THE BEAVERS THAT SHOULDN’T BEE

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver ecological impact March 26, 2022

But happily the Bumble Bee
Is not well acquainted with this the-e-ory
For he still flies. from plant to plant
Without ever realizing that he can’t.

For some reason this silly childhood tune played in my head when I watched these recent film from Laurie the woeful guardian of the Monte Verde beavers in Rocklin near Sierra College in Placer. A huge development project has put them directly in harms way and she is beside herself with worry. But the beavers, well, just look how their coping.

Turn your sound UP because that habitat has many friends that don’t like development either.

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The Bumblee Bee mistakenly
Believes he is flying when he couldn’t be
For engineers will testify
the way he’s constructed he could never fly

His fuselage is much too round
his undercarriage really is not to sound
his wingspan it, could never bear
the weight of his heavy body in the air

They say he shouldn’t try
to ever reach the sky
For studies now have found
That aero-dynamics show he could not leave the ground…

But happily the Bumble Bee
Is not well acquainted with this the-e-ory
For he still flies. from plant to plant
Without ever realizing that he can’t.

SOMETHING NEW IN NEWMARKET

heidi08 Beaver Chewing, Beavers March 22, 2022

What I really want to read about is some smart community that has decided to deal with beavers in a pro-active way, rather than in a predictably trappy way. Don’t you want to hear a story like that?

Busy beaver chews down 5 trees near Newmarket youth centre (12 photos)

The town is grappling with a beaver damaging several trees near its youth centre but said it will focus on mitigation rather than relocating the creature.

A beaver has been set up at the Holland River for several weeks, bringing trees down in its dam-building efforts. But the animal has kept busy, and has now taken down five trees, some planted by the town. It has also started working on the other side of the river by the town seniors’ centre.

But regardless, the town approach will not be to directly intervene. The public works department said it is aware of the beaver but will try alternative methods instead. (more…)

HOW THE BEAVER GOT ITS TAIL

heidi08 Beaver Anatomy, Beaver Chewing March 8, 2022

Remember a few days ago we talked about the great new park in Delaware based on stories of the Nanicoke tribe? I showed you the new climbing structure where parents can use their smart phone to hear the creation story of “How the beaver got its tail” and I was so impressed I said I would go looking for it. Well I did and I just know you want to hear all about it.

Well according to the Ojibwe legend, the beaver used to have a beautiful fluffy tail – kind of a cross between a squirrel and a fox and a wolverine. And it would stroll vainly across the forest like Princess Diana in her wedding veil and ask other creatures if they admired it? (more…)

THE TREASURED AND RARE ‘HYPOTHETICAL BEAVER’

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, BDA's, Beaver ecological impact February 11, 2022

The Walton foundation is committed to funding tools that monitor and create beaver dam analogues, although how they feel about the beavers themselves is anybodies guess.

How Mapping Beaver Wetlands Can Chart a Path to a Better Water Future

First-of-its kind project will use machine learning and remote sensing to track beaver wetland changes in the Colorado River Basin

At a time when climate change increasingly threatens water resources across the American West, what can we do to secure a future of sustainability rather than scarcity?

One promising way forward: Look to nature-based solutions from the past.

In the 16^th century, long before Europeans settled the continent, the North American beaver was the continent’s most diligent and effective water manager.

Beaver dams – millions of small-scale barriers of twigs, branches and mud – created ponds that acted like giant sponges on the landscape. They stored moisture and created complex wetlands that sustained diverse flora and fauna. They captured sediment and snowmelt that slowed floodwaters and – because they were imperfect and leaky – released water downstream in more even amounts throughout the year. (more…)

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN PRAISES BEAVER DAMS

heidi08 BDA's, Beavers, Beavers and Fire Prevention, Beavers and fire runoff, Beavers and Forests February 9, 2022

Every now and then a beaver report emerges that is SO exactly what we need right now and SUCH very good news that I am torn between waving my beaver pompoms and cheering madly in the bleachers and stamping my foot in anger shouting SEE? IS THIS ENOUGH? Do you believe me now? Will you stop killing them now?

For the sake of brevity I’ll just do the first for now.

Beaver Dams Help Wildfire-Ravaged Ecosystems Recover Long after Flames Subside

Dams mop up debris that would otherwise kill fish and other downstream wildlife, new observations suggest

Oregon endured the third-largest wildfire in its recorded history last summer. The Bootleg Fire tore through the Upper Klamath Basin, an ecologically sensitive area that is home to multiple threatened and endangered species including the northern spotted owl and two fish—the koptu and c’waam (shortnose sucker and Lost River sucker)—that are culturally vital to the area’s Klamath Tribes. The fire left behind a charred landscape more than twice the size of New York City.

After the local fire season ended in autumn, Bill Tinniswood, a fisheries biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, went out to survey the damage. Ash from the fire, which burned for more than a month, had clogged formerly pristine tributaries and turned them into black slurries. Thriving trout populations had disappeared, presumably choked to death by waterborne debris particles that deprived the fish of oxygen. “I was in total shock,” Tinniswood said. “It just looked like devastation.” (more…)