Category: Beavers and Birds

Help from Beaver Friends

heidi08 Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water May 17, 2016

Yesterday was a volatile day, filled with unexpected reunions and thrilling returns. It was a day of very wonderful and very upsetting things. So of course I got our two grant applications back from the CCC Fish and Wildlife Commission. Sadly the mural application received a rejection letter, but the Wildlife train bracelet was funded in full.

Hurray! Beaver money from the feds! And what on earth is the All Aboard project you ask? A.L.L. A.B.O.A.R.D.

(A little learning about beaver operations and riparian dwellers)

As a foundation species and ecosystem engineer, beaver offer invaluable service in riparian zones. Teaching children about this function encourages them to think more dynamically about the way species systems are interconnected, and how our human behavior can disrupt or encourage the healthy function of streams. With their constant dam building, chewing, mudding and digging of channels, beavers create stream complexity, invertebrate abundance, and habitat enrichment. Beaver wetlands are among the most biodiverse areas on the planet, and are rapidly being recognized for their important role in providing salmon and steelhead habitat, protecting amphibian populations and removing phosphorous and nitrogen. It is important for children to understand that preserving these valuable Ecosystem Engineers can benefit many species, including ourselves.

Beavers are such obvious examples of Ecosystem Engineers that they are often used to explain the concept overall – but this language itself is not very child-friendly and can be hard for youngsters to grasp. With that in mind we’ve decided to employ the concept of a ‘train engineer’ with which children are much more familiar, to cheerfully introduce the idea. We emphasize the way the beaver ‘engineer’ drives the ecosystem with their works, pulling new species into the wetland much like a train ‘pulls along’ the other cars behind it. The concept of ‘linking’ separate cars together, works naturally with the idea of an ecosystem engineer bracelet activity, which children would put together by learning about how beavers help other species.

Yes the acronym monster strikes again, and she believes victory is sweet. Mike Warner of Wildbryde is already hard at work on the charms for 150 children while we speak, and this grant and the recent one from Kiwanis will go a long way to making that possible. (975+450=1425). Now I just need to start breaking it gently to Erika that she will need to put on links for 8 charms x 150 children that day. I’m thinking chocolate and gerber daisies, what do you think?

And while we’re on the topic of ‘breaking it gently, I must assume that somebody told the mayor we were seeing beavers in the creek again, because I joyfully posted the news on Martinez Rants and Raves and this morning that post has received over 400 likes. This comforts me since this forum is limited to folks in Martinez just in case we need to rally the troops again on short notice.

Finally there’s a very fun headline from Devon which has adopted a ‘beaver mascot’ and is looking for the public to help them provide a name.

A DEVON-BASED conservation charity is looking for help from the public to suggest names for its new beaver mascot

The beaver in question is a human-sized beaver costume made to promote the work of Devon Wildlife Trust with England’s only known wild beaver population on the River Otter in East Devon. The costume, which has striking teeth and tail has been produced with support from South Devon-based Cofton Country Holidays.

Steve Hussey , from the Devon Wildlife Trust, said: “We wanted a beaver mascot to help us raise the profile of the River Otter Beaver Trial and its vital work. When Cofton Country Holidays generously stepped in to help us we were delighted.

Gotta name suggestion? I have several. “Resilience, Recovery, Engineer, Keystone, and Evolution” spring to mind first. But “Fish friend” is up there too. Let’s just face the inevitable reality of “justin” and get it over with. You know people will think it’s insanely clever.

At least have the heart to give him a last an herbal middle name to make the point.

And finally here’s a special present from Moses Silva on Sunday that I know you’ve all been waiting for. Thanks Moses!

Beaver splashes

heidi08 Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? May 13, 2016

Here’s the excellent documentary I was talking about yesterday. Don’t ask how it became possible to share it – just enjoy the ride! The Martinez story starts around 15:30 after a trapper segment – but you’ll be smarter if you watch the whole thing.

Untitled from Heidi Perryman on Vimeo.

Yesterday I spoke to a VERY packed house at Martinez Kiwanis, who were eager to know what was up with the beavers. I gave them the full update and talked about the mural and our very odd summer with Suzi and the unexplained beaver deaths. Lara Delaney from city council was happy to have the update. People said afterwards it was one of the best talks they ever had, so I going to assume I did okay. There was a lot of interest in the little Napa segment I added, and people were very surprised to learn how little controversy their arrival had caused in Napatopia as opposed to Martinez.

Unfortunately they mentioned during the meeting they had already voted last week to decide funding allotments for scholarships. So I hope they remembered how much they loved beavers then! The greedy marketer in me would rather Worth A Dam was fresh on their mind when they considered our grant application!

Now my desk is officially cleared and I have no other commitments before Portland. That will give me time to focus on that speech and the mural progress. Mario didn’t work yesterday because he had business in the city, but hopefully well march onward today and tomorrow? I would sure like to have a full bridge before we leave town.

The lying month of May

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now? May 9, 2016

We are just two weeks from the purifying ritual that occurs every year apparently at SARSAS in Auburn. Before they invite me to come tell the truth about beavers, they conjure the opposite so as to soothe the evil bureaucratic spirits. I guess them helps sneak me in the gates, so to speak, since the powers that be are thus duly convinced they hate beavers. By the time my booming beaver beatitudes arrive no one of consequence suspects anything.

By evil spirits, I’m referring, of course, to Mary Tappel, who still takes time out of her busy life on the water board to spread vile lies about beavers. I once called her the ‘human beaver deceiver‘. Her bio in the SARSAS newsletter has some rich allegations of her merry volunteer brigade and their wondrous application of various nonlethal techniques. But this is my favorite one.

Mary also dealt with beaver management questions and in foothill areas such as Granite Bay, Loomis, & Roseville; and towards the Bay/Delta area in Fairfield & Martinez, and to the south in Elk Grove, all in creeks and small retention basins.

So not only does Mary have the outright gall to take credit for the unrivaled beaver slaughter in Elk Grove and Granite Bay (The biggest beaver genocide in 2007 and the site of the most depredation permits in 2013-14.) She also PROUDLY proclaims her work in MARTINEZ.

We’re actually on her resume.

What was her service to the home town of John Muir you ask? Fortunately nothing at all that was useful or true. She told the Gazette that beavers breed for 50 years. She told our mayor that flow devices never work. She advised city staff to kill the father beaver so that the mother would be forced to mate with her offspring. And, at a public meeting of 200 people nearly a decade ago said that the beavers were leaving Martinez, and wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

I have to say I remain very grateful for her unique level of competence.

Maybe I’ll thank her publicly when I come present in June and talk about the many transformations that beavers made to our creek in Martinez. I’m constantly reminded of how many individuals’ incompetence was instrumental in saving our beavers. The lawyer on the subcommittee who wanted them trapped, for instance, was lackadaisical at best in his half-hearted efforts to convince the city they would ruin the creek. He brought a large stuffed beaver once to the meeting with a sign that said ‘send me to Plumas county’. I thought maybe he was just ineffective generally until I saw him speak on another issue in opposition at a meeting. In that instance, he was forceful, competent and had done all his homework, which is what my lawyer friends told me he was like in court.

If THAT attorney had shown his face on the subcommittee we might have had a very different outcome.

As it was, folks just didn’t really care that much. Maybe enough to toss some money to hire a lawyer, but not enough to do research and really examine the allegations in the case. Like say, um, me for instance. If I had been my opposition, there would have been trouble.

Thanks, Mary.

I wish we may I wish we might…

heidi08 Beaver Chewing, Beaver News, Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Who's saving beavers now? May 3, 2016

I’ll give you a hint. It starts with a “b”. Three guesses, go ahead, I can wait. He reportedly went for his camera but when he came back the beaver had slipped away. I’m guessing they’ll both be back this morning at low tide. I’m too emotionally beaver-scarred to be excited by this, but against my better judgement, I’m very hopeful.

For mural updates, let me say that the final contract has been signed by everyone, and now we are just waiting for the updated language on the insurance that the city needs and then we can mural! I won’t even start talking about how enormously frustrating this has been, because what would be the point? I’ll believe the waiting is over when it actually happens and not a moment before. Fortunately there is a very kind soul at the city in the middle of all this and she has been cheering me through it. Last week we had a good laugh at my wicked idea to finally just spray paint “F*@# the beavers” on the bridge, because in addition to expressing my frustration:

the city would suddenly want it painted over immediately and
they’d never, ever suspect me.

(Insert story from Heidi’s childhood here, where older sister vandalizes family furniture by cleverly writing the initials of younger sister. Younger sister had nothing to do with it but gets punished anyway and older sister gets away with it.)

On to the impressively named “Clatskanie” at the very northern tip of Oregon, who received an award from the governor for working with beavers to restore their watershed.

Wetland Awards honor voluntary restoration in Clatskanie

Governor Kate Brown, chair of the Land Board, presented the award and praised the collaborative effort as a “wonderful example of how non-profit organizations worked with a private landowner to voluntarily preserve wetlands” for fish and wildlife habitat. She also commended the property owner for including people in the equation: Hunt allows camping on the property, which has 14 tent sites and kayaks available for campers.

Olsen-Hollander said the project planners used innovative restoration strategies from “The Beaver Restoration Guide Book” which touts modeling beaver behavior for restoring habitat for fish, waterfowl, amphibians and reptiles. Olsen-Hollander said that if the techniques prove to be successful over time, there could be significant cost savings in using them in designing future conservation projects.

Congratulations Clatskanie! You let the beavers do the restoration and collected an award for it. That’s harder than it sounds, because it means hours of meetings and hand-holding with anxious stakeholders who are worried that beaver will flood their driveways or eat their petunias. The beavers, frogs and fish are lucky to have you.

A final note on what a very bad influence I am on Mr. Cohn of Napa. He sent me this photo yesterday of a beaver suspended animation feat and I was most appreciative. I told him he needed to go back and cut off the branch to use for display. He replied that it was in a seedy area with a lot of transient activity and he was worried it might be unsafe. I understood. Don’t think I pressured him. I very distinctly remember how we had to get our current chew on Easter Sunday because it was the only time everyone was in church and the creek was neglected.

But a few hours later he sent me this.Wouldn’t one of those be AWESOME in the silent auction? If only we could figure out how to make it into a lamp.

New website and old complaints

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental, What's killing beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? April 30, 2016

From the ridiculous to the sublime. Let’s start the day with the appropriate mocking of Mr. Settlemeyer of Bladen County North Carolina. And believe me, his complaint is a doozy.

Carver’s Creek running over with beavers

Settlemeyer said when he first saw beavers on his land back in the 1970’s he thought the critters were kind of cool. “The first time I saw a beaver I said, ‘Oh man this is wonderful, we got beavers!’” Settlemeyer said.

But that opinion quickly changed when he said the rodents took over. In fact, Settlemeyer said if he were to guess he’d say there are about 200 of them on his property. “It’s good for the ducks, good for the turtles, but it’s not good for your timber,” Settlemeyer said.

He said some of his roads have been washed away because beaver dams prevent water from flowing the way it naturally would. He said there is little he can do to stop them.

“Back before 9/11 we could go buy dynamite. We dynamited the beavers. We’ve got heavy equipment and dug the dams out, we’ve trapped, we’ve shot them, but they’re so prolific we’re not gaining any ground,” Settlemeyer said. “It’s an aggravating problem. They’re like fire ants and coyotes, they’re here to stay. I don’t know what kind of alternative we have.”

He said almost every stream in the Carver’s Creek community has a beaver dam in it and it’s causing big changes to the ecology of the area.

Just for clarification, Bladen county is in the lower right corner of the state with 874 sq miles of land and 13 sq miles of water. Even assuming his property runs that entire length of the creek, and allowing 7 beavers to a colony, he is alleging he has a beaver family every .15 miles of water, which, if it were true, would deserve a federally funded research project and a documentary. It is far more likely that he found 10 dams on is land and just calculated in his folksy way that there were about 20 beavers to a dam, don’t you think?

Love the part where he blames 9/11 for keeping him from blowing them up though. I guess they’re right, every great tragedy still has a silver lining.

On to the sublime. Let’s welcome our friends at Sierra Wildlife Coalition to the beaver website neighborhood! They just launched a very lovely new sight with excellent info and Sheri Hartstein’s fantastic photos. Take them for a test drive and enjoy the view. Click below to visit their site and help them establish some links, but don’t get so dazzled you forget who sent you there. (Remember to notice who is listed as the FIRST resource on their contact page.) Ahem.