Beavers are busy preparing for winter

With the arrival of killing frosts, animals have gone into high gear preparing for the tough conditions soon to follow.

 Those who are feeding birds have observed their sunflower seed supply rapidly dwindle as Blue Jays repeatedly fill their crops only to fly off and cache their loads. Gray Squirrels are also busy, frantically seeking the last of the acorns to stash in the ground.

 And Beavers are busily harvesting trees as they build their winter stores.

The author of this article, Michael Runtz, is a friend to wildlife and to beavers in particular. We’ve connected in the past and corresponded about his work. He’s been photographing and watching beavers for 20 years, and his lovely photos were featured in the recent beaver documentary on PBS. The last I heard from him his book on beavers was due out any minute. But I guess while we wait for that we should savor this interesting fact.

Surely the presence of alders in food piles is sufficient evidence that Beaver’s prefer them in their diet?

 Actually, it is not. When food piles are examined, the surface portion often contains inedible items such as cedar and fir branches. And previously enjoyed (barkless) branches also adorn them.

 The most edible items are actually hidden deeper under the surface of the pile where they will not become locked in ice. That is where poplar and willow branches reside; these will be extracted from the pile all through the winter.

This is worth remembering. The good beer is always hidden in the back of the refrigerator.

This is the Elihu Harris building in downtown Oakland. It houses some of the most essential state government offices, like the Equalization board, the Alcohol and Tobacco board, The Unemployment board, and the Water Quality control board. That’s where Ann Riley works as a Watershed Stream Protection Advisor.

One portion of the Water Quality board is dedicated to what’s called the “Beneficial Use of the state’s waters”. Which covers areas like fish and water-dependent wildlife. Riley is a huge beaver supporter and invited me to be part of her panel at the Salmonid Federation last March. Now come December guess who just got invited to talk to them about a new potential partnership with beavers?

I can’t tell you what a big deal this sounds like in my head. I immediately thought of all the things that could go wrong: I could mess up, lose my voice, my computer could break, it could be cancelled, there will be no one there because it’s the holidays, I got invited because something bad is going to happen, etc. But it doesn’t matter. Beavers are coming to the water boards.

And it’s a big deal.