Just as we thought we’d entered our fall slowdown, managing director Howard Smith was contacted regarding the possible capture of a beaver family located in a municipal drain in the City of London, Ontario. Beavers there have been very active, creating ecosystem changes that many people are concerned about. In response to community concerns, Bonnie Bergsma, ecologist planner for the City of London, has begun to work with a sub-committee of the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee of council, to prepare a wildlife strategy for the city, with an early emphasis on developing protocols for beaver.
Traditionally, when city officials encountered what were considered to be “nuisance” beavers, they would hire someone to trap and kill them. But some of the more progressive cities, such as London, have determined that they would much prefer a non-lethal solution to beaver management. Of course, this presents a problem in some different areas. Number one – it is not easy to capture beavers and a lot of patience is involved in waiting for them to enter the humane trap set to catch them. Number two – the animals need to be taken to a spot not already occupied by other beavers (they are territorial and will battle it out). And, thirdly, it is only a matter of time before another beaver family moves into what they consider an ideal spot to dam and build dens, unless measures are taken to discourage this movement.
If you’re thinking that the beaver news from the Aspen Valley Sanctuary is too good to be true, remember that it was founded by the author of this book, who was the first woman to raise and release orphan beavers successfully. She has definitely made sure the center is imbued at every level with a positive beaver message!
Seriously, read the book. And if you’re feeling jealous about having a beaver in your very own livingroom, then you’re in luck!
There is a temporary lull this morning in beaver killing articles, so I thought we’d spend a little time talking about a very great injustice in the world that has troubled me mightily lo these many months. I’m not talking about poverty or political rape or climate change or slavery.
I’m talking about something much worse.
Source unknown
I’m talking about this outrage! And people who have things like this in their sinks or bathtubs or living room floors. I’m talking about the fact that they get to pick up this tiny fury wet thing with a flat tail and I don’t. Oh the humanity! I thought I’d share some of the more outrageous examples of this injustice with you today. But I warn you: It’s going to get worse. These graphic images are not for every pair of eyes to behold, and I warn you to use caution and common sense and step away from the screen if you feel a swoon coming on. I don’t want a bunch of letters later whining that you didn’t know what to expect or didn’t know how viscerally you’d be affected. You’ve been warned!
Kellie Ball: Wildlife rehabilitation
Kellie is a friend of BWW who saw our website and thought we should be beaver buddies. She’s was specializing in rehabbing beavers in Texas for a while there. The state cheerfully supplied her with orphans but it was hard work finding a safe place to release them. recalling the “using a can of beans to trap a beaver in Edcouch incident” I believe her. Let’s just say that beaver savvy hasn’t yet trickled down to Texas and leave it at that.
Kellie Ball: Wildlife rehabilitation
I told you these photos were bad. Who in there right mind would put a rubber duckie in with a beaver? It’s just sick. As if the one wasn’t cute enough without the other. The ‘rehabbers’ (as they like to call themselves) just toss their exploits around like they were nothing. Like everyone had beaver chewing their chairlegs and building dams out of newspaper under the ottoman. Like every porcelain vessel was just waiting for the addition of a beaver.
Kellie Ball: Wildlife rehabilitation
This Public Service Warning has been brought to you by the good people of Worth A Dam who have after 5 years only had the privilege of handling sick beavers and dead beavers and want you to know we’re mad as hell and not going to take it lying down.
Today’s post has turned out to be a smorgasboard of beaver tales, so take a little bit of everything and when you find something you love go back for more! This morning I should start by saying I saw two beaver from the footbridge, and they swam around each other and even did a brief ‘push-match’ before ducking out of sight. Our two fancy hooded mergansers flew in and made a nice landing for a second act, and the mallards gave them wide berth. I saw new people photographing and we chatted. They had recently moved here from Spain and had read about our beavers on our website. How’s that for cosmopolitan beavers? That made it impossible to resist posting this again!
Every spring urban beavers come to a hidden park south of the Northgate Mall. They come to build dams. Most of the dams are appreciated by the humans they’re forced to co-exist with, but not all.
“As you see it’s right near the culvert here so Seattle Public Utilities has to take it out every time. But they’re moving around and I’m sure they’ll be moving into other natural areas as well.” Ruth Williams is a volunteer forest steward at the Beaver Pond Natural Area. Once called Park 6, the area has been transformed by beavers into a thriving wetland. The dams beavers build hold back water, making ponds that attract wildlife. The pond filters and cleans rainwater. Williams points to a large pile of branches in the middle of the pond. “That’s the lodge right out there. Yeah, the beaver lodge. And then the main dam, the first dam, is right over here.”
Fellow volunteer Frank Backus says, “They’re really doing what the watershed needs, a way of holding back the water so it doesn’t go rushing down and cause flooding down below.
Oh Washington! Such beaver wisdom in flagrant display! Even your volunteers are smarter than our scientists! Well I guess all of Washington isn’t that advanced because there was some tree vandalism. But listen to what the program suggests as a solution – EDUCATION!!!!!!!! Imagine that!
This next delightful read is about a Canadian ambassador’s introduction of beaver to China and will make you smile several times. I especially like the confusion about what a beaver IS.
The University of Alberta Press has just published Evans’ new book, a surprisingly and delightfully funny autobiography called Pursuing China: Memoir of a Beaver Liaison Officer. My Saturday column profiles Evans, his remarkable life, and his life-long love affair with all things Chinese – here’s Evans’ account of how he became Canada’s official Beaver Liaison Officer, and saved Canada from the threat of national disgrace.
What could Canada offer? Well, it could keep to its tradition of following the American example and offer animals for the Beijing Zoo. But what kinds of animals?
What better than the beaver: Castor canadensis , dammer of rivers, felter of hats, prodigious breeder, and the symbol of Canada? Surely the Chinese, schooled in subtlety, would not fail to get the point. Cast your beaver upon Pacific waters, it was thought, and they will come back as pandas. Of course, we were offering one of nature’s most prolific creatures, known to China since the days of Beijing Man, in exchange for one of nature’s most reticent ones. But then, it was that sort of thinking that gave us the sixty-three-cent dollar.
Go read the whole thing, it’s wonderfully done and will teach you some excellent history! Not to mention that learning about Chinese attitudes towards beavers will get you ready for tomorrow’s treasure on the podcast interview with Michael Pollock, who in addition to studying beavers and coho and steelhead and streambeds ALSO went to study beavers in Mongolia!
Tired yet? Wait, there’s more. First an update on our new famous beaver friend in the NorthEast. We had a good chat about her beavers and her neighbors who aren’t loving them; she bought Mike Callahan’s DVD and I got the two of them talking about the one pond she’s worried about near her driveway. She posted about our exchange here. We talked lodges, wildlife and wetlands as well as when to keep an eye out for new kits! She says she already has seen a dramatic difference in birds and wildlife!
Just one more story to go and this is a heartwarming tale of beaver rescue from near Portland OR. Nice to see a family taking care of their furry neighbors and I’m thrilled that Audubon agreed to help out!
A friend presented me with a copy of Elisha Cooper’s adorable ‘Beaver is Lost‘ picture book yesterday. It illustrates the bustling adventures of a lost little beaver who finds his way back through the city to locate his family. Along the way he is chased by a dog, climbs through a culvert and appears fairly urban. This is a lovely work published in 2010 and you should really buy one for yourself and maybe the Martinez Library. Come to think of it, maybe Mr. Cooper wants to come to Martinez and spend a little time watching beavers up close for his next book: What happens to a city that loses its beavers?
Comments A A Caddo the Artful Beaver is shown with some of its paintings. The beaver began painting while being cared for by an art enthusiast in Shreveport. Now, the furry animal is housed at the Alexandria Zoo, which hopes sales of Caddo’s paintings can generate revenue for the zoo. The paintings are on sale at the zoo. Caddo the Artful Beaver is shown with some of its paintings. The beaver began painting while being cared for by an art enthusiast in Shreveport. Now, the furry animal is housed at the Alexandria Zoo, which hopes sales of Caddo’s paintings can generate revenue for the zoo. The paintings are on sale at the zoo. / Gannett Louisiana
Michael Beran, who runs a wildlife-control business in the Shreveport area, first discovered little Caddo when he was trapping a group of beavers causing tree damage in a Shreveport neighborhood
Ahh the heroes journey! So Mr. Beran killed his mom and dad and siblings and decided, on a whim, to let him live by dropping him off at a neighbor’s house with a rodent-feeding bottle. That’s nice. And now he wins a trip to the zoo where they can work him fast before he gets to big.
Beran said that while Caddo is a pseudo-celebrity in Shreveport, he’s relatively unknown in Central Louisiana. Beran is hoping the zoo can capitalize on the animal’s fame, thereby selling paintings and attracting people to come visit the painting beaver at the zoo.
“With these sorts of things, notoriety doesn’t last long,” Beran said. “It kind of goes in spurts. Caddo’s getting big. Beavers get big pretty quick, so there’s going to get a point where he’s too big to handle to do the art. The time is coming soon where he’s going to lose his edge and be too big to handle, so we want to try to maximize his publicity if we can for the zoo. The zoo’s always hurting for money.”
With your line of work Mr Beran this could be a whole sub-career for you, get called to do a trapping, make some more orphans, farm them off to some L’O’L for watercolor lessons and then haul them off the the zoo. Coyotes? Raccoons? Alligators? It could all happen!
In the meanwhile poor Caddo will sit in a cage and occasionally play in splashes of color. I guess that’s probably a nicer fate than lots of beavers meet in Louisiana.
There was an article yesterday about a foundation grant to a university in Indiana so the ecology lab could study “Beavers and Birds”. My, my, my was I excited! It’s not exactly beaver central out there! I got out my beaver map and looked for the closest expert out that way. It’s a beaver wasteland but I thought Hydrologist and beaver supporter Donald Hey ofthe wetlands initiative would be a good place to start.
Apparently the million dollar gift is supposed to be the first of a 5 million dollar campaign to create an endowment fund for the ecological lab at the University. Seems they first gave 250,000 to restore the 55-acre wetlands that the lab is housed on. The intention is to protect the lands in perpetuity and teach better stewardship to students and children in the area.
Great! You have wetlands! Students! Money and good intentions! When do the beavers come in?
Students on campus are doing behavioral, hormone, and genetic research on beavers and birds
Ugh. There is no part of that sentence I like. And no part of that sentence that is going to advance your goals OR ecology. Do you mean you spent 250,000 to restore your wetlands, then locked all the beavers and birds in cages and you’re studying what happens when you increase their estrogen or combine their DNA with chickens? And people give you money for this?
Listen, you want to protect those wetlands forever? You want to create an environmental center that will show the world Indiana understands its wetlands? Here’s what you do. Write this down, got a pencil? Let the beavers out of those cages and make sure they have enough friends. Let them build dams and move mud and chew down trees, let them dig channels and turn up the soil. Let enriched soil increase the insect population and replenish the fish population and bring new wildlife. Let the chewed trees coppice and become dense bushy nesting ground for a host of new migratory and songbirds. Let your beavers be the foundation and I promise in 5 years your grad students will be so busy writing down everything they see they won’t have time to count their stipends.
