DEUTSCHLAND BIBER

heidi08 Beaver Anatomy, Beaver Book July 10, 2021

During the pandemic I started playing around with using DuoLingo which is a free online program to learn languages. I of course went straight for the Latin, which was a disappointingly short course. But have sense transitioned into German just because it makes me remember the distant summer I spent there before my senior year which is auspiciously where I met Jon. Clearly that’s another story for some late night fireside chat with some kind of alcohol involved, but what matters now is that I am surprised constantly how much German ‘stayed’ with me after all this time.

Lucky for me I was JUST in time for this translation.

This made me especially happy because I had just learned the word “Brauchen” which means “We NEED” in german. So I could almost completely translate the last line even if I didn’t know it by heart already! “Why we need them!” The fleisigen Nagitiere is the hard working rodent, of course.

Congratulations Ben on all your hard work that went into crafting a story worth telling and repeating and translating into other languages AND to beaver buddy Gerhard Schwab who likely made the appetite in the country for this book.

Now I just want to flip through the pages and find out if Martinez is still in it and if I am in fact translated as “offen und temperamentvoll” ?

At least one of which, of course, I usually still am.

THE SOUND OF BEAVERS

heidi08 Beaver Anatomy, Beavers, kits July 1, 2021

This was a lovely find for the end of June. A sound that I have particularly missed hearing every summer for nearly 6 years. Recognize it?

Beaver Moanings

by Lang Elliott | Mar 23, 2016 | 48 comments

What kind of voice does the beaver have? Would you ever guess that the young (and maybe adults too?) make expressive moans from within the den, especially in the autumn of the year?

Aside from water trickling over the dam and occasional chewing sounds, things were surprisingly quiet until around 3am, at which time I was treated to quite a display of talkings. First I heard a beaver expel air (sounds like a growl), then some chewing, and then a delightful variety of animated moanings and mumblings … all coming from inside the den. I presume the moans are sounds of youngsters, voicing their contentment as they happily chew the bark off small limbs (it’s possible, though, that the low-pitched moans are from an adult … I’m just not sure).

What a great catch, and still my all-time favorite beaver recording! Listen with an open heart and you will fall totally in love with these little guys (as if you weren’t in love with them already).

Of course we in Martinez have seen the wonders unfold in person. And I wouldn’t call them moanings that sounds too grown up and depressing. That is definitely the sound of kits vocalizing. And they aren’t whining either.

Many a time I’ve seen a beaver chewing something lovely approached by his sibling and I EXPECTED to hear whining from the kit who wanted some. I never never did. It was always the kid who had the branch that made the sound.

I came to think it meant “this is delicious I wish I could eat it forever I hope you don’t want any” Then when his brother inevitably took some (no growling, no complaining) and started whining too just a happy chorus. “It sounds even BETTER now!”

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CASTOR CALIFORNIA CSI:

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver Anatomy June 22, 2021

Yesterday was full beaver CSI day. With multiple CDFW scientists weighing in on the beaver with a hole in her tail and whether or not it was a bullet wound. At one point there was even discussion of whether the ‘entry’ and ‘exit’ of the possible bullet made sense with the wound. In the end I was informed that it was mostly likely damage from a radio tag that had ripped out and that in fact these had been used in California at various times.

Okay’ brace yourself for this, but Radio tags are affixed to the beavers tail after a hole is first made with a punch OR a power drill and provides researchers information about dispersal and habits. They generally occur higher up on the tail so the antenna has room to hang down, which one science officer said might have been why this one ripped out. It was remarkable to hear the wildlife biologist from FRESNO CDFW say that this had been done in California, because I didn’t know anyone in California thought beavers were worth studying certainly not anyone in Fresno!. But no one could say yet if it was currently or if it was happening where it was happening. They are looking into it and will let me know, Which would be very interesting indeed.

Because odds our our mother beaver in was an escapee. The missing piece!

Beaver supporters like us were all mortified to think of beavers living with holes in their tails or being drilled or punched even under sedation. At one point I heatedly observed that if researchers really wanted to know about where beavers go and what they do they should frickin’ WATCH them every day like we did in Martinez for 1o years. We recognized mother beaver by her tail markings. And they could too.

Vanessa Petro (who was very helpful all day and part of the DNA work in Oregon.) Has tagged many beavers over the years and knows what works and what the options were thought our recognizing mom by her tail was funny because sometimes when the researchers would ‘lose’ a tag through misplacement or accident they would still identify the beaver by the mark in its tail.

Well, of course they did. I thought and sent her this. Note the tail.

WHAT TO WATCH AND WHAT TO BUY

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver Anatomy, castoroides May 25, 2021

Sometimes in order to get folks to really pay attention you have to talk like a scientist. Good thing for beavers Zane Eddy’s thesis defense is now available online to tell the story of the Martinez Beavers from an academic’s point of view. This is so well done with lots of explanation on the expanding nature of “Cultural Carrying Capacity” and even has video from the actual November 7th meeting I hope you’ll watch and share.

Thank you Zane for all your hard work and congratulations!

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Afterwards if you have change burning a hole in your pocket this morning I know just what you should spend it on, as a very rare castoroides skull is up for auction at Bonham’s today. Thanks Rickipedia for the tip. I can imagine him with something like this on his wall. How about you, are you tempted?

Giant Beaver Skull

US$ 25,000 – 30,000

£ 18,000 – 21,000Natural History

25 May 2021, 10:00 PDT

Los Angeles

Castoroides ohioensis
Pleistocene
Florida

One of the main anatomical differences between the Giant Beaver and modern beaver species, besides its massive size, is tooth structure. Modern beavers have chisel-like incisor teeth for gnawing on wood. The teeth of the Giant Beaver were bigger and broader, growing to about six 3 inches in length. Also, proportionate to its size, the tail of the Giant Beaver was longer and narrower, and its hind legs shorter. The first Giant Beaver fossils were discovered in 1837 in a peat bog in Ohio, hence the species name ohioensis. The present specimen displays excellent preservation and expert preparation. The upper incisors are original. Specimens of this size and quality are very rare. Offered on a custom base. Measuring 14 x 11 x 9 in

Now I can remember when I thought I was insane for buying the copy for 350 way back in 2008. It just struck me as hilarious to show up at a city council meeting with this on my lap. But the real thing would have been wayyyy more funny.

GIANT RODENTS ARE EVERYWHERE

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver Anatomy, Beaver Book March 23, 2021

You can tell right away when people aren’t accustomed to saying nice things about beavers, They reluctantly review Ben’s book with headlines like these:

The upside to beavers, a valuable rodent

You can feel them, stretching their fingers into the darkness with their eyes tightly closed afraid that something rat like is going to jump out at them.

SALISBURY — Ben Goldfarb, author of “Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter,” told a Zoom audience of more than 150 people that beavers and their activities are highly beneficial to the environment. Goldfarb’s talk, sponsored by the Scoville Memorial Library, was on Saturday, March 6.

The beaver is a rodent, Goldfarb explained. The animals typically weigh between 40 and 50 pounds.

Poor Connecticut reporter. Nobody told her she’d have to write about 50 lb rodents when she took this gig.

Goldfarb said this near-extirpation had serious environmental ramifications. Describing the beaver as a “keystone species,” he noted that the habitats beavers create also serve waterfowl and fish species, and serve as firebreaks and filtration systems for water

.Get out! You don’t say!

Looking forward, Goldfarb contrasted a photo of a freestone mountain brook “(“looks like something in a fly-fishing catalog”) with a photo of a swampy area, with trees in standing water.

The latter vista doesn’t appeal to people accustomed to thinking of wetlands as undesirable.

“So we have to remember what our lands are supposed to look like.”

Aw do we have to? That Ben Goldfarb, always making us think about things we don’t want to. First those nasty R.O.U.S.’s and now this! Next thing you’ll be telling me is that these monsters are everywhere. Like even Texas. Sheesh.

Beaver found in south Austin neighborhood undergoes rehab

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Navigating a growing city like Austin can be a difficult task, even for a human, so when a beaver took on the bustle, he may have bitten off more than he could chew.

The City of Austin’s Animal Protection unit got a call about a beaver in south Austin right before the winter storm. They found the male rodent in the road near a neighborhood off of Menchaca Road and Slaughter Lane. He wasn’t doing too well.

Beavers in Texas? Yes. One of my favorite urban beaver photos of all times comes from a suburb of Dallas.