Category: Beaver News

And then there were two

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver News, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, kits, Who's saving beavers now? July 24, 2015

Footage of second Scots beaver kit revealed

Footage of a second beaver kit in the Knapdale Forest in Argyll has been released by the Scottish Beaver Trial. It comes a week after a first young beaver was spotted at the trial site. Scottish Beaver Trial (SBT) said it suspected further breeding had occurred, but had now managed to capture evidence on camera.

The trial is the first licensed reintroduction of a mammal to the UK and has brought the beaver back to Scotland after a 400-year absence.

Roisin Campbell Palmer, field operations manager for the Scottish Beaver Trial, said: “We had suspected further breeding had occurred at the site but had not managed to capture it on camera.

“We can now confirm two kits present at this lodge.

“These kits are around three months old. Having spent the first couple of months within the lodge, they are now starting to leaving the lodge and explore their surroundings.”

Further breeding?

I would blame the crazy framing on the reporter but this quote came from field manager Roisin Palmer in the flesh. ‘More kits obviously means further breeding’, right? No, honestly. This kit is from the same lodge and the same parents. It was the same breeding that did the trick. It took place about 107 days before the kits were born and won’t take place again until next year. See beavers are like dogs and cats and have what’s known as a “litter”. It just takes a while to see them all because they don’t all mature at the same rate. Keep watching. There might be three in the camera next time!

Still Same Breeding. (Wow, you really haven’t had beavers for 400 years have you?)

I’m totally loving that little hippity hop hop at the end. It starts at 35 seconds. You can tell it looks unusual because mom reacts with surprise. What is that child of mine doing NOW? It immediately reminded me of rabbits, which oddly made me think of a Pablo Neruda poem.

EL pie del niño aún no sabe que es pie,

y quiere ser mariposa o manzana.

Which basically translates to “The foot of a child, doesn’t yet know it’s a foot, and wants to be a butterfly or an apple.” Which is perdy. Now because it’s Neruda it goes on to talk about the worker’s boot that a capitalist society will force that little foot into eventually, but the first two lines are the most famous.

After seeing that video, I’m sure the castor version goes something like “the foot of the beaver doesn’t yet know it’s kit, and wants to be a rabbit or a bird.”

Calling all Children

heidi08 Beaver News, kits July 20, 2015

If you have a grandchild or nephew that lives in the vicinity, get them to the beaver dam Saturday for a epic photo shoot. Amazing wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas will be taking some urban shots of the dam and footbridge and wants as many children as possible to be there showing how Martinez watches out for its beavers.

The photo is destined for the acclaimed Ranger Rick Magazine which means it will be seen by children all over the country from California to Colorado to Maine.

Don’t you want your granddaughter or nephew to be a star? Bring them or your neighbors kids to the footbridge this Saturday at 7 pm. Oh and if they have a beaver t shirt or charm bracelet, they should wear it for luck!

This is what the Suzi looks like filming beavers, so you’ll recognize her. Look for the big, big camera and the pony tail. and you’ll know you’re in the right place. This will be Suzi’s last chance to see beavers because she’s off soon for a trip to Brazil to photograph jaguars on the Amazon. (Such a step down). It’s a lot of fun to see her work, so you should really plan to be there.

Not sure you should come? Here’s a taste of what it’s like standing near Suzi’s camera.

Suzi filming new kit and yearling from Heidi Perryman on Vimeo.

A silly thing and three special things

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Chewing, Beaver News, Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? May 17, 2015

First the silly thing….

Beaver cuts tree down, starts grass fire south of Saskatoon

SASKATOON – A beaver caused a large grass fire Saturday, according to the Saskatoon Fire Department. The blaze was located near Valley Road, south of the city near The Berry Barn. The fire department says the animal chew ed down a poplar tree which fell on a power line.

Those beaver arsonists are the worst! Smoking in bed, starting fires with their appetizer course, with zero regard for personal property. They obviously don’t know how hard it is to put up those power lines in the first place.

Now, let’s share in the wondrous developments at the Napa beaver pond, where Rusty has been patiently waiting for a glimpse of the new kits. Of course while he’s waiting there’s lots to see. Check out this weekends bounty.

Green Heron at Tulocay Beaver pond – Rusty Cohn

Muskrat at Tulocay Beaver pond – Rusty Cohn

Otter at Tulocay Beaver pond – Rusty Cohn

He even got video of two otters at the sight having a little tussle. Megan of ROEP thinks it mighthave something to do with mating. How exciting!

Now for this truly stunning photograph brought to my attention by someone I can’t yet bring to your attention. Isn’t this BEAUTIFUL?

This is the kind of photo that every wildlife watcher dreams of getting. That perfect moment when opportunity crosses your path and everything goes right. He writes that it’s a mother carrying her kit, which is a fair assumption. But we in Martinez know it might not be true. The most stunning footage I ever got was dad carrying both kits. And we only know that because of mom’s beautiful tail clue.

This is the kind of photo that saves beavers, so I hope Jeff doesn’t mind too much if I share. You can see Jeff’s remarkable work on flickr here.

And finally the best for last. Now pull up a chair and gather close because this is really important. First, a little background. In the films about Grey Owl they describe him doing a special call to bring the beavers. The way a duck call brings ducks. Which I would have ignored as silly if I hadn’t also read in a book about someone who hand-reared kits in Canada who said that their brother was a trapper and he taught her to call beavers. She noted that it was so powerful she would never teach anyone else because she didn’t want trappers to use it. So I was curious.

And then there’s Bernie Krause’s amazing recording of the beaver after the dam and his family was blown up. It sounds very much like he is mourning. But I after I heard it I always wondered if he was calling to find them. (Which is what we would do if our homes were blown up and we weren’t sure if our family members were inside.) I discussed this idea with him, but he was fairly disinterested. But then yesterday – out of NOWHERE – I stumbled on this.

I know that readers of this site mostly don’t click on the videos. Life is busy and who has time? Believe me when I say you want to see this. (I was so scared it would end badly I practically watched it with my eyes closed the first time. But nothing bad happens, trust me.) And this is really, really worth your time.

(I trust if you know any trappers, you won’t show it to them.) And honestly, don’t practice this call on our beavers because they’ve been through enough. But isn’t that amazing? Do you realize what this means? It means parents call kits. And beavers call each other. I am sure this is a youngish beaver, looking for his family. What surprised me was not only that it existed, but how very different the sound is from a kit whining. Almost like loud nasal mooing. Also I could hear the similarity in the young beaver answers, and hear how similar it is to our kits whining. It made me think that beaver kits are imitating adult speech – just like children!

Honestly, this is a big deal. Such a big deal that I got an email last night from Bernie Krause himself.

Beavers don’t have Lodge Owners Associations

heidi08 Beaver Chewing, Beaver News, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? May 14, 2015

Family of beavers face eviction from their adopted pond in Ada subdivision

ADA TOWNSHIP, MI – A family of beavers that has moved into a pond at the Ada Moorings subdivision may soon be evicted, despite the impassioned protests of neighbors who live in the surrounding houses.

The beavers have endeared themselves to nature-minded residents after building a lodge in one of the ponds dug to collect rain water in subdivision, located near the south banks of the Grand River east of Ada.

“The Beavers Have Returned!” cried a neighborhood newsletter that celebrated the return of the furry beasts to their historic habitat.

That’s not how the beavers are being welcomed by the board of the Ada Moorings Condominium Association, which governs the ponds and grounds for 151 homes in the site condominium development.

The busy beavers’ efforts to block an outflow drain on the pond have upset neighbors, who worry the dam will cause water levels to rise in the connected ponds and create flooding in the neighborhood.

Chris Beckering, the association’s president, said the neighbors have had to remove the dams almost daily to assure the flow of water through the ponds to the Grand River.

“As an association, we are concerned about damage to our infrastructure and potentially, our homes,” Beckering said.

Visible beavers! Supportive residents! And a negative administrative response! Could there be a better combination for a beaver drama in Michigan? Maybe Martinez can help – we’ve certainly been there, eight years ago when our beavers were busily stirring up terror in a town afraid of flooding. Neighbor pitted against neighbor in the single biggest event ever to happen to Martinez. This is right out of our playbook. Just look at this deeply threatening nonresponse from Mr. Bickering;

On Tuesday, May 12, the condominium association’s board reiterated its decision to contact the state’s Department of Natural Resources about the best way to remove the beavers, their homes and their infrastructure, Beckering said.

“They have put us in touch with a trapper,” said Beckering, who declined to speculate on how a trapper might resolve the problem.

“It’s not our place to tell them,” Beckering said.

That’s right. We just contact them, retain them and pay for them. We can’t be responsible for what they decide to do. Just like people aren’t responsible when they hire a hit man. Oh wait, that’s right, courts tend to think they are.

Well I tracked down everyone I could find and sent off the information and resources about what we did in Martinez. I even sent this Michigan radio program on beavers from a few years back just in case they could listen better to one of their own. If you never heard it I think you might enjoy it.

Oh and it’s getting to be summer and time for more beaver horror stories, how many new outlets do you think this will be on by tomorrow? It includes a grisly photo of the dead beaver, which you will have to go look at yourself.

Woman is savaged by an angry beaver: Neighbour stabs animal to death after seeing it tearing at his friend’s leg in Russia

A woman in Russia who had her leg ripped open by an angry beaver was saved after a neighbour came running over and stabbed it in the head.

But she felt a terrible pain in her leg and looked down to see a large animal had bitten into her calf. Miss Eliseeva said: ‘I was in complete shock and had no idea what it was at first.

‘I thought it might have been a dog that had jumped on me. It was quite dark but it seemed to be standing on its tail as it was so tall.

‘Then it he got on all fours and charged at me again. Its teeth were in my leg and it was furiously shaking its head from side to side.

‘I was screaming like a maniac and this man suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked the beaver.’

The woman’s rescuer, local man Hleb Yefremov, 54, said: ‘I heard the girl scream and saw this giant hairy beast attacking her.

‘I didn’t stop to think what it was, I just pulled out my knife and plunged it into the creature’s back. It was only later I realised it was a beaver and not a dog.’

I know there are rabid beavers in the world, and that beaver teeth are sharp. But why are these ‘unprovoked’ attacks always in kit season? Doesn’t that make it seem like there might be some perceived provocation on the part of the beaver?

What do other people do on the weekend?

heidi08 Beaver News, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? May 11, 2015

How was your Mother’s day? Thanks Rusty for the nice recap of your year of beaver watching in Napa. Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife aptly posted this on their Facebook page and I feel it’s something we should all see. If you’ve ever had your mother hold your chin while scrubbing something off your face that shouldn’t be there, you know EXACTLY how this feels.

Saturday night at Safari West saw a bouncing crowd gathered for the beaver talk, many families with young children including a few of the attentive serious kind, and a few of the boisterous crying kind. It pretty different than the last few talks I gave and I did my best to adapt. We had dinner in the lodge with Marie Martinez (in charge of carnivores) and Danny Cusimano director of education and research. He was a paleontologist finishing his thesis and talked about their work (currently doing a study on hand-rearing vs parental rearing) and looking at population successes. He also seemed very interested in hearing about our work and the primary challenges facing beaver in urban settings. A few others dashed in and out during our dinner, updating them both or asking questions. It was definitely a dynamic place to be.

After dinner we came back to our luxurious tent, sat on the beautiful deck and drank a glass of wine while the light dimmed and the animal sounds took over. All night we heard the whooping lemurs, grunting flamingos and lowing whatevers in the distance. It was wonderfully cold at night in those beautiful hills, and the beds were unbelievably comfortable and warm. We both slept like children.

In addition to the excellent overnight and jeep tour Safari West generously made a donation to Worth A Dam and presented a certificate for our silent auction. I made sure to bring a list of wildlife friends I thought would be great speakers for the future and we swapped stories and ideas for how to engage people about nature.

Then it was home to meet Greg Kerekes for an interview. He was hired by the Guadalupe RCD to produce five videos on urban wildlife. The first was on Grey Foxes which you can see here.

The next is supposed to be on beavers. I expected a ten minute interview but our conversation lasted nearly two hours. He hadn’t really known the Martinez story before and he found it very interesting. His wife had an injury that meant she couldn’t climb the stairs so she was waiting in the car outside the whole time! ( You might remember her as the dancing beaver from our festival two year’s ago.)

Greg said he was surprised that I never seemed to say “um” or seemed at a loss for word like the others he interviewed. (Ha – plenty of practice!) We talked about beaver challenges, beaver benefits, beaver nativity, beaver depredation and the history of Worth A Dam. They were excellent questions and he was a great listener but I was exhausted by the end. Not sure how much of our conversation will find it’s way into his short film, but he said he was interested in doing a bigger project too and it would help down the road.

Fortunately for me (and the people I work with in my day job!) I’m off today, so I can rest and enjoy NOT talking about beavers. Then I can start focusing on the festival. (Eek!) The application that Lory was kind enough to fill out (all 19 pages of it) goes to the city just as soon as I can get the event insurance taken care of.