Category: Beaver relocation

JUMPIN’ FRIJOLES, BATMAN!

heidi08 Beaver relocation October 2, 2019

My father, like many fathers of a certain era, had several jokes he liked to tell over and over. I remember some of them fondly but am especially partial to his tale of the ‘city slicker who moved to the country’ to live a more natural life. He started off at the feed store to purchase two dozen baby chicks thinking of all those farm-fresh eggs he’d soon be enjoying.

A week after his purchase he was back again, complaining that the first batch had all died. The manager of the feedbarn was concerned and asked about the details of their care. Prompting the city slicker to observe,

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m planting them too deep?”

Cue the groaning laughter, because as we all know baby chicks shouldn’t be planted. Which you will understand right away why I thought of this joke when you read this curious beaver relocation article from New Mexico.

Beaver Reintroduced In To Rito De Los Frijoles At Bandelier National Monument

During the past week, three beavers were reintroduced in to Rito de los Frijoles at Bandelier National Monument marking the first time beaver have been above Upper Falls since the 1950’s. Beaver are a keystone species meaning that many other species and the ecosystem as a whole are reliant on their presence. Beaver raise the water table, modulate stream flow, improve water quality, and increase biodiversity. We have high hopes that our new residents will help increase water storage, control vegetation, reduce water temperatures, and improve wildlife habitat within Frijoles. Photo Courtesy NPS

Okay, so far so good right? I mean it’s a little comical to name a national park after beans, but it’s good they think highly of beavers right?

All three beaver came from the Taos area where their activity was conflicting with humans and without relocation the beaver would have been euthanized. The beaver all survived the reintroduction which is rare as the stress of relocation is commonly lethal.

Relocation is usually lethal? Now you know why I heard my dad’s joke echoing in my brain. What do you usually do to them? The entire National Park system of the United States, with all their research, vibrant staff and history, is saying that beaver relocation is usually lethal?

And they tried it anyway?

The mind reels. The jaw drops. Even when the Methow Project was reporting terrible numbers with beaver relocation the success rate was stil 50 percent! Hell, even when they tossed beavers out of the frickin’ airplane they reported only one death

Prompting the very serious question, what on EARTH does New Mexico do to its beavers?

Speaking of beaver hardiness the Sierra Wildlife Coalition recently posted this heart-melting video, which proves to me that Beavers are much cooler than anything you can imagine and work way harder than people which are lazy toads by comparison.

Don’t you just Love them? And yes that’s the first snow in the Sierras at the end of September, and since you asked neither rain or snow or dark of night shall prevent a beaver from his important work. Post office be dammed.

REMEMBER THIS DAY IN BEAVER HISTORY

heidi08 Beaver relocation September 25, 2019

You know how it is. You think you’ve seen it all. Tried everything, opened every door. And then one day, almost out of the blue Nancy Pelosi launches an impeachment inquiry and San Diego is relocating beavers.

About Dam Time!

So our friend Eric Robinson is really doing this. He is raising money to buy traps and I think Worth A Dam should help. I already told him he has to have a booth at the festival and explain it all. And he agreed!

The rest, as they say, is history.

Beavers flooding rifle range to be removed from Camp Pendleton

Experts say the beavers come down the Santa Margarita River each year and flood the rifle range at Camp Pendleton with their dam-building.

SAN DIEGO — Several beavers that have been causing issues at Camp Pendleton in North San Diego County are set to be removed from the Marine Corps base.

A group of environmentalists that specialize in these types of animal removals has received approval to live trap and transport eight to 14 beavers. Experts say the creatures come down the Santa Margarita River each year and end up flooding the rifle range at Camp Pendleton with their dam-building.

Previously, Marines at the base were lethally trapping the beavers each year as their population expanded.

The group that traps the beavers will house them temporarily and the animals will have a health check performed by a veterinarian.

The entire beaver family will be transported to release sites with the first batch going to Tule River Reservation near Porterville, California.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to assist with the rescuing of the beavers.

Footage in this piece by Sarah Koenigsberg courtesy of The Beaver Believers. To learn more click here.

The campaign now has nearly 400 dollars Click here to help out and get beavers relocated in San Diego!

B.R.A.V.O. FOR BEAVERS

heidi08 Beaver relocation September 24, 2019

You know how it is, You work and work every day at a worthy task, like changing the beaver relocation laws in California or hey maybe impeaching a corrupt president who made deals with a foreign government to thwart our democracy, and it seems like you are getting NO WHERE, You’ve followed all the rules. You’ve done this all by the book, and you can measure the dramatic noneffect in nanometers.

It’s not working.

Then one day, everything changes. I mean everything.

Meet Eric Robinson a fairly recent beaver believer from Southern California who wants those reintroduction laws changed and fast for his very dry part of the state. He tried talking to fish and wildlife, tried working with Kate Lundquist from OAEC who has been at the frontlines on this issue, working to get the law changed, And got impatient with all the nothing that was happening.

So he stepped out of line. Got a crowbar. And found the rusted gears most likely to move.

Eric spoke with the head of USDA who said they would be happy to give him some beavers. And with the members of several tribes who want beavers back on their land. And with Molly Alves from the tulalip tribe whose been doing this work in Washington for years. Then he talked with Doris at Sonoma Wildlife and got her to agree to house some beavers during transition.

It went from impossible to it’s all happening. Molly is coming to do a training for Doris and her staff in October, and rusty wheels are in motion. Yesterday he was on the local news regarding the beavers at Camp Pendleton which they have been routinely trapping for years. Now he’s talking to SeaWorld about possibly being a Southern California stopover site. It couldn’t hurt their reputation. And they already have a beaver in their education program.

Oh and he has an acronym for the program. It’s called B.R.A.V.O.

Project BRAVO – Beaver Restoration Aquifer Vitalization Opportunities

Now the operation has a GOFUNDME campaign and you can help. Sometimes when the wheels of progress turn too slowly you just have to make your own.

Rescue Camp Pendleton Beavers

Currently Beaver are coming down the Santa Margarita River into Camp Pendleton every Spring where they are lethally trapped. This year we finally discovered a way to save them. We are partnering with California Tribes to restore beaver to their native lands. We will use the money to buy Hancock Live traps $450, Game Cameras to record our process $90, Food and Lodging for them while we collect the whole family $300, Veterinarian bill for health check up $360. Transportation to the release site at Tule River Reservation $300.

GO TEAM BRAVO! Eric and his merry volunteers could use your support. This is pretty exciting to watch unfold. Now we just have to do that other thing too, Stay tuned.

THE SOUND OF BEAVERS – PAUL SIMON MISSED THIS

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver relocation August 31, 2019

A friend just shared this on facebook. It’s from wildlife camerman Michael Forsberg and filmed on the Platte River in Nebraska. Make sure you turn your speakers way up for this treat.

Friday night – Movie night! Here’s a dusk to dawn video sequence of a beaver mom and her kit preparing and then repairing their lodge after an intense nighttime thunderstorm ripped through the Platte River Valley last week in central Nebraska. Watch the big storm roll through and make sure your sound is up! This footage was captured from a customized surveillance camera system that we have had in place for over three years now documenting activities on the lodge 24/7 year-round. It has been a fascinating experience with these remarkable creatures. To see more from our Live camera locations, visit the @plattebasin website www.plattebasintimelapse.com and click on LIVE in the menu.

Aren’t beavers wonderful? And don’t they work hard? It was a whine just like that which sealed my fate lo these many years ago. I remember standing at dawn next to Starbucks, watching the kits complain to each other, and thinking, “Do the people that want these beavers dead even KNOW about that sound?” And then, more somberly, “If I don’t do something to stop this myself when am I ever going to hear that sound again?”

So I figured I’d work on saving the beavers for the weekend. Maybe for the entire week. How long could it possibly take?

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Famous last words, I know. This morning we have some great words from a successful beaver relocation in Wyoming. It’s good to know folks there are doing the right thing for the right reasons.

Beaver relocation a win-win

CODY, WY — Three beavers are happy in their new homes after Wyoming Game & Fish relocated them this summer. They’re also doing important restoration work.

The beavers were trapped on private land south of Cody where they were causing flooding over roads. Game & Fish biologists captured and relocated them to a stream south of Meeteetse, where they will help in long-term efforts to improve riparian and stream habitat.

Habitat Biologist Jerry Altermatt said that beaver can be beneficial to both habitat and other wildlife. “As beavers build dams and pond water is created, riparian vegetation is improved along the stream, stabilizing stream banks, which creates better habitat for fish and wildlife. Beaver dams create ponds that allow beavers to escape predators, but these ponds are also productive wetlands that many birds, deer, moose, and other wildlife depend on. They also increase habitat diversity for trout, recharge groundwater, increase late-season flows and filter sediment and nutrients from water,” Altermatt said.

Oh yes they can, Jerry, And hey its nice when they get to stay where they choose and ,make that difference, but relocated is better than dead, we agree. And it sound like they work hard to relocate the entire family together.

RELOCATING BEAVERS WITH THE BEST

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact, Beaver relocation August 25, 2019

I am pretty particular when it comes to a beaver relocation story. In order for me to feel truly positive about a moving-beaver article it has to have a few key points. First off, it has to make clear why beavers matter. Next, it has to mention that there are easy solutions that might have been done to keep those beavers where they were in the first place. And lastly and most importantly, it has to involve Sherri Tippie.

This one meets all the criteria.

Nature’s Engineers Help Defenders Prevent, Protect and Restore

Beaver are natures engineers, changing the world around them. They are safest from predators when swimming in water, so they build dams to make ponds that they can swim in. These ponds allow them to safely enter their lodge from underwater, and access more trees and herbaceous plants without leaving the water. They modify their habitat for themselves, but their actions have huge impacts on other species. Fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, aquatic insects, trees and plants all benefit from the changes that beaver create on the landscape.

Sometimes, beaver cause trouble for landowners because they change their habitat so much. There are simple solutions which often allow landowners to live with beaver, such as fencing trees to protect them, but on some occasions, this is not possible. In those instances, Defenders tries to relocate the entire beaver family to lands where they are wanted.

Two down, one to go.

This August, Defenders, along with local live-trapper Sherri Tippie from Wildlife2000, relocated a beaver family north of Denver, Colorado. Relocating a beaver family is a lot of work. Beavers live in extended families, often with four generations living in the same lodge. A mated pair, this year’s kits, and juveniles from the past one or two summers all live together. We set live-traps in the evening and check them first thing in the morning. The traps work like a giant suitcase, folding up when a beaver steps in the middle. We moved nine individuals, including five kits born this spring, to new habitat in the mountains. Their new home used to have beaver, but they have been absent for several years. The old beaver ponds are still there but have not been maintained. The new family will likely repair these ponds, and hopefully create new ones of their own, creating and improving habitat for at-risk native species such as cutthroat trout, leopard frogs, and boreal toads.

Huzzah! We have a trifecta! Nothing but good news in this beaver relocation. Wonderful to read about, Well, except for the line about beavers living in the lodge with four generations. i know what they mean but that’s not accurately phrased. That would be like kits living with their great grandparents, right? Technically there are two generations (parents and children) and two batches (kits and yearlings).

In light of the new Endangered Species Act regulations released last week, it’s as important as ever that we prevent species from needing to be listed. The habitat that we allow beaver to create on the landscape are critical for some of these imperiled species, and the presence of indicator species like amphibians help to show that the habitats are healthy. Defenders works to prevent, protect, and restore: prevent species from becoming endangered, protect already imperiled species, and restore species to the landscape. Beaver are one of the many natural tools that fit in our arsenal for wildlife conservation!

Lovely to see. Thanks Aaron Hall for this excellent article. I had cued it up for yesterday’s post but the local headline of “otters teaching beavers” pushed it back a day. It’s great to see Sherri at work, doing what she does better than anyone in all the world.

Speaking of sticking with what you know, I got an inspiration yesterday to do a booklet specifically about urban beavers and have it available for Beaver Con 202o. I wrote folks asking for their contributions and I’m going to need your help too. If you were lucky enough to watch beavers in your city, maybe you could send me a line or two about what it was like? Send it to mtzbeavers@gmail.com. I’d love to put together something that captures not only how to manage beavers without trapping and why its good for wildlife, but how it enriches communities of humans too.

Here’s the possible first page. What do you think?