Category: Beaver Art

BEAVERS ARE CARVING A NAME FOR THEMSELVES

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beaver ecological impact, Beavers and Fire Prevention October 18, 2020

Time for an awesome letter to the editor from our friend author Judith K. Berg, You might remember she is the author of Otter Spirit and Conversations with a beaver and donated copies to our last silent auction. This was published in the Register-Guard in Eugene Oregon.

Well well well, she reads he national geographic too!

Smokey Beaver?

As devastating fires sweep across the American West, we thank firefighters for their diligent work. However, among them emerges an unsung non-human firefighter to which we also pay tribute — the American beaver.

Science, reflected in natural history, is on the move. A recent, timely publication by Emily Fairfax, in Ecological Applications, explains how our family-oriented ecosystem engineer adds another attribute to its vast repertoire. Fairfax’s results show that beavers’ canal-digging, dam-building and pond-creating endeavors irrigate extensive stream corridors, which, in turn, create fireproof refuges for plants and animals. In some cases, their engineered landscapes can even stop fires in their tracks. Wow!

Judith explained once that she was amazed how rich beaver habitat was and how much we owe them for their many good works. I couldn’t agree more, and am glad she published this letter locally. Maybe we all should be doing that.

With climate change upon us, the future holds more wildfire devastation. However, our willing beavers present us with a natural-based solution in areas where they‘ve developed enhanced waterways.

Yet humans continue to kill this special species to solve a few flood-control issues caused by beaver behaviors, even though there are proven non-lethal flood-prevention devices, such as “Beaver Deceivers,” that can be used.

Science continues to discover the many contributions bestowed on planet Earth by beavers. Now, we can add firefighting! Let’s thank them for that.

Oh my goodness. Let’s follow her lead and publish something similar in Napa and Sonoma and Santa Clara and LA. We are going to need a beaver army to fight this.

Looking for more accomplishments? How about carving the oldest wood idol in the world? Circa 11,000 it has held up to the test of time. On display in a museum in western siberia:

Beaver’s teeth ‘used to carve the oldest wooden statue in the world’

Dating back 11,000 years – with a coded message left by ancient man from the Mesolithic Age – the Shigir Idol is almost three times as old as the Egyptian pyramids.

New scientific findings suggest that images and hieroglyphics on the wooden statue were carved with the jaw of a beaver, its teeth intact.

Originally dug out of a peat bog by gold miners in the Ural Mountains in 1890, the remarkable seven-faced Idol is now on display in a glass sarcophagus in a museum in Yekaterinburg.

The faces were ‘the last to be carved because apart from chisels, some very interesting tools – made of halves of beaver lower jaws – were used’.

It’s not that remote of a history, because local tribes in Brentwood and Antioch were burried with beaver mandibles. Beavers change things. Its what they do.

This dropped yesterday and is my new favorite thing in the world.

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REMEMBERING A BEAVER IN THE BRONX

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beavers, Urban beavers August 13, 2020

So the birthday bash was fun yesterday, and this is what I couldn’t show. A few months ago I was alerted to the art of Joan White in Wisconsin by a reader from Pennsylvania who had commissioned a piece. I talked with Joan and sent her some of Cheryl’s awesome photos. And this is what she produced. It is painted on a slab of cedar that was taken down by a beaver near her home. The photo does not do it justice. In person it;s so luminous that it looks like the beaver is going to come right out of the water into our living room. Up in the corner on the left are two tiny and beautifully detailed frogs and a snail, with some lovely sparrows and fish at the bottom. At the bottom it is signed with the title we chose, “Amik”.

In addition to being an amazing artist, she is also a visionary. She looks at the wood and literally sees the animal images that are reaching to climb out of it. There’s a graphic on her webpage that previews the wood and then the amazing paintings she creates from each individual peice, You have to go look. Honestly, when I was a teen I saw a display of unfinished marbled carvings of DaVinci and it was very similar, beautiful images stuggling to come to life and leap from their humble beginnings.

Of course I had in the back of my mind that I might one day ask ev entually for a donation to the silent auction if everything worked out. But in explaining the beaver I told her about our work and she offered before we could ask. She is very fond of beavers and thrilled to meet someone who protects them. So she has that going for her too.

We think all the walls in the house are jealous now because they didn’t get one too. We might need to see what we can do about that.

Meanwhile, here’s a fun reminder from the New York Times that of the famous bronx beaver and the the nature that we displaced all around us that is ready to come back.

When the Bronx Was a Forest: Stroll Through the Centuries

With more residents than Dallas, more than Atlanta and San Francisco combined, the Bronx is a vast, vibrant megalopolis, which also happens to be New York City’s greenest borough. It’s home to the largest urban zoological garden in America, a park system nearly 10 times the size of Manhattan’s Central Park — and the city’s last remaining patch of old growth forest.

Colleagues of mine have found American Eels also returning to the river. The Bronx River is proof that given half a chance, nature finds a way back. You know the story of José.

No. Who is José?

Oh, well.

Back in 2007 I was in my office at the zoo one afternoon when some colleagues came by and said that on their lunch break, walking along the Bronx River, they saw a beaver. I said, “No, guys, you didn’t see a beaver, you saw a muskrat. There haven’t been beavers on the Bronx River for 200 years.”

They were, like, “We know what a beaver is, Eric.”

So the next day, I go with them to look, and sure enough, there were markings on a tree that were not made by a muskrat. They resembled the carvings of beaver teeth. A few days later a photographer got pictures of the beaver. Nobody knew what sex it was — probably a male because males disperse a lot farther. It was named after José E. Serrano, the United States Congressman from the Bronx who directed federal money to help clean up the river.

Everybody had thought the closest beaver population was up in northern Westchester or Putnam County, which meant that José must have traveled all the way downriver, through Scarsdale, through Bronxville, through these really lovely, ritzy neighborhoods in Westchester — and decided to live in the Bronx!

In the Bronx Zoo!

The beaver built a couple of lodges and knocked down a couple of big trees.

José knocked trees down?

Well, the wind did, with an assist from the beaver. At the zoo everybody was like, OK, all right, that’s what beavers do.

But the Botanical Garden was less happy about the whole situation. They put some metal guards around some of the trees. Then a few years ago another beaver showed up. So, now there were two of them. The Bronx River Alliance had the idea to ask schoolchildren in the neighborhood what they should call the new beaver. And the kids decided on Justin. Justin Beaver.

So now José and Justin live in the Bronx? I haven’t seen either one of them in a while.

Hmm. Eric, do you think maybe they’ve moved back to the suburbs? Yes. Maybe.

If you were reading this website back in 2008 (And why wouldn’t you be) you’d know all about Jose, and the Manhatta project, and the grounds keeper at the park that was keeping an eye on him. And you’d be able to explain to the fricken New York Times that beavers don’t KNOCK down trees for god’s sake.

They chop them.

MILWAUKEE GETS BEAVER MURAL, TOO!

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beaver ecological impact August 9, 2020

Summertime is when a man’s heart turns to beaver murals – er – something like that. This story from Milwaukee got me thinking about our own Muraled history, we’ve come so far on the subject! And of course chatting with the artist about teeth, ahem.

Justin Suarez worked with scientists at the UWM Freshwater Institute to identify which specific species to paint. The mural will include a beaver, otter, and a Belted Kingfisher.

“Even though the city is on the river the ecology and animals that live here are a really important part of the ecosystem…more important than we are in a lot of ways,” said Suarez.

I had to write Justin and let him know the mural was awesome, tell him the truth about teeth and let him know something about our own bizarre history of beaver murals in Martinez. Like all stories in our town its one with many chapters. This one from the SF Chronicle.

Martinez mural artist forced to remove beaver

In the latest chapter of the city’s conflicted relationship with its resident beaver family, officials last week ordered the muralist to paint over the depiction of a beaver he had included in his panorama.

It’s the only time I talked to reporters and heard them laughing themselves to tears over the depths to which one city would sink over rodents. The story got so much attention we were even on the radio in Chicago. Remember?

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Ahh those were the days! So of course it was for more than just mere spite that we had to bring Mario back for the big mural in 2016 when our kits died. He did an excellent job of course. So good that Jon and I paid to have one outside our front door later.

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Ahh such sweet memories. Of course these were paint and brush murals, not spray paint like Justin’s. So we had to have one of those too. This from Tim Hon of Illuminaries who happened to live in the city and really like seeing the beavers.

So you see Martinez knows its beaver murals. This ain’t our first beaver mural rodeo. So believe us when we say yours is beautiful!

BEAVERS IN MEMORIAM

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beavers and Scotland July 18, 2020

You may remember that back in May the Scottish government reported that some 87 wild beavers were killed by permit in that country, thought to be 2o percent of the total number of free beavers in the land. The Scottish wild beaver group is doing an online memorial for them and there are entries from artists and poets around the world.

They are up to 45 now.

In Memoriam

Scottish Natural Heritage recently confirmed that 87 beavers, roughly one fifth of Scotland’s entire population, were killed under licence in 2019 despite being a protected species. At least ten of the animals were less than a year old.

Submit Your Beaver Artwork

Help us commemorate the 87 beavers killed under licence & persuade the Scottish Government to use killing only as a last resort. Get “beavering away” and send a photo of your artwork (in any medium) to 87beavers@protonmail.com by 31 July 2020 & we’ll get in touch with info about what to do next.

The 87 beaver artworks will be displayed online and in spaces around Scotland.

I thought I’d share some of their awesome collection so far. But if you feel so inclined you should submit your work too. I’m sure they’d like submissions from the Americas.

As an illustrator specialising in British wildlife, I believe all creatures, including the beaver, play an important role in shaping our world. We should be working with these animals, not against them!

I am an artist working in the North East of England. Inspired by the natural world and the green spaces near where I live, my art is about celebrating and connecting with the landscape, its mythologies and its wildlife. As a member of several environmental campaign groups, I feel that a vital way of helping to preserve that natural world is to encourage people to engage with it.

And of course, my absolute favorite by Isla Ritchie aged 9.

Word to the wise, take it from someone who’s been there, the adult submissions are lovely but, if you don’t want to be doing this again next May get about 500 more drawings from Isla’s friends around the country. Make sure that every county has children submitting beaver artwork. Down to the three year olds that look like chickens or fleas with tail blobs. Get the project Nature watch or the news to make sure everyone sees it. And, heck while you’re at it make the submissions available for sale as tea towels to raise money for the education campaign.
Chris Jones poem and my video are number 41. But go check out the others for a very nice start to the weekend.

FOLLOWING UP WITH FRIENDS

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere May 25, 2020

Follow-ups needed: Here is the chalk-masterpiece by featured artist Ray Cirinio at yesterday’s Santa Barbara festival. Pretty nice work. (Although the beaver has way too many whiskers for my inner critic. He’s not a walrus for pete’s-sake!) The hands are lovely and to form, though. Everything else is very convincing, because he’s probably actually SEEN the other things…hmm.I wanted to be regaled with hundreds of beaver illustrations this morning, but Ray seems to be the only one online so far. Let’s hope his work inspires many others. You can see what a large undertaking it all is. One of my favorite parts of working with Amy is being there when she has Jon help her lay out the grid for her initial artwork. It’s always soo auspicious!

My mother brought over the ‘actual’ newspaper from last weeks Oakley bruhaha. This is the front page of the local news section. That’s some pretty good product placement! Now everyone in the town knows they had beavers.

The folks in England have been working round the clock to promote the next phase of beaver reintroduction. One of them recently shared this lovely info-graphic illustration with I thought I should pass along. Pretty nice, isn’t it?

And since its memorial day I want to make sure you’ve all seen this, If you were alive in 1918 you either died or knew sometime that had. I’m sure my 1898 house could tell stories about wearing masks or social distancing in those days. We are all so very lucky to be reading this and not living it. This represents 1% of the total number that died from this virus.