Because the beaver isn't just an animal; it's an ecosystem!

Category: Beaver ponds


Pennsylvania is a hard state for beavers. We know only two supporters from that area. Mostly beavers are killed whenever they are seen. And even when it is noticed that their ponds help wildlife, like in this recently reprinted report from 1999, the appreciation is still pretty thin. Like Bilbo’s famous toast quote.

I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”

The Life of a Pond

On the margin of the lake where the feeder streams converge are a string of beaver ponds like tourmaline jewels. We paddle softly as we approach, portage neatly over the dam. We hardly notice its intricate web of mud and sticks, how with a minimum of materials it holds back the current and flattens it into a pool. We’re not here to appreciate beavers (they’re so secretive we rarely see them). We’ve come to the beaver ponds on this spring day to see ducks.

Of course we’re not here to see those nasty invisibeavers.  No one ever sees them but weirdos and fishermen.

Build a Beaver Pond – Worth A Dam

Beaver ponds are fine places for waterfowl, a recent study funded by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Penn State Cooperative Wetlands Center has confirmed.

“The Game Commission was particularly interested in waterfowl broods—mothers and their chicks,” says Diann Prosser, a graduate student in wildlife ecology who with Robert P. Brooks, professor of wildlife and wetlands, investigated beaver pond succession—the stages a pond goes through during its life span.

You don’t say. Beaver ponds are good places for birds! Get out! Next you’ll be telling me they’re good places for fish and frogs too! How much rubbish do you expect one woman to believe?

Beaver ponds are active for about 30 years. The first stage (which Prosser calls “new active”) begins when a stream is dammed and a pond forms. The trees and bushes, their roots drowned, give shade and leafy cover. Eventually they die and rot (or are cut down and eaten, depending on their size and species). Then the beavers must travel further afield to forage, and the dam is widened and the pond enlarged, during this “old active” stage. Trunks and stumps dot the pond, but few shade trees remain except on the edges. The pond is carved with channels, a mix of open water and shrubby hummocks. After the beavers leave the “abandonment” stage—the dam eventually breaks and the water subsides. Grasses and shrubs recolonize the pondflats, and slowly it returns to woodland.

I am sure this happens sometimes. But it’s always bothered me that this idea of beavers eating their way out of house and home doesn’t take into account that as the pond grows conditions improve for more aspen or willow or cottonwood. That’s why beavers are called ‘willow farmers’ by some. They eat willow and their actions increase the very thing they need most.

Unlike, oh say, humans.

Prosser and Brooks surveyed beaver ponds in all three stages, looking not for beaver but for birds. They found all six of Pennsylvania’s common waterfowl breeding on beaver ponds: Canada goose, wood duck, greenwinged teal, American black duck, hooded merganser, and mallard. “New active” ponds and “old active” ponds produced the most waterfowl. Geese seemed to prefer the older, more open ponds; while wood duck, hooded merganser, and black duck liked newer ponds with more cover.

Whether you look at the beginning, middle or the end, beaver ponds are havens for wildlife. And here’s a corollary: killing beavers is bad for bird and wildlife populations. Capeesh?

Marsh and song birds also frequented beaver ponds. The American bittern and Virginia rail, both secretive waders, were found in older ponds, as were the alder flycatcher and redwinged blackbird. The Louisiana waterthrush and Acadian flycatcher visited active ponds; the swamp sparrow, common yellowthroat, and veery lived in all three pond habitats.

“A beaver pair’s goal in building a dam is to create a pond where they can build a lodge, hide from predators in the water, raise offspring, and store food for the winter,” says Prosser. “In the process, they are creating a variety of wetland habitat for waterfowl and other birds.”

 

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A week ago Friday I told you was the fish and game commission meeting in Sacramento where they considered the rule change for beaver depredation. Well not so much considered as ‘heard’. Since Tom Wheeler of E.P.I.C. who authored the rule change didn’t want to drive down from Oregon. the Center for Biological Diversity had Lalli Venkatakrishnan there to read a position statement. And it was good. Now we don’t know the outcome because they referred it back to Bonham’s desk and we can only hope he doesn’t leave it in a dusty pile in the corner of his desk or light it on fire, but at least, for one brief shining Camelot moment, we made them think about it.

Remember what Gandhi said:

First they Ignore you.
Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight with you.
Then you win.

Well we ain’t on step one, anymore.

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I have been trying to hunt down photos of cascading beaver dams for Amy to use in her artwork, and I thought you’d want to see these.

The Slate river, near Crested Butte, CO, swollen by a pair of beaver dams; with flowers in the foreground and a snow capped mountain in the distance, combine to make a perfect landscape scene
River With A Beaver Dam

Call me crazy, but if it were up to me to write a book about bear cubs in a beaver pond I’d promote it with some really great footage:

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Or some supporting research:

Or hey even an awesome illustration like this one by Ashely Wolff:

But what do I know, really. Because you could just as easily go on PRI and give an interview and maybe that would be all it took.

Earl J. Roberts’ new book “Bears in the Beaver’s Pond” is an inspiring fable of a beaver’s life with two bear cubs

Earl J. Roberts, a dedicated writer, artist, and retired teacher from Grass Lake, Michigan, has completed his new book “Bears in the Beaver’s Pond”: an evoking and insightful tale of an old beaver and his fostering of two bear cubs and innocently impacting the world he lives in.

Author Roberts shows how two dissimilar creatures can coexist in grace and cordiality: “When Old Beaver found it convenient to render aid to two hungry cubs, he never dreamed that he was creating a system in Asu Valley which spelled destruction to a unique society. This tale of some remarkable animals speaks clearly to our time.”

Published by Page Publishing, Earl J. Roberts’ enthralling masterpiece is made for children and adults, for it teaches all on how to be open to change and accept responsibility for things that are within their capabilities.

Inspiring fable? Like Jonathan living beaver? Well okay. Beavers are plenty inspiring, I’ll grant you that. And bears cubs are adorable. It’s true. But an allegory where they destroy society? Okay, Whatever. I guess it wouldn’t be a fable if you told the truth about how we’re the only ones destroying everything.

Although hey, I kind of like the idea of a fable where beavers are worried because some humans moved into their land and built a home and started a farm, so they talk it over with the wise old beaver because they are worried it will ruin the pond and afterwards they decide to dynamite it!

 


What will it take to change minds about beavers? I mean the saving water and fire prevention don’t see to be doing it. The biodiversity and red-legged frogs aren’t getting the message out. The trumpeter swans and trout unlimited studies aren’t turning the tide, The nitrogen removal isn’t winning votes. So what’s gonna be THE thing?

I’m still thinking maybe this.

Salmon lose diversity in managed rivers, reducing resilience to environmental change

The manipulation of rivers in California is jeopardizing the resilience of native Chinook salmon. It compresses their migration timing to the point that they crowd their habitats. They may miss the best window for entering the ocean and growing into adults, new research shows.

Fish that begin their migration in mid-spring are the ones that survive best and dominate adult salmon returns to rivers such as the Stanislaus. These results were cited in a study published this week in Global Change Biology. Flow alteration and habitat loss have in effect homogenized the survival opportunities of salmon in this highly managed river system, researchers wrote.

The good news is that even to improve their access to habitat and restore natural flows could boost their survival.

Gosh I wonder what those small changes could entail. I mean if it was something easy to implement and cheap maybe those poor salmon would stand a fighting chance. But surely its a complex problem and there’s not some simple solution. That would be too good to be true. Right?

The trouble is, less than 3 percent of wetland remains in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This leaves the small, early migrating fry without the much needed feeding and rearing refuge they need to grow and thrive on their seaward journey.

The authors say that even minor steps to restore some of the natural fluctuations in river flow could benefit by helping maintain some of their valuable diversity. Fry migrate early in such great numbers that even small improvements in their survival rates through the Delta could yield many more fish to help boost adult returns.

Gosh. Small safe ponds, Where fry can feed and get fat before they make the dangerous journey. Someplace where deep water is a sure thing. Where wetland habitat is expected and maintained. Plenty of little fish mean plenty of big fish. Who knew? Not a silver bullet, but a beaver bullet!


You’ll be happy to know that our domain name is registered for another year, thanks to Georgette’s husband who many many years ago registered Martinez Beavers and birthed us a website. Thanks Bruce!

And you’ll also be happy to know that the pamphlet on urban beavers is just about done and edited and ready for press. You can peruse it here if you’re so inclined. Which means its time to buckle down on the gran=t application which is why I’m so delighted that “Wild About Utah” aired this story yesterday.

So many good quotes to choose from!

This Is Why I Teach Outside on ‘Wild About Utah’

In February of this year, researchers published an integrative review of the literature on nature’s role as a catalyst for academic growth in children. They had this to say about their findings: “In academic contexts, nature-based instruction outperforms traditional instruction. The evidence here is particularly strong…” (Kuo, Barnes, and Jordan, 2019). 

According to the researchers’ report, “learning in and around nature is associated with intrinsic motivation, which, unlike extrinsic motivation, is crucial for student engagement and longevity of interest in learning” (Kuo et al., 2019). Even more “[e]ncouragingly, learning in nature may improve motivation most in those students who are least motivated in traditional classrooms” (Kuo et al., 2019).

I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with students in the field. While out there, I’ve had that instinctual knowledge we all share reaffirmed while sitting next to a dammed-up beaver pond, watching third-graders reverse engineer the beaver dam out of rocks, sticks, silly putty, and freshly-chewed wood chips from a beaver log.

What’s that? Children learn to understand what they experience? And children learn more about nature when they’re outside in nature? No kidding! And a beaver pond features prominently in your education? What a coincidence! Ours too!

Build a Beaver Pond – Worth A Dam

 

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