Category: Beaver Conference

Before the curtain rises…

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Things are starting to take on a pre-conference craziness. I dreamed last night our beavers were living between two Killer whales at Marine World and I hired Skip to come build some kind of protection for them. When I woke up he had just told me he needed a permit to start work and I was worried how I was going to approach the city without letting them know the beavers had come back.

This morning I got an email from Paul and Louise Ramsay that they were passing near Martinez on the way to Canyonville and they’d love to visit. In addition I got an email from Gerhard Schwab of Germany that he and Duncan Haley were planning a trip after the conference and they’d love to see Martinez and our stomping grounds.

Apparently we’re a beaver flop house.

I suppose things ~~could~~ will get weirder the closer we get too departure. I am already so sure of a snowy drive that we have stooped to trading cars with my mother for the week. (Subaru vs. Prius) We’ll be right on the Umpqua river in nearby Tiller so I’m hoping we won’t be flooded or snowed out! Hopefully, all will be worth it when the vast mysteries of beavers unfold before our eyes and ears at the conference.

In the meantime there are beaver tidbits too grand to pass up on the menu. First from Tallahassee FLORIDA where it never never ceases to amaze me that beavers and alligators are neighbors.

Orange Avenue construction threatens otters and beavers

Drivers should take caution as construction along Orange Avenue may pose danger for otters and beavers in the waterway underneath the road.

Animals attempt to cross the street to get to the other side of the creek, but due to a cement barricade blocking the area where they try to go around, they get run over by passing cars, said Melissa Ward, a local resident who first saw a beaver dead near the construction site three weeks ago. A week later, an otter met a similar fate. Ward said her mother has seen eight beavers dead in the past few weeks.

As if we needed ANOTHER reason to hate those cement barricades in the middle of busy streets. What on earth are animals supposed to do when they run into one of those? Just jump really high? I realize running into one is probably dimly better than running into a car going the opposite direction, but I’d much rather run into something soft and let wildlife cross safely. Jon was once saved very nicely by all that bottle-brush they tore out to replace with concrete.

A few fun items, one from the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival parade this weekend in New York.

The Canoodlers, who wear old-fashioned orange life preservers and do dance routines with wooden canoe paddles, dress as beavers for this year’s parade. They won second place in the competitive independent walking group category, edging out the ever-popular Lawn Chair Ladies. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter

Heh heh heh. Let that be a lesson to you. Be careful of you might end up like this very foolish looking man who dances with canoe paddles.

The beaver that lives in trees

I think it safe to say that everyone knows that beavers live in water, leaving its safety only to forage on land or to sleep inside a lodge. While they eat both aquatic and terrestrial herbaceous plants, through much of the year, especially in winter, much of their diet consists of the bark and twigs of trees, especially poplar.

Beavers aren’t alone in their fondness for poplar. In the rodent group, there resides another species that also eats bark, twigs, and opening leaves of poplar. Porcupines eat woody material and, like beavers, possess a long intestinal pouch full of bacteria to digest cellulose. Unlike beavers, however, porcupines don’t cut down trees to access meals. They climb trees using their impressive climbing gear: huge claws and rough-skinned feet.

Apart from starvation and falling out of trees, Porcupines face another challenge. Some are shot by humans because they damage trees; others die when they cross highways or stop to glean salt from the asphalt. Porcupines are slow moving animals built for climbing, not running, and thus are prone to being hit by cars. They need not run from predators because they own a powerful defence: modified hairs known as quills.

In the vast history of our natural life, Jon and I have come across only a single porcupine that was hit by a car in the Sierras. Which doesn’t mean our paths haven’t crossed. I was fascinated to read in Dietland Muller-Swarze book that beavers are the only animal where the female young are recorded to disperse greater distances than the males – except for one other. You guessed it, the porcupine. As winter is a great time for spotting them keep your eyes pealed for these “Tree Beavers”.

But there is one silly image out there that is soo foolish I can’t even bring my self to write about it at all. Even if I did, I’m sure you know every single thing I would be likely to say. If you’ve spent any time on this website at all you’ll know IMMEDIATELY where this is. And if you’re new I’ll give you a clue. It starts with a “B”.

Beaver Show and Tail

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There is too much beaver news this morning. I feel like I’m struggling under a pile of important papers trying to get out. I will use the calendar as my only excavation tool, and start with what’s happening first. The other things can wait. Except for the serious cause for mocking, which obviously cannot be ignored.

Beaver Tales Art Exhibit: A Celebration of Beaver Art

2017 Beaver Tales Art Exhibit and Sale

The Wetlands Conservancy and partners invite you to see nearly 100 artists at six different venues throughout 2017. These shows will highlight the Beaver, our natural ally in conserving Oregon’s wetlands and restoring natural systems.

Beavers, though woefully misunderstood actually create and sustain wetlands that aid in resuscitating our riparian stream habitats. They play a central role in shaping our future as we prepare for the transformations that a warming and changing climate may bring. The Wetlands Conservancy is launching a statewide beaver conservation vision. Our goal is to learn more about how we can work with beaver to conserve and restore natural systems.

Join us on the dates and at the venues shown below to celebrate the beaver and understand the role and benefits wetlands play in Oregon and your community.

The show kicks off with a reading by Frances Backhouse of her great book, “Once they were hats” and then starts the exhibit with a month long display at Oregon State University before beginning a tour around the state. It is organized by the good folks who had me speak last year at their Wetlands event in Portland. I tried introducing the organizer (Sara Vickerman) to our beaver artist heroine with the Gallery in Concord (FRO Butler) but transportation was too difficult to figure out.

I do know there is one important kind of artwork that will be sorely absent in this show. Dam foolish oversight if you ask me.

From the sublime to the ridiculous. Here’s a grandpa in North Carolina who wonders if beavers are safe to be around children. No, seriously. Press the arrow at the bottom right to view larger.

Beaver invasion has Greensboro neighbors concerned

GREENSBORO, N.C. — When Steve Brown heard that beavers were living in a nearby creek, he couldn’t wait to show his grandkids.

“Beavers had come into the creek by the children’s playground and had built two dams. My first thought was that’s cool I’ll go and check it out and watch them,” Brown said. Then he had second thoughts.

“I got to thinking, it’s right next to the playground. Are beavers safe? Are they dangerous, especially around kids?”

An old snark like me would be tempted to say that his problem happened when he “started thinking“. Some people just shouldn’t be allowed to do that. But I will just post this instead so folks can see for themselves how dangerous beavers are around children.

North American Beaver Castor canadensis Children watching beaver in urban environment Martinez, CA *Model release available - #Martinezbeavers_1.2 — North American Beaver
Castor canadensis
Children watching beaver in urban environment
Martinez, CA
*Model release available – #Martinezbeavers_1.2

Beaver Developments

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MIT continues to make great strides on beaver-inspired wetsuits.

Leave It to Beaver: Why a furry wetsuit could keep you warmer and drier.

Beavers and sea otters lack the thick layer of blubber that insulates walruses and whales. And yet these small, semiaquatic mammals can keep warm and even dry while diving, by trapping warm pockets of air in dense layers of fur.

Inspired by these fuzzy swimmers, MIT engineers have now fabricated fur-like, rubbery pelts and used them to identify a mechanism by which air is trapped between individual hairs when the pelts are plunged into liquid.

The researchers are particularly interested in improving wetsuits for surfing, “where the athlete moves frequently between air and water environments,” says Anette (Peko) Hosoi, a professor of mechanical engineering and associate head of the department at MIT.

Biologists had observed that beavers and other semiaquatic mammals trap, or “entrain,” air in their fur. But, as graduate student Alice Nasto notes, “there was no thorough, mechanical understanding of that process. That’s where we come in.”

The team laid out a plan: fabricate fur-like surfaces of various dimensions, plunge the surfaces into liquid at varying speeds, and use video imaging to measure the air trapped in the fur during each dive.

“We have now quantified the design space and can say, ‘If you have this kind of hair density and length and are diving at these speeds, these designs

will trap air, and these will not,’” Hosoi says.

Ah science! Working so hard to do what nature does without thinking. Not much new in this news, I admit, but I like the graphic. Given the temperature outside yesterday I can understand the need for really efficient entrainment.

I found out this weekend that Lorne Fitch from Cows and Fish is accepting our offer of a transportation scholarship and coming to the State of the beaver conference in February! Whoo hoo! The line up looks really grand with folks from Whales, Scotland AND Germany flying out to present their beaver work, as well as American experts like Suzanne Fouty, Mike Callahan, Damion Ciotti and um, me. I also found out that stalwart beaver champions Sharon and Owen Brown of Beavers: Wetlands and Wildlife will be presenting there. Which is wonderful because I always get a little tired of hearing about ‘beavers as a means to an end’ by Friday! The video below is theirs and narrated by Sharon. You should really think about being there. We’re renting a house so we’d invite you for dinner and everything.

I’m not sure what to think about the Whit Gibbons learning curve. He wrote back that he’d look at the website and I sent him all sorts of educational links. His column is obviously syndicated and has appeared in a few other papers. But today’s appearance bears this headline:

Beavers Make Great Neighbors

Same exact column, but this one is printed in New York. Authors don’t usually pick the headline. So who knows what the explanation is?

Wetlands inconvenienced by beavers

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Not a bad beaver report considering its from Indiana. I can’t embed it here but click on it for a nice review of the issues. Even though they newscaster can’t tell a lodge and a dam apart, there is actually discussion about beaver benefits and options supposedly being considered.

Damming Up the Place

A family of beavers is currently living the Hawthorne Park Wetlands it’s kind of like having, squatters move into your neighborhood. The rodents are causing a big problem and the Vigo County Parks Department is facing a tough decision.

The Parks Dept. say trapping and killing the beavers in the area is an option. The other alternative would be to capture and relocate the animals, but that equipment can cost around $200 per beaver. The issue is the dams they build can cause water back up in other areas.

On a cold, frosty day there’s not much activity at Hawthorne Park. But there’s definitely something going on.. and it concerns the wildlife here. In particular some pesky beavers.

“When they create dams, stop up water bodies, which creates sort of artificial wetlands in areas where people might not want those wetlands to be,” Falyn Owens, said

Owens, Urban Wildlife Biologist with Department of Natural Resources says the ideal would be to put up barriers to stop the animals. But if something more drastic is needed, then trap and kill is favored over capture and release because then the beaver essentially becomes someone else’s problem.

The beaver taking down trees and potentially causing flooding are primary concerns, but the animal does a lot of good too.

“They are what we call ecosystem engineers which makes them an incredibly important species in the natural system, just like human beings, they have the capacity to change their environment,” Owens said.

Since we’re talking about Indiana I would ordinarily hold little hope for these beavers, but I was tipped to the story by someone who works for the parks department who was tipped by the reporter. I was able to pull up email for Ms. Owens and the park superintendent, and send them information about flow devices and beaver benefits. Who knows? At least there’s a chance things could work out.

To be honest I was surprised they have a biologist in charge of Urban Wildlife at all. And Falyn Owens wrote me back twice, basically saying I can’t do anything and the park has a license to kill. But still. We’re grading on a curve.

Robin let me know that the infamous dollar store beaver made his way to Anderson Cooper at CNN the other night. Apparently causing him to get a bit of the giggles. Discretion being the furrier part of valor, I won’t comment. Sit thru a short commercial and enjoy the clip.

State of the Beaver 2017

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The State of the Beaver Conference Website is up and running. They are still in the process of adding presenters to the agenda so the schedule isn’t filled in yet, but it is already looking fine.

The State of the Beaver Conference

This Year’s Theme: Beaver – Agents of Regeneration

From its inception the Beaver Advocacy Committee (BAC) has well understood that a lack of data, disinformation and a dearth of understanding regarding the benefits of beaver ecology has dominated many State agency policy making venues. There was also evident a deeply entrenched cultural intransigence and social stigma in local communities associated with beaver in western society. “Grandfather did it this way and so do I.”

In contrast to this, many valuable studies have been done by several reputable academic institutions and government agency employees making it clear that beaver ecology a significant component essential to threatened specie recovery.

As a result BAC began directing its efforts to gather as much current information that they could find to address restoration ecology issues. A cursory survey of contemporary individuals interested in the science and application of beaver ecology turned up an wonderful array of resources. The end result was the establishment of the State of the Beaver Conference regime. A strategy to consistently meaningfully gather new and old beaver ecology advocates was born.

The conferences are designed to be low budget. Though we value immensely the investments individuals have made to glean data and discover critical influences of beaver ecology, we wanted to make the conferences affordable to anyone that wanted to come. At the same time it was important to have the highest caliber of academic and professional standards possible for the purposes of disseminating worthy information and networking. The design was to have science and information meld with grass roots passion and commitment. What value is a published pier reviewed scientific paper if it sits on a shelf or remains in the ethereal realms of intellectual nuance?

Since then we have had the incredible experience of working with deeply committed scientists, academics and visionary advocating individuals at these biennial events. People from across the world have come to the State of the Beaver Conferences to contribute their expertise and passion. Through the awesome venue of world communication we have become a support network to move this critical ecology forward. We do this as people of place connected to our own ecosystem health. The idealism that drives natural science discovery is melded with practitioners of restoration ecology and human infrastructure/nature interfaces. We are grateful for this participation.

We especially want to thank the many individuals who have contributed to the conference successes. There are far too many to enumerate individually. The Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians has been particularly generous in supporting this work. Needless to say we want to extend our sincere gratitude to Leonard and Lois Houston for their tireless commitment to enhance life in our world.

The conference is truly THE place to hear and talk about new developments being done to cooperate with beaver and benefit from their hard work. If you’ve ever thought about going you really should plan on making the trip. It’s a pleasant drive and it truly exciting to be in a room full of these eager minds connecting and recharging off each other. I have heard that Cows and Fish’s Lorne Fitch is gratefully considering being there with Worth A Dam and Leonard Houston’s help. Obviously I’ll be there as well – so you’ll already know people.

Here’s the outline for my talk I just pulled together last weekend.

Surviving and Thriving with Urban Beavers

Urban streams boast the low gradients and comfortable conditions beavers prefer. Even more inviting, these neglected corridors often come decorated with appetizing trees. In 2015 alone 38 states reported beaver activity in urban areas. While trapping is still the most common answer to uninvited beavers, more and more cities like Martinez CA are learning to welcome these ecosystem engineers with surprisingly beneficial results.

Dr. Perryman formed Worth A Dam to defend the beavers in her home town of Martinez CA. Using outreach, resource coordination and the educational website ‘martinezbeavers.org/wordpress’ the group works to teach other cities how and why to co-exist with beavers. In 2016 the group won the John Muir Conservation award for education. Since 2008 it has organized an annual beaver festival that has inspired similar efforts in 5 states and Canada. Last year, the festival was formerly recognized and added to the national congressional record. As California faces more drought years, Perryman believes that it is more important than ever to coexist with these important ‘water savers’.

Skip Lisle made a flow device in the conference hall at the first meeting which I didn’t attend. I talked Mike Callahan into attending the second one where I was star-struck to meet Sherri Tippie, Mary Obrien and Glynnis Hood. I convinced Leonard that Brock Dolman of OAEC should talk at the third one and Mike Settell of Watershed Guardians on stage as well. I’ve played my little part in deepening the beaver bench over the years so to speak, and I sometimes get fed up of listening to talks were people are only thinking about using beavers as a means to an end but I always come back a little smarter and eager to work harder.