JUST BE THANKFUL IT WASN’T A BEAVER

heidi08 Beavers November 5, 2024

The election that we thought would never get here happens today and every single person I know is exhausted by it. I suppose we should not be surprised that it has shaken weird stories out of the woodwork, but honestly when I saw this I was just glad it wasn’t a beaver.

Here’s Why Trump’s Campaign Is Posting About a Dead Squirrel

Peanut the Squirrel was a mainstay on social media — and his euthanization sparked a backlash

It’s tough to think that a squirrel might tilt the presidential election, but it’s 2024, so here we are.

It all started last week, when an Instagram-famous rodent named Peanut was taken from a house near Elmira, New York, along with a raccoon named Fred. Peanut had lived with Mark Longo and his wife, Daniela, for the past seven years; Fred had lived there for about five months. Rescuing Peanut from near-death and bonding with him had inspired the couple to start a nonprofit animal sanctuary — P’Nut Freedom Farm — and Fred had been left at their doorstep.

I’m sure you can see where this is going. P’nut freedom farm seems kind of like the thing you see. I guess keeping the animals in your house after you rehabbed them might be a problem in some circles.

But then, on Oct. 30, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) raided their home, and after a five-hour search, the two animals were confiscated. According to a statement given to WENY, a local TV station, by the DEC and the county health department, Peanut had bitten one of the investigators, and both animals had to be euthanized in order to test for rabies.

In a more reasonable timeline, the animals’ caretakers and fans would mourn them, and perhaps it would spark internet discourse on the ethics of keeping wild animals indoors, effectively as pets. (All the other animals in their care live outside.) But like a 2024 Murphy’s law, if something ends up trending, it must become political.

Ouch, Of course the only way you can test a creature for rabies is to take slices of its brain and no animal seems to live through that. It is true that sometimes when someone is bitten they just treat the human in case, but that’s when the animal gets away. And P’nut clearly did not.

So dead squirrel.

Do you think DEC might have been a little heavy handed here? Do you think they saw the videos on you tube and thought I just have to free that squirrel! Do you think they might have called first and said “you have to keep that squirrel outside or we’re coming to take him”? Well maybe they did the story doesn’t say.

But do you think they at least could have looked at the calendar and thought, hmm…maybe not a week before the election. Let’s just wait a bit on that.

I”m sure the thought is that outrage over p’nut could kind of have the similar effect of the Kristi Noem gravel pit story with her puppy. I’ll let you know how that works out for them.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

There’s an article this morning from Winnipeg about those darn pesky beavers chewing up all the city parks. You and I both know the solution, and I wrote this morning to tell them about the knew tree manual from Project Beaver.

Problem beavers ‘mowing down’ trees in Winnipeg parks

A Winnipeg city councillor says a number of local parks are being beset by buck-toothed rodents, and a solution needs to be found.

Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West) said she’s seen destruction caused by beavers first-hand, and that the city’s naturalist services branch is working on solutions to humanely dissuade the tree-chomping animals from causing problems near local rivers.

“I understand that their teeth keep growing unless they chew. They have to keep chewing,” Lukes said.

“So they’re continually mowing down these trees. Spring, summer, winter, fall. And it’s disheartening…. It’s kind of it’s a battle.”

Mowing down? Constant? You mean more often than you wish? Think about it from a beavers point of view. That’s their food, their work supplies and their shelter. How often do you require those items? Constantly?

So far, Lukes said she’s seen damage along the riverbank at Maple Grove Park and has heard additional reports from park areas all over the city — along the Seine, La Salle, Assiniboine and Red Rivers.

Trapping and relocating the beavers isn’t an option, as it can endanger them, she said, so the next best solution is to protect the trees by wrapping them in what she describes as a “mesh type of” stucco wire.

That sounded promising. So I sent off the new resource right away. I’ll let you know if anything happens.

IN LOVING BEAVER MEMORY

heidi08 Beavers November 3, 2024

Last Sunday Cheryl’s mom and our long time beaver supporter Jeanette Reynolds passed away at the fine age of 92. She kindly asked that donations to Worth A Dam be made in her name and c0ntributions have been fluttering in ever since.

Jeanette was a cheerful, unflappable woman who had raised a daughter who kept a tarantula as a pet and a son who ended up photographing elephants so I doubt that she was surprised when the subject of the day became beavers. In her kindly, practical she helped cut out tails and ears for art projects, or worked the silent auction and always made herself at home.

Our hearts go out to Cheryl and her family and we wish Jeanette a hearty thank you for the many lives, both human and not-so-human, she touched in her 92 years.

Here she is helping out at the beaver festival in 20011.

BEAVERS HAVE LONG MEMORIES

heidi08 Beavers November 2, 2024

I’m excited to share this video of the performance at OAEC of Robin Eschner’s song “Memory of Water”. This was performed last month to a very appreciative beaver believing crowd. Enjoy.

Memory of Water by Robin Eschner

Sung by The Acorn MusEcology Project, as one of 12 songs in the BEAVERS Program, directed by Sarah Dupre.
Occidental Center for the Arts, Occidental, CA.
October 6, 2024 ~ Yolande Adams on piano

BEAVERS AND SMALL CIVIC ACTS

heidi08 Beavers November 1, 2024

Maybe you, like me, have been swamped with electoral mood swings as we await the future with baited breath. I was actually happy to see this headline from the Harvard newspaper. Our small civic acts [and beavers] can reshape the world. Makes sense to me.

Bribes, Beavers, and Ballots: The Unseen Forces of Democracy

Driven by the allure of their “manifest destiny,” 19th-century settlers brought livestock – and an inadvertent ecosystemic upheaval – to what we now know as Yellowstone National Park. Encountering native predators, they sparked a clash between agricultural ambition and the region’s delicate ecosystem. As farms expanded, wolves, deprived of natural prey, turned to domestic animals. In response, humans embarked on a systematic campaign of predator control, employing a lethal combination of poisoning and hunting. Bears, cougars, and coyotes were also targeted in the effort to protect livestock and promote “more desirable” wildlife, such as deer and elk. By 1926, the wolves had been entirely eradicated from Yellowstone.

Problem solved, right? Wrong.

Without wolves to keep them in check, the elk population surged, setting off a cascade of unintended consequences. The burgeoning elk herds overgrazed young trees along riverbanks, leading to erosion. As the trees disappeared, so too did nesting sites for birds. The loss of trees also decimated the beaver population, which in turn meant no dams to regulate stream flow. The exposed waters grew warmer, leading to a decline in fish populations. In short, the entire river ecosystem suffered, transforming in ways few could have predicted.

For decades, the ecosystem continued to deteriorate. It wasn’t until 1995 – in the face of significant skepticism – that biologists began considering the idea of reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone. Transported in what could only be described as the ecological equivalent of “the Beast,” eight gray wolves from Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, made a celebrated return. Now, three decades later, the still-unfolding cascade of knock-on effects is nothing short of remarkable. Willow stands along streams, once in dire straits, are now thriving, even with elk populations at three times their 1968 numbers. Why? The wolves’ predatory pressure keeps elk on the move, preventing them from lingering long enough to devastate tree populations. Where there was just a single beaver colony in 1995, there are now more than nine, with even more expected to emerge.

Well now, we all know that wolves are the handmaidens of beavers in this story, allowing them to make the real differences we know they can. Still the point of complicated ecosystems relying on each other hits home. I liked how the author drew the line forward.

While individual votes are singular actions with wide-ranging effects, to reduce societal outcomes to the actions of elected officials alone is to absolve ourselves of our shared responsibility. Casting a ballot, while crucial, is table stakes – it is what we do between elections that shapes our future. At their best, nations function as unifying systems that bring people together under shared values, culture, and institutions. Nations are fragile constructs that are powerless without their citizens – that’s what gives us true agency.he seemingly mundane acts that sustain our communities – raising families, supporting local businesses, building trust – are what ultimately determine a nation’s prospects. In this sense, a nation is the sum of its parts. The true work – the day-to-day labor that keeps a nation whole – happens not in brutalist buildings or capitals, but in our local communities. Nations are built bottom up, not top down.

I like that. It’s the small connections that lead to the big changes. Beavers could have told you so.

As Americans head to the polls next Tuesday, they should understand that their role within this vast system is more consequential than it may seem. Real change is not sparked by dramatic, headline-grabbing events, but through the steady accumulation of small, deliberate actions by those who recognize that their choices, however minor, ripple outward. This election may be critical, but it leads to a larger question: what comes next? The decisions we make – to vote, to speak up, to resist complacency – compound over time. Even the most damaged ecosystems can regenerate when each part acts with purpose. And so it is with societies: we are the system, and our choices are the foundations of the future we aspire to build.

Beavers will be better off if we move forward. Not Back. But you knew that.