knows if they’ll stick around to fix the damage. They might just decide the hell with pleasant hill and find a better place to hang. But I’m guessing they stay. Experience has taught us that urban beavers tend to be so happy not to be killed that they stick around a while.
Gosh it was a beautiful dam. One that I think was the work of more than one beaver. And a beaver with some notches in his belt. Look at that curve.
Years ago getting an email from Jennifer the senior ecologist of Kings County praising Martinez work with beavers seemed like the gold star stuck to my homework saying we’d arrived. I’m still watching her with fascination. You might be too.
Will some one please tell Kansas?
CHESHIRE MP Mike Amesbury would support more research into whether bringing back beavers could be part of the solution to preventing flooding in places like Northwich. The Labour MP for Weaver Vale was given ‘food for thought’ after Cheshire Wildlife Trust invited him to see how a pair of beavers are transforming the landscape alongside Hatchmere Lake at Norley, near Frodsham.
He wonders if beavers could have a role to play as part of a multipronged approach to mitigating the risk of serious floods like those experienced in Northwich in 2019 and 2021. Mr Amesbury said: “We’ve lost 90 per cent of wetland habitats across the country.
“But at Hatchmere just two beavers have increased the amount of wetland after building an impressive 50 metres-wide dam, with predicted improvements for bio-diversity and improved water quality.” He added: “What’s given me food for thought is the dam slows water flow.
The death count in Kansas is up to 28, and many more are missing and unaccounted for. The hope is that folks will get somewhere safe before it gets any hotter. Temperatures are expected to climb. No power of course. No beaver dams. Just lots and lots of water.
“If released at strategic locations upstream, might beaver activity help keep river levels around Northwich low enough during heavy rainfall that surface water can escape, reducing the risk of flooding in the town centre and beyond?
“More research is needed because beavers are wild animals that are not controllable.
“What we don’t want are unforeseen effects that could cause other problems. But it’s something I would like to explore further with Cheshire West and Chester Council as the Lead Local Flood Authority.”
“They gave an example of a village in Germany where flood defences costing £1m were being considered until a beaver moved in upstream and solved the problem free-of-charge,” said the MP.
“Closer to home, in Devon, I read that beavers have constructed six dams upstream of the flood-prone village of East Budleigh.
“The dams have slowed the flow of floodwater through the village, reducing peak flows during flood events.”
Martin Varley, director of nature recovery at the trust, added: “Beavers offer many benefits to us; water quality, flood resilience and biodiversity, while rebuilding our wetlands that have been sadly lost over time.
“It was great to show Mike around and let him see what they can do.”
Just to be clear. Beavers don’t always choose to stay where you release them, But sure, you can count on their dams helping to slow that water. The illustration was done by Elizabeth Saunderson for Cows and Fish years ago. She did a fantastic job telling the beaver story.
Maybe it really is time to let the rodent do the work.
