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

Category: Beaver Rehabilitation

A collection of articles and videos on rearing orphaned kits.


Well Utah gets a lot of things right. They were the first one to make a beaver management plan for the entire forest service that recognized how important they were. They created scientists like Mary Obrien and Joe Wheaton for goodness sakes.

You can’t expect perfection.

 

Beaver In Utah’s Desert Rivers

The Price and San Rafael rivers flow through some of Utah’s driest areas. Both are tributaries of the Green River. These rivers are essential to sustain the wildlife, riparian vegetation, native and endangered fish populations, and livestock that live in Utah’s eastern desert.

Beavers, native to both rivers, have far-reaching impacts on these waterways because of their ability to build dams that hold the water on the arid landscape – they are nature’s aquatic engineers. 

One beaver dam can improve the living conditions for a host of fish, insects, plants, birds, and mammals who live in and around the river.  

Emma Doden, a graduate student in the Department of Wildland Resources in the Quinney College of Natural Resources at USU, is working to understand the dynamics of beavers who are translocated to desert rivers for restoration purposes and how they compare to the naturally-occurring resident beavers who are already established.

Doden explains, “I help relocate nuisance beavers to desert river systems to give them a second chance, and help restore the river for the imperiled and endangered fish species…in this arid climate.”

Currently, Doden’s work is “passive desert river restoration” because there is no machinery manipulating the landscape or man-made structures impacting the research results. She is relying solely on beavers and their resources which have been part of the rivers’ ecosystems for millions of years.  The beavers’ engineering teeth, tails, and paws build dams and lodges from riparian vegetation, gravel, and mud.

Of course the problem is that Emma isn’t using any of the accumulated knowledge about relocating beavers from Methow or Arizona or Oregon. She is just moving them one at a time, stapling radar to their tails, and then recording for her dissertation as they vainly swim away looking for family members.

I mean why take the trouble trapping the entire family or introducing pairs over time like the Methow project and releasing with their own bedding. That’s just extra work.

Doden explains, “the PIT-tag is similar to the microchip (a) dog or cat gets at the vet for identification if it ever gets lost. We use radio-transmitters and PIT-tags to track the movements of our beavers so they do not become lost after release.”

To this point, 90% of the translocated beavers have moved outside Doden’s research area as they explored their new habitat. They were probably searching for a companion and a suitable place to build a home.

This traveling increases the beaver’s vulnerability to predators since they have no underground burrow or lodge for protection. During the 2019 field season, of the eight beavers released, three of the translocated beavers were taken by predators.

Many of the tributaries of the Green and Colorado rivers are wood-deprived because of changes in the river flow due to human extraction. To increase a translocated beaver’s chances of surviving and its likelihood of remaining where it’s placed, the research team has proposed building simple dam-like structures out of wood fence posts, which would encourage the beavers to stay where they’re released. Once they receive NEPA approval the structures will be built.

Doden adds, “Our project goals are already being met, as we are learning so much about the fate of translocated beavers in desert ecosystems. Restoration goals will also be met if even a few beavers stay in the study area and build dams, supplementing the resident beaver population and creating more complex habitat for imperiled desert fish to live.”

Her dissertation’s done! That was her primary goal. It’s hard to imagine what the review of the literature section looked like because I can’t imagine she reviewed much. Emma successfully orphaned 100 percent of the beavers. Only 10% stayed point. That seems like success.

Emma included a series of slides with the article for NPR. She obviously has worked very hard on this project. Her accummulated knowledge must be considerable. You can see this baby doens’t get stapled. This is my favorite one with its original captain:

A baby otter.
Emma Doden


If your night last night was anything like ours you need a restful beaver read. Preferably with no explosions and plenty of eye candy. Consider this beaver porn.

Orphaned Okanagan beavers admitted to rehab centre

The tale of two beavers found alone in busy Okanagan neighbourhoods has a happy ending, as they are now safe in the care of the BC Wildlife Park. The fuzzy creatures were discovered in separate locations, but both are very young and thought to be orphaned.

Alder was found walking down a residential road in Vernon about five weeks ago, while Willow arrived from the Kelowna area after she was discovered alone under a bridge about three weeks ago. Both were admitted to the Fawcett Family Wildlife Health Centre, in Kamloops. The centre is a specialized hospital and rehabilitation facility dedicated to providing veterinary services for the resident animals of the BC Wildlife Park.

Awww. Of course they were “orphaned’ in the same way George Floyd’s daughter was ‘orphaned’. Meaning not from parental neglect but from the murderous attention of others. But still.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Meet Alder, and Willow. These two rescued beavers were admitted to the Fawcett Family Wildlife Health Centre 5 and 3 weeks ago respectively. They were found separately and in different locations -Alder arrived first from the Vernon area. He was found walking down a busy road in a residential area. Willow arrived from the Kelowna area and was found alone under a bridge. Our rehabilitation team isn’t sure exactly what happened to orphan these two beavers, but it is thought that the high waters could have separated them from the rest of their family.

Oh I’m sure. But it’s nice you are raising them together and have pledged to keep them until adulthood. In the mean time I’m sure photos like these will raise lots of money for the center.  So you can keep doing this work a while longer.

I keep thinking about the fact that these two beavers were found a long ways apart. Which means some lucky staffer got to drive many miles with a baby beaver in her car. Maybe in a dog crate. Maybe on her lap.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

My audio of in beaver world has reached completion and now I’m just working on the film. We figured out a way to get the most elusive contributor yesterday, and I thought you’d enjoy a sneak peak. Also I discovered my dear friend and partner in crime POWTOON now takes uploaded video and I am over the moon with joy. Wonders await.

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In all the world there is only one woman I admire so much I’d hand her the keys to the website in a heartbeat and let her take over Worth A Dam tomorrow if she were that foolish. She is without question, the kindest, bravest, beaver-lovingest woman on the entire planet, and that’s saying something. Thank goodness there are more than a handful of us now.

I’m speaking, of course, about naturalist, illustrator and author Patti Smith.

Patti Smith: The View from Heifer Hill | Wild times

While I have been enjoying the slowdown in human activity — fewer cars on the road, fewer planes in the sky — things in my backyard have been anything but quiet. On the last Saturday in April, I hiked up to visit Henry and Gentian, the former mate and the two-year-old offspring of the venerable Willow. The two beavers had survived the winter and had evaded the bear that killed Willow. When I arrived that evening, however, I found the two apples I had left on my last visit. I saw no sign of recent activity. Henry and Gentian were gone. Perhaps a matchmaker had whispered in Henry’s ear? Willow’s daughter Dew lived downstream and was also single.

Not since Lily pond have a cried as much as I did when the bear ended Willow’s journey.  It is certainly sadder to watch beaver death thru the eyes of a human than it is to observe through the eyes of a beaver. They are much more practical and unsentimental than we are. I learned that from our beaver mom’s death and the way her family stopped even acknowledging her when she was ill.

Dew was last featured in this column in January when I discovered new pond construction in the brook just below my house. Starting a new pond from scratch in winter is an act of desperation. In winter, beavers are supposed to be cozy in a mud-plastered lodge with a well-stocked larder. I would have been more worried if an ordinary beaver had undertaken such an endeavor. However, Dew had created this pond — Dew, the daughter of Willow, and a veteran of eight winters.

It was dark by the time I reached Dew’s pond that night. She swam over and climbed ashore, making the long, low, huffing sounds that indicate agitation or warning. I left her an apple and headed down to the dam,

The dam had been worked on over the preceding week. I scanned the surface of the pond for beavers and saw the small beaver hiding in some alders. My headlamp beam picked up something else in the woods beyond — the reflected shine of widely-spaced eyes — a bear.

OH NO! Not another bear! Never mind what the literature says, bears don’t read scientific journals. And beavers are tasty. We just know they are.

Once upon a time, I believed that bears were not much of a threat to adult beavers. Indeed, according to the literature, bear predation on adult beavers is quite unusual. Black bear diets are made up almost entirely of plants, with insects for dessert. Still, the footprints in the snow last December left little doubt about the fate of Willow. Furthermore, when I rediscovered Dew’s son Charley living upstream this spring, he had some scars that seemed most likely the result of bear claws. Given this evidence, I suspected this bear was after more than the sedges sprouting along the pond shore. I yelled and clapped to scare it away, but from the far shore, I was deemed non-threatening

I returned to Dew’s pond the next morning. The bear had bashed in the roof of Dew’s lodge and clawed away some of the mud and sticks. Still, the sturdy latticework of larger branches prevented access to the living chamber.

When I returned that evening, I discovered the more significant havoc. When Dew came ashore for an apple, I could see a deep slash across her wrist and a couple of smaller scratches on her face. Wounds oozed through the dense fur on her shoulders.

Ouch. Ouch. That lousy bear. I mean I like them in theory but don’t attack beavers, okay? Is it going to have to go to to rehab? That’s such a disruption in a beavers live.

As I write this column, I am sitting on the shore of the pond in the warm sunshine four days later. For the last few days, I have spent a lot of time here persuading Dew to eat antibiotic-laced apples. Today, a kingfisher wings overhead. Chickadees sing in the alders. The little beaver has climbed the opposite bank and is eating some spruce twigs. When Dew finally deigns to rise from her diurnal slumbers, she swims over and limps ashore on three legs. A ribbon of dead tissue dangles from her shoulder, and her front paw has doubled in size. Still, she is using it more than she was yesterday. She eats her apple then sits up to scratch her belly. The little beaver dips into the pond, swims over, and climbs up behind Dew, providing my first close look at this elusive fellow. This cutie must be a yearling that Dew has had stashed away here all winter.

Antibiotic-laced apples!!! How many times did I dream of finding some non invasive way of treating our beavers! I wanted to dose the top layer of water outside the lodge with a tincture of conjunctivitis eyedrops when the kits were young. I dreamed of that when they popped their heads up it would fix their poor infection. Alas no one would attempt it. Patti works at a wildlife center and has been a respected soul enough that someone will let her try feeding antibiotic laced apples. Good for her.

I’ll be spending a lot of time at Dew’s pond over the next couple of weeks, making sure she takes her medicine. I hope like heck that it works. With so much of humanity fretting over the health of friends and families now, I know I’ll be in good company. I’ll bring my work and my binoculars. Beaver ponds are always busy with life, and most of it is peaceful. They are fascinating places to fret.

If Dew pulls through this, she is likely to be a wiser beaver and may have a better chance of avoiding this aberrant bear. Once I no longer need to worry about Dew, I’ll start looking for Henry and Gentian. I hope they’ve found a place of abundance and security for their next home. I expect I’ll spend some time sitting on their shores. May we all have less to fret about then.

I don’t care who knows it. I LOVE PATTI SMITH. I LOVE THAT SHE”S FEEDING ANTIBIOTIC APPLES TO  DEW! You should love her too. If you haven’t read ‘The beavers of Popples pond yet” order it right now and give yourself a treat. And lets all keep our fingers crossed or a swift recovery.

 


Things are looking bleaker by the hour, and we decided yesterday that we can’t be at  JMA earthday event this year – if it even happens, which since the county health department is advising folks to cancel events with more than 50 attendees I’m guessing it won’t. I think we need our souls to be soothed, an I think Anna Speshilova is just the artist to do it.

Charming Watercolor Illustrations of Women and Their Animal Companions

       Russian artist Anna Speshilova creates charming watercolor illustrations that visualize adventures through fantasy forests and friendships with the animals that inhabit them. From woodland tea parties with wolves to flying through the night sky with owls, each whimsical artwork looks like it’s straight out of a storybook.

 

 

 

 

 

Rendered in her distinct, delicate style, each of Speshilova’s illustrations feature washes of watercolor and fine line work. Her ever-growing portfolio not only showcases her skills with a paintbrush, but her fantastic imagination. Speshilova’s illustrated characters include humans who live in harmony with forest animals, reminiscent of Disney’s Snow White. In one image, a girl rides through the woodlands on a moose, while deer, hares, and foxes gallop alongside her. In another, a different female character reads a book while a group of polar bears, rabbits, and various other creatures snuggle up beside her.

Wow, these are truly beautiful. I am reminded of all our friends caring for injured birds, opossums or harbor seals. It begins so simply, I’ll just give this an hour or a weekend, save one fledgling, feed one baby raccoon, and suddenly without realizing how it happened it becomes an entire way of life. Looking back you tell yourself you’ve chosen it all but you in reality, it’s chosen you.

 

 

 

 

 

Can’t you see these women at the beaver festival? They’re all there, men too. I don’t think I know a better way to spend a life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which reminds me, as much as I love these,  something appears to be missing from her art. I can’t quite put my finger on it.

I think it starts with a B?


Audrey Tourney has died.

I was saddened to read yesterday that Audrey Tourney died at 89. She was the founder of the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary located in St Rosseau in the middle of Ontario about 300 miles north of New York. She was the angel behind many orphan beaver releases not to mention bears and foxes and others. When she started her work she was told that rehabbed beaver could never be released into the wild because they had missed out on too much learning. They needed to go to a zoo. But Audrey didn’t much believe that.

And now no one does. Because of her work and what she taught us.

The wildlife and rehab and beaver world found a huge gift in Audrey and the world is a better place because she breathed in it. This Canadian short is a profound look at the work she did and how many lives – both human and wild – she changed forever.


I know yesterday was “Giving tuesday” and the soft hearted wallets are considerably lightened already but if you have anything left you should make a donation in her name to Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. They do remarkable work, and their hearts must be heavier this season.

Click here to donate. Do it for Audrey.

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