So Taylor Creek in Tahoe is celebrating its non-native kokanee salmon festival this weekend by ripping out some beaver dams to “PROTECT THE SALMON”. Apparently they ripped out one that the beavers rebuilt overnight. (You see its getting cold in the sierras and that pond is their very important food pantry so mom and dad and the whole family worked all night to fix it so that they wouldn’t starve in the frozen winter.) Never mind. Our stalwart forest stewards ripped it out AGAIN after the photographer left.
Look at the unscalable heights of that dam! Those wheel-chair bound Kokanees surely couldn’t contend with that mammoth structure! They aren’t rabbits for Chrissake! it’s not like the two species co-evolved and thrive together naturally. It’s not like salmon pass dams typically in high flows anyway when the dam is already flooded. And it’s’ not like there’s a peer-reviewed scientific paper in this issue of fish and game proving once and for all that beaver are NATIVE to the sierras! Well- okay maybe there is.
But they made a sign! And took the time to draw a mouse with a hotpad and everything! Ahh, that’s adorable! Every expense must have been spared to pull together that breath taking artistic rendition to explain your strivings. Obviously their resources are stretched to the bone, what with ripping out dams, lying to the press and drawing on cocktail napkins. All these beavers won’t kill themselves! I thought I’d help them out. How’s this?
Speaking of beavers and making sense, our local family has shifted again back to the bank lodge near the footbridge. last night we saw Dad first, coming out from the bank before 6:30. Mom followed before 7:00 and took some willow back into the lodge. It had been more than a week since I was at the dam, and I was a little worried about Jr who usually always came out first. Why was mom bringing food in the lodge? Was he sick? Unable to feed himself?
At 7:15 junior swam proudly out to get some branches. Dad followed him down stream and stayed by his side until he was back in the lodge. Not sure why they suddenly decided he needs a chaperone but maybe he got into some mischief during the week that we don’t know about. He was obviously alive and well now, and very supervised, so we were relieved and headed home. Here’s a shot of Dad, who no longer seems as massive but easy to spot by his unique hair do:
Oh and according to our stats, 347 of you read this website yesterday, and only 51 of you watched this video, which I think is a very small percentage considering junior had such a hard week. Let’s try that again and see if we can get him the recognition he clearly deserves.
