Author: Rusty Cohn

After the Napa Valley Register story the Beaver pond began to have more visitors. From a county supervisor to grandparents bringing their grand kids to see the dam, lodge, and hopefully the beavers.

Speaking of grand kids I took this photo May 20th of a beaver but had no idea that it was something special.

The first couple of months after finding the Beaver pond were a very special time. The weather was good, the Beavers were very active, I met new Beaver friends Robin and Hank. Robin was responsible for getting the information on Beaver depredation permits in California and helping to sort out the data so it could be analyzed and Hank is a local Wildlife photographer. For some reason the usually nocturnal Beavers came out an hour or so before sunset during that time and made viewing quite easy.

A typical trip to the pond would have the three of us waiting near the lodge to wait for the Beavers to swim upstream. While waiting for the evenings Beaver action we began to notice some of the other wildlife.

Native Western Pond Turtle

Black Crowned Night Heron

Green Heron                            

Great Heron                             

                                                    

Mink                                          

 

 

 

 

After discovering the Beaver  dam, lodge and their pond and then the excitement of seeing a beaver for the first time I began to worry about the future of this Beaver oasis. While I was exploring the Beaver pond along it’s approximately 1/2 mile length along Tulocay creek I noticed dump trucks dropping off dirt at the vacant lot next to the Beaver pond. Checking around I found there is a 4 story 90 unit hotel being developed on the vacant lot, and became concerned that it would harm them.

After making contact with Worth a Dam Heidi suggested publicity is one of the keys to protecting beavers. I contacted the local papers in mid May 2014 and quickly a reporter decided to do a story about the Napa Beaver Dam one mile from downtown. Me with my vast less than 7 days of experience (I saw my first Beaver on May 11th) was to meet the reporter at the Beaver Dam. Somewhat in a panic  I called a few local County Employees on very short notice and was lucky enough to have Shaune Horn who is a Watershed and Flood Control Resource Specialist with the Napa County Flood Control & Water Conservation District agree to meet Howard Yune from The Napa Valley Register and me  on less than a day’s notice on May 15th. Heidi also agreed to talk to Howard about Beavers via phone, and fortunately Shaune had some experience with Napa County Beavers over the past few years and is concerned about Beaver welfare along with wildlife in general.

Howard on left and Shaune with cap on right

On May 18th the story was published in the local paper The Napa Valley Register and made the front page.

Hello. My name is Rusty Cohn and my first introduction to Beavers was May 9th 2014. I was out on my daily walk in Napa, Ca crossing a bridge when I saw fallen trees that had been chewed on.

I had never seen a Beaver but knew enough to know this must be the work of one. The spot is on a very busy 4 lane road one mile from downtown Napa and the traffic was busy that day so I didn’t try to investigate on the other side of the road.  I walk by this site almost daily, but the traffic is typically heavy so it took me a few days to cross over the highway and investigate on the upstream side of the bridge.

 

 

I was excited to discover a beautiful Beaver dam. It is located between the parking lot of a major hotel and a vacant lot being prepared for another hotel of all places.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking upstream I discovered the Beavers had built their own hotel (lodge).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On May 11th I saw my first Beaver and became fascinated. I wanted to learn more about Beavers so I searched the internet for information and hit the gold mine. No points for guessing who it was.

 

 

 

 

 

For a couple of months the Beavers seemed to come out well before night fall and I didn’t realize at the time how lucky this was for viewing. To be continued.