Category: Beaver Anatomy

NEWS FROM THE CIVIC UNDERGROUND

heidi08 Beaver Anatomy November 10, 2019

Such weird beaver news today. To start with there is a new research article proudly touting that trained sniff dogs can spot the difference between castor fiber and castor canadensis. As if that as an important role that just needed filling?

Scent-sniffing dogs can discriminate between native Eurasian and invasive North American beavers

The invasion of a species can cause population reduction or extinction of a similar native species due to replacement competition. There is a potential risk that the native Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) may eventually be competitively excluded by the invasive North American beaver (C. canadensis) from areas where they overlap in Eurasia. Yet currently available methods of census and population estimates are costly and time-consuming. In a laboratory environment, we investigated the potential of using dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) as a conservation tool to determine whether the Eurasian or the North American beaver is present in a specific beaver colony. We hypothesized that dogs can discriminate between the two beaver species, via the odorant signal of castoreum from males and females, in two floor platform experiments. We show that dogs detect scent differences between the two species, both from dead beaver samples and from scent marks collected in the field. Our results suggest that dogs can be used as an “animal biosensor” to discriminate olfactory signals of beaver species, however more tests are needed. Next step should be to test if dogs discern between beaver species in the field under a range of weather conditions and habitat types and use beaver samples collected from areas where the two species share the same habitat. So far, our results show that dogs can be used as a promising tool in the future to promote conservation of the native beaver species and eradication of the invasive one. We therefore conclude that dogs may be an efficient non-invasive tool to help;

Hmm. Has there ever been a paper that claimed that American beavers were out chewing or outdamming their european counterparts? I mean I’ve seen plenty that prove that the pair can’t interbreed. And some that claim that American beavers build bigger dams. But do they actually compete? Probably not.

I’d be more interested in whether beaver scent marking intended for castor fiber translates to castor canadensis, so to speak.

Of course what they’re interested in is the word INVASIVE which means “We get to kill it”. There are laws in the EU about killing beavers but you can kill invasive species with free reign. Now dogs can help them do it more.

Our results, taken with the broader literature, confirm that dogs can be used as an “animal biosensor” in a laboratory setting to discriminate between scent samples from similar species (same genus) of many different taxa. Our study results show that dogs can be used as a promising tool to promote conservation of the native beaver species and eradication of the invasive one.

Yay?

Okay the beaver news gets even weirder because I was asked to tell folks that this will be happening this week, at the wednesday night winter meeting. A Thousand Friends of Martinez is an environmental-civic group that does a lot of good for the city, mostly in opposition to really bad ideas the city leaders have on their own. Jon’s accepting it for me on behalf of beaver friends everywhere.

Let me just say that if you feed orphans or sell tickets to the chamber of commerce mixer you might get named woman of the year by the city of Martinez. If, on the other hand, you are a huge pain in the city’s ass doing something that is ultimately good for them but they don’t want, like saving beavers or demanding redistricting, you get named “Citizen of the year” by Thousand Friends of Martinez.

Call it the civic underground.

SOMETHING NEW UNDER THE SUN!

heidi08 Beaver Anatomy August 2, 2019

You would think, with the hours and years of my life I have spent watching beavers and analyzing their footage and staring at photos I would have seen every SINGLE thing I could possibly see about them. Every nuance. Every detail. There are posts, for example, where I talk about nothing but their eyebrows or how to tell our beaver noses from muskrat or castor fiber noses.

I thought I’d seen it all. I was wrong.I let you all down. I’m so sorry.

Last night, filmmaker Sarah Koenigsberg posted this image to announce her upcoming screening in Scotts Valley. And my head went whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa so loud you could hear it next door.

You see it to right? That pink little tongue as if a beaver was a cocker spaniel. I asked Sarah “was that beaver sick or stressed?” And she said no, she saw it on all kinds of beavers everywhere she filmed. A darting tongue that would just pop out usually just before or after they were finishing a meal.

Photoshop is a dangerous tool in the wrong hands. Was this changed or colored? No, she promised and posted footage of beavers eating so I could see it myself. I wish I could share them here but I hope to soon. Beavers chewing and that tiny tongue lapping up that last bit of flavor.

Of course I asked others, Cheryl, Rusty, Jon, Jari Osborne who made the famous beaver film. have you ever seen this? Suzi Eszterhas with her huge camera lens who photographed them for months. Is it just me not paying attention?

I scoured my own footage. Surely I had seen it somewhere hadn’t I? had anyone else picked it up?

Even if you slow that down don’t see anything, Try it yourself using the wheel on the bottom and select ‘playback speed’ .25.

Nothing. To a man my fellow beaver photographers were all shocked and had never ever seen this. Sarah thinks it is because she’s scrolling through footage frame by frame on a huge screen that she noticed. Maybe,

And then I remembered ancient ancient footage that Moses had first shot of our 2008 kit when he was first seen trying to feed atop the lodge. In the very beginning seconds he was in the water you see a little. I remember when we saw it we were commenting that it appeared like he was just in between learning to eat leaves and nursing, because he kind of chewing and spitting at the same time saying “Ew this isn’t dinner!”

It’s in the very first few seconds that you see tongue. Nothing like that still of Sarah’s. Beaver tongues must be very very short, and nothing like a dogs, But its there all the same. Oh and you should watch all the way to the end and see him fall off the lodge and plop into the water. That’s pretty adorable.

Though not nearly as adorable as this. I guess we live and learn.

SOMETHING TO CHEW OVER

heidi08 Beaver Chewing, castoroides February 13, 2019

Winter tends to be a good time to think nice things about beavers, especially once the rain turns to snow and things are too frozen to cause a problem for a while. I really enjoyed reading this appreciative column from master naturalist Shannon Brennan in Virginia.

For Love of Nature: Beavers busy sculpting along James River

On a recent warm winter’s day, Michael and I headed for our favorite local trail at Matt’s Creek, across the James River Foot Bridge on U.S. 501. We were soon greeted by an amazing wooden sculpture, with shavings all around the base of a tree that would soon topple to the ground.

Other trees had already been felled, telltale signs that beavers had been busily gnawing along the banks of the James River, both to eat the bark and potentially use the tree for a dam, though there was no sign of a dam or lodge in the vicinity.

Beavers munch on small saplings and very large trees, leaving many people to decry the damage, but the damage humans inflict on trees pales in comparison. I prefer to call it beaver art.

We couldn’t agree more Shannon! In fact there are two beaver chews by my hearthside right now! I personally know several people who collect and take photos of them. The one I shared yesterday still happens to be my favorite.

While it’s true that damming creeks in urban areas, like Blackwater Creek, can interfere with water and sewer lines and exacerbate flooding, beavers are important parts of natural ecosystems.

Early residents of this continent considered beavers sacred because they create wetlands, the key to life for many species. Almost half of endangered and threatened species in North America rely upon wetlands, which also soak up floodwaters, alleviate droughts and floods, lessen erosion, raise the water table and purify water.

Although I’ve seen signs of beavers for years, I’ve yet to spot one. They are largely nocturnal and stealthy.

I wish you had come to Martinez a decade ago and been able to watch entire families gathered together on the bridge to watch our beavers working and playing with each other. You would have been so happy.

Beavers rarely overpopulate because they breed only once a year and defend large streamside territories from other beavers. Trapping beavers often fails because removal stimulates larger litters among those left behind.

For me, it’s always a thrill to see where beavers have been busily chomping or sliding into a creek or river. I don’t have to see the animals to know that they are alive and well and doing their sacred duty.

I’m with you, Shannon. i think beaver sign is a wonderful secret handshake that tells people in the know that something dramatic is going right with that creek or waterway. Thank you so much for being happy about beavers. It doesn’t happen very often but it’s always a wonderful thing to behold.

Speaking of friendly words about beavers. since October I’ve been keeping a spreadsheet of the folks who contact me thru the website to ask about their beavers or how to save/introduce/or advocate for them. I’m always surprised how far afield these contacts come from, and I thought you’d be interested in the visual.

Not bad visibility for three months.

THE MAINE PROBLEM

heidi08 Beaver Anatomy, Beavers and Ice January 26, 2019

Beavers are so difficult. Everywhere they go they cause problems, selfishly thinking of their own needs when others’ comfort is at stake. Just look at the nuisance they’re causing in Maine?

Beavers wreaking havoc with a Maine ski area’s snow guns

CAMDEN, Maine (BDN) — The sub-zero temperatures that swept across Maine last winter can be a hindrance to the snowmaking process for ski areas. But on top of the freezing conditions, snowmakers at the Camden Snow Bowl had to deal with another complicating factor: beavers.

The water used for making snow at the Snow Bowl — midcoast Maine’s only ski mountain — comes from Hosmer Pond, located at the base of Ragged Mountain. The beavers that call the pond home have taken to damming up the intake pipe that brings water to the ski area’s snowmaking guns, delaying the process until the pipe can be cleared.

Now isn’t that just like a beaver! Damming up the pond where you like to drain water to make snow! What are they thinking? I guess selfishly trying not to let their family freeze solid in a shallow pond. How selfish! The nerve of some rodents!

This season, the Snow Bowl has enlisted a diver to remove the beavers’ handiwork every time the snowmaking process is about to start. While Ward said the beavers are still trying their best to clog the pipe, preempting the delay in the process by hiring a diver has made for much smoother snowmaking.’

A diver has been digging out the pipe? In sub-freezing temperatures? More than one time? It’s Maine I guess, so people might as well dive into a hole in the snowy waters. They are hardy up there, digging out their cars and unfreezing their toilet seats. But still. Brrrrr….

So I’ve been working on some beavers and birds images for an upcoming talk at Mt Diablo Audubon. I wanted a nice graphic to get me started, and I’ve always wanted to have really short ready-made beaver ‘comercials’that any one could use to tell the story. Of course I have zero artistic skill so this could only be made by stealing the artwork of others and adjusting, resizing and editing it down to make it just so. What do you think?

i had to hunt a long time for just the right tree and sky. I like the colors of this all together so i think it works for now.

And speaking of wild things folks are willing to do in extreme weather. You need to watch this. Don’t ask me how I know. You just do. Turn your sound up.

You’re welcome.

NO, BEAVERS DON’T USE THEIR TAIL FOR SELF-DEFENSE

heidi08 Beaver Anatomy, beaver myths December 27, 2018

Looks like the Wisconsin Zoo is getting a new beaver in their display. Trouble is that the state is usually so busy killing them to protect their introduced trout that they haven’t spent a long time actually learning about them.

What makes me say that? JEFF THE NATURE GUY says that they can use their tail for self defense and the zoologist states they pretty much hibernate all winter.

Baraboo zoo welcomes beavers

Leave it to beavers to find themselves in the middle of a predicament.

The Ochsner Park Zoo was set to acquire a beaver family from Zoo Montana in the spring. But a surprise otter pregnancy at the Billings facility created a space crunch, prompting Baraboo Parks Director Mike Hardy to drive six hours each way last week to meet handlers halfway in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to pick up the trio.

Renovations planned for 2019 will bring a new beaver habitat, featuring a pond and lodges, to the Baraboo zoo. In the meantime, the parents — Huck and Finn — are bunking indoors next to a pig. Their daughter Shiloh has moved into the zoo’s new otter exhibit. There she was reunited with otters Curly and Moe, who also came from Zoo Montana.

On Friday, hours after arriving, the parents nervously remained inside their carrier compartment. Meanwhile, Shiloh was already busy arranging — and nibbling on — sticks and straw. Better that than the cage door. “We’ll have to keep her extremely busy,” said zookeeper Tori Spinoso.

The parents are about 9 years old, and are on loan from Montana’s Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department. Finn, the father, was raised in a private home and seized. Huckleberry, the mother, was orphaned when her mother was killed by an excavator.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks reportedly “fixed” the pair, but Huck and Finn nonetheless brought Shiloh into the world three years ago. Shiloh was born dead and revived by a zoo veterinarian, and since has become something of a celebrity. She’s the subject of several YouTube videos.

“We will have limited public viewing until they are settled in to their new exhibit, but plan on some opportunities,” Hardy said.

Did you catch that? Shiloh was born to parents that were “sterilized” by fish and game. And born dead so she had to be revived by vets. (Come to think of it I guess that is a kind of sterile if you still have children but they’re all born dead?) Thank goodness they were on hand because they had to step in and care for the “zombeaver” after her mother rejected her, according to Jeff.

Spinoso noted there won’t be much to see at first, as beavers don’t move much in winter. “Beavers in general seem to be calm,” she said. “They’re going to get very sleepy all winter long.”

Baraboo’s free zoo may be the only one in Wisconsin with beavers on display, Spinoso said. The staff was eager to bring them in, even though it meant scrambling to prepare temporary quarters.

“This creates a little more work for our staff, but I believe this will be a very popular exhibit once completed,” Hardy said.

So generous to care for the animals they bothered to rear and orphan. It’s good the state can learn little about beavers, because there are definite gaps in their knowledge.

When I sent the video to Ben Goldfarb he speculated that Jeff might think beavers are….scorpions? But I think I figured it out though, how beaver defend themselves with their tails, which is a relief. I had to research long and hard to find this.

You’re welcome.