Author: Rusty Cohn

Due to disastrous floods in Napa there has been a lot of flood control work done in the last few years. One of the problem areas is where Napa Creek flows through downtown Napa. Napa Flood Control has done bank restoration in the area after extensive flood control work.  Some existing larger trees have been protected with wire mesh, and some trees have been planted that are left unprotected for Beavers to eat. (note; Napa Flood has been using a heavy duty fine wire mesh with good results although the standard protection is larger 2″ x 4″ mesh)Below is a Beaver dam that appeared in Downtown Napa across the street from Kohl’s Department store about two years ago.

A Beaver is using one of the Napa Flood Control placed logs that is bolted down to reach a favorite treat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year Mink were seen for the first time, along with turtles. So far no Muskrats.

In 2014 we saw our first kit on May 20th and didn’t even realize it was a baby until Heidi
saw the photo and told us. This year we were better prepared and around mid May began
watching for kits. On April 29th while watching a Beaver groom we were able to identify the mother Beaver by it’s teats. This is the only time when it is possible to identify female vs male Beavers visually.

We had previously seen one of the Beavers eating Fennel on April 30th which helps with lactating.We noticed a little more food being taken back to the lodge, as well as grass for bedding

On May 26th we saw our first kit of the year.

The pond went wildMay 29th River Otter on log. We have seen the Otter within 20 feet of the kits but no issues so far.

May 30th first time observed kit and parent together

June 2nd Beaver pulling branch to lodge to take inside

June 3rd first time saw two kits at once (up to then were only sure was one kit)

June 5th two adults at the top of the pond. We have been surprised how little supervision the kits get from the adults so far.

Beaver lodge with people lodge in the background

June 6th two kits next to lodge. So far the kits stick within aprox 30 feet of the lodge

Kit eating creeping water primrose (Ludwigiapeploides peploides)

June 10th, notice how the kit is very bouyant aprox a third of it’s body is above water

June 11th two kits eating together

 

 

The end

Happy Mother’s Day

 

May 8th marked a full year of watching the Napa Beaver pond. During this time there have been two kits born and probably another set that haven’t left the lodge yet. Three Beavers have died from unknown causes.

May 18th 2014 Napa Valley Register runs story about the Beavers.

http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/beavers-build-a-foothold-in-napa-waters/article_1999d544-45f4-5d41-97d7-8e375fd614ec.html

May 20th 2014 saw first of two kits

Kit again May 22nd. Notice how buoyant it is.

May 23rd. First and only time saw a Beaver working on top of the lodge.

Locals come out May 26th to see the Beavers

June 14 Black Crested Night Heron eating

 

June 15th very cute kit eating

 

 

July 1st 2014 spotted first Mink

July 2nd spotted first Great Blue Heron

July 12th new visitors to pond

 

July 17th Napa Flood Control clearing out dead trees under watchful eye of several concerned locals

August 12th 2014 Juvenile Herons spotted

 

August 25th 2014 day after earthquake

September 2nd Beaver Dam and lodge survived earthquake with no damage, and creek that feeds Beaver pond which had been

dry starts to flow

December 2nd Dam breached by first storm of season

December 11th dam underwater during 2nd big storm of season

December 15 River Otter visits pond

December 18th main dam gone

December 19th Cormorant visits pond

December 23rd first visit by Hooded Merganser

December 26th Main Dam under repair

January 1st Main Dam repaired

January 4th Beaver Lodge next to People lodge (Hawthorne Suites Napa)

January 28th 2015 female Bufflehead

February 10th 2015 Main dam breached by storm

April 20th 2015 Red Wing Blackbird chasing Egret

April 27th Muskrat

 

May 4th Beaver chewing through branch

 

After a vary slow few months at the pond activity has been slowly picking up in Napa. The Beavers are coming out aprox 45 minutes before sunset on a regular basis. The Beavers seem hungry and eager to find food. The dams were washed away and rebuilt during a storm, and the lodge made it through the Winter with no damage. (see part two below)

Saturday while walking to the Earth Day event in downtown Napa I stopped by the Beaver Pond to see if anything was happening. An occasional Mink, Muskrat and various birds stop by during mid-day if you are lucky. I walked upstream past the dam and lodge and just Western Pond turtles so far

and turned around to continue my walk when I saw what looked like a Beaver swimming, but during mid-day it’s usually a Muskrat. I was 100 yards away or so but realized it was indeed a Beaver and started filming it but quickly noticed something was wrong. It was having trouble swimming and appeared to be drowning. It struggled a couple of minutes at most and then sank. Not a good start to the day. After contacting Heidi and Cheryl there was some discussion about what could have caused this and if the body could be located and taken to Davis for necropsy. Since it sank in fairly deep water with low visibility and in the middle of the pond it didn’t seem like it would happen. Cheryl decided to come to Napa that evening to observe and see if she had any thoughts about what is going on. Robin another  Beaver advocate met us around 6 pm and we all just waited to see if any Beavers would show up that night. We had been seeing two Beavers on a regular basis for the last two weeks and just the day before we thought we might have seen three out at the same time, but because of the distance and lack of light it could have been a Muskrat fooling us. Around 7 pm we saw the first Beaver, and shortly thereafter a second. What really surprised us is when a third beaver came out clearly in view of the other two. This is the first time since the kits were born last year when we saw three very active Beavers clearly at the same time, and one had died the same day. This brings up questions about who died? How many Beavers are at the pond. Was the Beaver sick or an intruder who was attacked by the resident Beavers. Anyway the evening got better. A parade of ducklings brought our spirits up.

The Beavers were active and hungry so they kept an eye on us but let us get close enough for photos too.

A Green Heron joined in.

A Muskrat taking food or nesting material back to the Beaver lodge

 

 

Part two.

During a couple of storms the Beaver dams were almost washed away. Main dam Oct 4th before storms and before cattail clearing by Napa Flood Control.

 

Main dam Oct 13th, 2014 after Napa Flood Control cleared some of the cattails below the main dam, being careful not to damage the dam, but leaving a path for possible flood water flow.

Main dam Dec 2nd 2014 large breach from storm, water level has dropped aprox 6 inches

Main dam Dec 5th

Main dam Dec 11th during storm totally under water

Main dam Dec 18th after water flow receded could see dam was washed away

Main dam Dec 24th repairs started

Main dam Dec 25th repairs continue

Main Dam Dec 26th

Main dam Dec 27th only small breach on left side remains

 

Main dam Jan 1st 2015

Main dam Jan 24th

Main dam Feb 10th after a smaller storm

Lower dam Jan 4th 2015 after storm

Lower dam Jan 8th repairs in progress

Lower Dam Jan 22nd

 

Being new to watching Beavers Robin, Hank and I had no clue that we were being treated to special viewing opportunities during daylight hours, and to top it off two kits were born.

 

Beavers diets vary as the seasons change but cattail roots seem to be popular

 

Beaver eating Duck Weed which is high in protein. More than soybeans.

Parent and kit eating branches

Beaver eating branch a little too casually.

The main dam Feb 10th after the 2nd big storm

The main dam Feb 17th (with Reed’s Help?)