The otter folk are having a welcome back party and silent auction. I know because one of their offerings will be a beaver safari proved by yours truly. They posted this announcement the other day, which was prepared for Barry Deutsch and Lori Wynn formerly of the top notch SF design firm Deutsch Design Works. I loved the brilliant idea of using the silhouettes as negative space, but sadly no SF graphics firm was around to help.. So I sat down with my inadequate skills and tools and tried to see what I could accomplish.
Since I don’t have photo shop I have to get buy with three inadequate programs, with which I can only make one thing transparent, not both the figure and the ground. The finished product has more white than I wish, but it came out alright. Now I am totally addicted to this and can’t seem to stop myself. As you can see the possibilities are endless.
The inspiration for all this is the Otter event which promises to be great fun, attracting the very best sorts of people. You should really go. And when you do stop by and say thank you again!
Salmon experts have condemned the possible reintroduction of beavers to Courier Country’s prime sporting rivers as a risk that is “simply too great”.
Sporting interests said the reappearance of beavers on those rivers would be an “ill-advised additional pressure on our fragile salmon runs” and have called for the plan to be rejected.
Beavers have been extinct in Scotland since the 17th Century, although they appear in small numbers in many parts of the country, including Perthshire and Angus, it is thought after escaping from private collections.
“There is little doubt that beavers can generally have overall positive effects on production of some species of salmonid fishes due to their role in engineering river habitats and influencing the chemical dynamics within the watercourse.
“However, their influence on Atlantic salmon is more ambiguous because this species of fish is specialised for swift waters, which would be reduced by extensive beaver damming.
“Furthermore, Atlantic salmon is highly migratory and hence vulnerable to obstruction of free passage. “It is, therefore, by no means certain that salmon across their range can tolerate negative effects of beavers in the way that once they could.
Oh puleeze. Your special punkin’ salmon are migratory and used to fast water? Unlike those lazy couch potato fish in the pacific friggin’ ocean? I guess NOAA was wrong. Honestly, I don’t know what irritates me more – people pretending to be alarmed while willfully ignore facts or people who lie while doing it to the press. No wait, I know. These kilted prevaricating fishwives are so delicately concerned only this clip will suffice. Replace the word “Guilder” for the word “Beaver”.
Well, since we’ve had a full dose of beaver liars this morning, we may as well have a trapper-adulation article to finish it off. Remember, that every year we get at least 6 of these, wistfully remembering the lost art of the animal-killer, remarking with awe on what thankless work it is, and don’t forget, admiring with lip-smacking subtlety their physical prowess.
In this Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 photo, Brian Cogill prepares to pack up a beaver he trapped in Limington, Maine. Market slowdowns in big fur-buying countries like Russia, China and Korea are hurting prices, and recent warm winters haven’t helped, trappers and auctioneers. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) (The Associated Press)
Tall, husky, barrel-chested, with a bushy auburn beard and a rosy complexion, he tromps through the forest to check traps capable of killing an animal within five minutes. Stepping onto a frozen pond, he chips through 4 inches of ice, reaches into the icy water and pulls out a 45-pound beaver.
Five years ago, its pelt would have fetched $50. These days, it will likely yield half that.
Economic forces including market slowdowns in big fur-buying countries like Russia, China and South Korea, as well as a continuing trend toward distaste for fur as a result of animal welfare concerns, make Cogill among a dwindling number of trappers catching fur-bearing beasts in the wild.
“I love trapping, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not going to trap something for nothing,” Cogill said. “If there’s no market for it, I’d have to sit on it. There are warehouses full of fur right now, and no one buying.”
The words Boo and hoo spring immediately to mind. I remember how surprising it was to be in Alaska and see fur coat stores everywhere in the open streets. No one would risk that kind of public display in San Francisco or New York.
The fur industry has also experienced a slow but noticeable decline in acceptability in the U.S. in recent years. A 2014 Gallup poll found that 58 percent of respondents thought buying and wearing clothing made of fur was morally acceptable, a decline of 5 points from 10 years earlier.
Some delight at the industry’s decline. Mollie Matteson, senior scientist with the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity, said the reduction in trapping will mean less chance that imperiled, non-target species will be caught in traps.
Still, Brian shouldn’t worry. People will still want beavers dead even if they can’t find a use for their fur.
Beavers could return to Welsh waters later this year centuries after they disappeared. The River Rheidol river in Ceredigion has previously been identified as the preferred location to reintroduce them.
Natural Resources Wales has said work is continuing to assess the results of pilot projects elsewhere in the UK. Supporters say beavers can help prevent flooding, improve water quality and boost biodiversity but farmers’ leaders have voiced concern about their impact.
Tim Jones, executive director of operations for north and mid Wales at Natural Resources Wales, said: “The possibility of reintroducing beavers to Welsh rivers needs serious consideration.
“They have the potential to help us improve the quality of our natural resources including water quality, wildlife and fish populations.
“However, we must also look at the wider effects of reintroducing them, which would include their effects on agriculture, forestry, flood defences amongst other things.
“We are working with a number of partners to look at the evidence on beaver re-introduction and the outcomes of pilot projects elsewhere.
“Once we’ve done this, and are sure that this is the right thing to do, we will look at the options and the practical challenges and benefits of continuing and developing the project further.”
Put a leek in your cap and let’s get ready to welcome the Welsh Beaver! I love these cascading stories, drawing attention to the benefits of beavers. It’s just as well Wales is considering beaver because there isn’t a stop sign big enough to keep them from swimming from Devon across the Bristol Channel (which is only 30 miles across at its widest point) to reintroduce themselves. Congratulations all on this valiant effort!
I have to admit I get a little anxious when folks promise beavers will bring only good news. (Listen to the short report on the website if you are wondering what I mean.) Obviously they can bring trouble too, and I think beavers fair better when we’re honest about that. Folks need to realize that even when they cause problems we’re smarter than beavers. (Or most of us are, anyway.) We can resolve any problem that might arise down the road. And enjoy the benefits while we do.
Great news! Jon saw the kit this morning! (Not officially a yearling for 4 more months). He or She was working on the secondary dam, so that means we have two adults and their offspring hard at work. Remember it’s February and dispersal month. If our yearlings follow the same pattern as the others they will leave sometime this month, bringing our population down to three. Three magical beavers that will start the whole family over again.
The otter folk are having a welcome back party and silent auction. I know because one of their offerings will be a beaver safari proved by yours truly. They posted this announcement the other day, which was prepared for Barry Deutsch and Lori Wynn formerly of the top notch SF design firm Deutsch Design Works. I loved the brilliant idea of using the silhouettes as negative space, but sadly no SF graphics firm was around to help.. So I sat down with my inadequate skills and tools and tried to see what I could accomplish.
The inspiration for all this is the Otter event which promises to be great fun, attracting the very best sorts of people. You should really go. And when you do stop by and say thank you again!
