Category: Beavers and Frogs

Beavers Present Challenges, Get Shot, and Inspire a New Job Description

Bob Kobres Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver ecological impact, Beaver Rehabilitation, Beavers, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Scotland March 18, 2023

Busy Beavers Present Challenges Close to Areas with Human Activity

By Wendy Greenberg, Town Topics

A volunteer at **Friends of Princeton Open Space** (FOPOS) paints a latex paint and sand mixture on trees to prevent damage at Pettoranello Gardens.

A robust area beaver population provides an ecological benefit, but also presents challenges to open spaces, as the beavers’ sharp teeth can fell a variety of trees, sometimes causing flooding in urbanized areas.

While damming streams to create ponds for building away from human activity can result in more ecological growth by providing a healthier riparian buffer and bird habitat, chewing on softwood and hardwood tree species where human activity and infrastructure are present has been problematic, according to Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS), a longtime nonprofit group that supports space for preservation and protecting natural resources. This activity has occurred in Pettoranello Gardens, and more recently in adjoining Mountain Lakes Preserve.

A solution may have been found, balancing the interests of the beavers, the habitat, and humans. That solution — a pond leveler and tree protection — has seemed to deter the beavers, said Cindy Taylor, open space manager for the municipality.

“We’ve had some success,” Taylor said of a pond leveling project. “It seems to deter them [the beavers], but not 100 percent. We’re still testing and experimenting with the paint/sand ratio (as a tree protector) and we’re observing and learning as we go. We’ll continue to observe and take a population count when possible.”

The tree damage seems to have decreased as well. “We saw a lot less tree damage during fall/winter 2022-2023 as compared to fall/winter 2021-2022,” she said. “I do visit in the late afternoons to look for activity, but haven’t seen active individuals recently to get an idea of a population count.”

While beavers nearly disappeared from New Jersey in the early 1900s, their population has increased due to legislative protections and trapping limitations, according to FOPOS.

. . .

FOPOS became involved when the staffs in the municipal departments of Animal Control, Public Health, Recreation, Public Works, Open Space, and Engineering reviewed possible options for managing the situation. Trapping and humanely killing or trapping and relocating the beaver were rejected, said Taylor. Taylor was familiar with pond levelers — devices designed to prevent pond flooding — and identified companies that provide and install them. “It offered the possibility of allowing the beavers to live their lives without causing further flood damage,” she said.

The pond leveler that was installed is designed to prevent beavers from disrupting the flow of water over the spillway at Pettoranello Pond, and will result in the pond controlled at a safe level.

In addition to the flooding, Taylor noted that the other concern that needed to be addressed was the felling of trees along the edge of the pond that anchor the shoreline and help maintain water quality by serving as a barrier against runoff, a concern which had spread to the lake shore in adjoining Mountain Lakes Preserve as well. Taylor said she was most concerned with maintaining trees around the edge of the pond for shade, with an approach that protects the trees rather than removing the beavers.

Anna Corichi, FOPOS’ director of natural resources and stewardship, said that FOPOS volunteers have painted trees with a mixture of latex paint and sand, a recommended technique. Caging the trees with wire fencing is also an option, but takes away from the aesthetic.

“We did start mitigating the trees that surround Pettoranello Pond and Mountain Lake to discourage the beaver from felling trees,” Corichi said in a press release. “The painting started at Pettoranello last spring, and at Mountain Lake when beaver activity was observed last fall. We’ve also caged some larger trees at Mountain Lake that are too labor-intensive to paint.”

“Whether in the riparian zone or not, our interest is in preserving trees and their ability to store carbon, and as much forested habitat with as much connectivity as possible,” Corichi continued. “We’re a nature preserve and our mission is to support wildlife and preserve their habitat, and if not here, where is there a better place for beaver to make a home?”

Read the whole article here

Fig the beaver fights back to health after botched shooting

By Richard Baynes, The Ferret

A beaver named Fig is recovering after a member of the public found him on a Scottish roadside with bullet wounds from a botched shooting.

The distressed animal had been shot in the face, damaging his vital upper incisors – which beavers use to gnaw down the tree stems they eat – and peppering him with shrapnel.

Fresh calls have been made by conservationists to tighten up the rules around the culling of beavers, as a result of Fig’s injuries.

The SSPCA has not revealed exactly where Fig was found, but said they found the dazed animal wandering on a Perthshire roadside. The River Tay area has a growing population of beavers descended from animals unlawfully released or escaped, and more than 1,000 of them live in the wild in Scotland.

Fig has been recovering at the SSPCA’s National Wildlife Centre near Alloa in Clackmannanshire, and his teeth have grown back as their roots were undamaged – beaver teeth continually renew as they are worn down. A new home in the wild is being organised for him in an area where there are no licences to shoot beavers in place.

Read the whole article here

Finally, a position focused on Beaver!:

Amphibian and Beaver Field Technician; Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Wyoming

Background: Beavers are ecosystem engineers capable of creating habitat for many other organisms, including amphibians. After being extensively hunted and trapped in the 1800s, beaver populations are increasing, and land managers are interested in the role of beaver reintroduction as a tool for stream and wetland restoration. Long-term amphibian monitoring programs in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem have identified positive relationships between beaver activity and amphibian occupancy and colonization rates. This technician will work with a University of Wyoming graduate student to survey beaver and non-beaver wetlands in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park for amphibians, collect environmental DNA samples, and collect tissue samples for DNA extraction.

Location: This position is based out of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Housing will be provided for the field technician at the UW-NPS Research Station. The technician can expect regular days off to explore the parks and surrounding areas. Occasional camping may be required.

But it’s not for the timid:

Qualified applicants will have the willingness and ability to work long hours (including weekends and holidays) and be flexible with their schedule, as work hours will be determined by weather and collaborators’ schedules. Applicants must also be able to tolerate harsh field conditions (heat/cold, wind, rain, biting insects, mud, etc.), pay extreme attention to detail, and meet high standards of animal care. Interest in the research, a strong work ethic, and the ability to conduct meticulous data collection are most important. Priority will be given to individuals currently enrolled in or recently graduated from an ecology, wildlife biology, or related program with past field experience. Qualified applicants need a valid driver’s license with a clean driving record. The ideal candidate will have experience working long days outdoors and possess Wilderness First Aid, or Wilderness First Responder certification. Experience working in bear country is also beneficial.

Full details here.

Bob

IT TURNS OUT PONDS REALLY MATTER

heidi08 Beaver ponds, Beavers and Fire Prevention, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and water December 5, 2021

I sure hope you’re sitting down when you visit the website today, because the findings of this new study on fires in the west are going to knock you off your feet entirely. Chalk this up to the “I told you so” category.

Researchers investigate combined effect of drought, fire on stream communities, highlighting importance of headwaters

Despite the importance of these waterways, scientists still don’t fully understand how they respond to fires. That’s why a team at UC Santa Barbara and the National Forest Service have studied wildfire impacts on streams over the past five years in parts of the Los Padres National Forest. The scientists’ new findings appear as the cover story in the December issue of Freshwater Science.

The results of this study also highlighted the significance of stream headwaters as refuges for sensitive aquatic species during fire and drought. After favorable conditions return, fish, amphibians and invertebrates can repopulate suitable downstream areas. This insight reinforced the importance of protecting these areas to ensure the resilience and biodiversity of watersheds as a whole.

What? Are you saying that headwaters matter to sensitive species like frogs and steelhead? Gee if ONLY there were some kind of animal that could protect them every day for free, I’m wracking my brain to think of what it could be,

A flurry of research activity followed the Zaca Fire in 2007 and Jesusita Fire in 2009. “That work showed that the riparian zone—the area of streamside vegetation—is really important in determining stream responses because if the riparian zone burns, it opens up the canopy,” said lead author Scott Cooper, a research professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology. The added sunshine increases water temperatures and promotes algal growth, which in turn fosters a different community of algae-eating aquatic invertebrates. The reduced vegetation also results in increased runoff, erosion and sediment inputs that can change stream flow patterns, water quality and ultimately the community of animals in the stream.

In the short term, fires and landslides can increase creek flows because there are fewer plants drawing water from the soils and channels, Cooper explained. Increased flows during storms can scour streams and displace their flora and fauna, reducing their populations. Algae and certain invertebrates can quickly recolonize streams after flows recede, particularly if fire has opened up the riparian canopy. Streams often recover to pre-fire conditions within one to two years, he added, because vegetation quickly re-establishes in Mediterranean climates with their year-round growing seasons.

Gee that vegetation returning sure matters to streams. I guess it’s important that the roots reach the water and that mean’s it’s important the water table is as high as possible. It really would be great if there was something that helped these plants recover.

It’s still an open question whether drought hastens or delays an ecosystem’s reaction to fire. Fires often occur during droughts, when fuel is dry and temperatures are high. If these conditions continue, then the lack of water can slow the recovery of plants and delay a stream’s responses to later rain. On the other hand, heavy rains after a fire can cause floods, choke stream beds with sediment and, in extreme cases, lead to debris that remove most of the riparian vegetation. That said, rain can also promote the growth, which stabilizes soils and reduces erosion. “Over different timeframes, you can get very complicated results because rain can both stimulate plant growth while increasing stream disturbance,” Cooper said.

One thing consistently held true, though: Pools in stream headwaters were critical to the ecosystem’s recovery. “They’re refuges, through drought and wildfire, for fish and other aquatic animals,” Cooper said. “This is where sensitive species survive during inclement times, then recolonize downstream reaches when conditions become more amenable.” As a consequence, populations contract and expand through droughts, wildfires and favorable conditions, preventing the disappearance of species from creeks.

Wait, pools matter THAT much? They’re the game changer? You mean IF there are pools wildlife survive after a fire and if there aren’t they don’t? Gosh these pools sound really important. Have you thought about what might make them? Like some kind of pool-creating creature that just goes around building spots where water piles up?

Oh right! That kind of creature!

LIZZIE BORDEN COMPLAINS SHE IS AN ORPHAN

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Frogs October 6, 2021

Wanna hear a funny joke? Get ready to laugh and laugh over this one. It’s like a story of Lizzie Borden complaining that she is an orphan. Or OJ Simpson wondering why his marriage didn’t last. Or Mark Zuckerberg whining that he has no privacy anymore.It made me literally laugh out loud when I saw it.

ODFW, USFWS request wildlife habitat proposals

ODFW and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are seeking proposals to restore or protect habitat for northwestern pond turtle, northern red-legged frog, foothill yellow-legged frog and/or American beaver and other native wildlife in Douglas County’s Umpqua River Basin.

You may remember that ODFW has fought tooth and nail with the more reasonable minds out there when they reinstated beaver trapping on public lands. Former USFS Hydrologist has been working tirelessly to get them to change their minds or at least count the votes honestly. Of course beaver habitat saves red-legged frogs and yellow-legged frogs and green-legged frogs AND pond turtle habitat. Of course it does. You know it does. But they wanted to give the – I’m guessing – 12 fur trappers in Umpqua the right to steal resources from everyone, so they stopped defending the habitat makers and said “Go Get-’em boys” And now they’re just wracking their brains to figure out, what can possibly take their place?

How about a dozen fur trappers? Can they make frog habitat and save turtles? I mean they must be pretty darn important because you eliminated a keystone species to take mollify them?

Approximately $100,000 in restoration funding is still available through the Yoncalla Creek Spill Restoration Fund during the fall award period. Restoration funds are from a settlement for injuries to natural resources resulting from the 1993 diesel spill near Yoncalla.

Preference is given to projects within the area most impacted by the spill (Yoncalla and Elk creeks and the upper main Umpqua River). Projects can be on private or public land and must enhance or protect existing habitat, restore former or degraded habitat, or create new habitat in suitable areas for priority species. Restoration actions can also include administrative measures such as fee title land purchase, conservation easement, water right purchase and permanent instream water right transfer, or other formal conservation agreement.

How about you use the 100000 to build a shooting range and tell the fur trappers they have to go there instead? And outlaw trapping on federal lands so that beavers can do what they do best. That oughttta help.

Review the Request for Proposals for additional information regarding eligible projects and application requirements. Proposals will be accepted through Dec. 1. Applicants will be notified of funding decisions in February 2022.

Of course the problem is that good people with good ideas will have to swallow their outrage entirely and avoid any trace of sarcasm when theyobsequiuly step forward and politely hold out their hand docilly begging for crumbs. Of course no plan involving beavers will be successful because they have made arrangements for them to be killed already.

Then they can wag their gnarled fish and wildlife fingers and say, see? Saving beavers never works anyway.

THINGS GET BETTER WHEN BEAVERS ARE AROUND

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Frogs December 11, 2020

Damming Loss

Sam Illington is a senior lecturer in science communication at the university of Western Australia and writes a poem every week about some new research reported. Of course today’s is about the dymanic impact beavers have on amphibians. But you guessed that already. Thank you Sam for lending your pen to our favorite hero for a while.

This poem is inspired by recent research, which has found that beavers may help amphibians threatened by climate change.

In this new study, researchers identified 49 sites within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, located in the southern Washington Cascade Range of the northwest United States. By looking at study sites that did and did not contain beaver dams, the researchers found that sites with beaver dams contained almost three times more variety of species than the undammed sites. They also found that certain types of amphibians, particularly those that develop more slowly, such as red-legged frogs and northwestern salamanders, were found almost exclusively in the dammed sites. The results of this study indicate that beavers could play a pivotal role in ecosystem restoration, management, and climate adaption, especially in those regions that are expected to undergo significant drying episodes brought about by climate change.

Well we knew beavers were something to sing about, but it’s nice to see other folks catch on. Time for some further appreciation of all things beavers, this time from North Star in Colorado where they just installed a trail cam to catch a glimpse of our heroes.

Pitkin County aims to learn more about eager beavers of North Star

While beavers reside on the nature preserve east of Aspen year-round, they have to wait until late fall to build dams. At least two dams spanning the width of the river were constructed in November.

All that effort goes down the drain, so to speak, when spring runoff swells the Roaring Fork and destroys the engineering marvels.

It is a cycle that has been repeated for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Now, Pitkin County Open Space and Trails is launching a research project to learn more about the most industrious residents of North Star.

“We’re here to try to set up a camera and see what happens over the course of the winter,” Liza Mitchell said while hiking through the closed preserve one recent sunny afternoon.

Will someone please explain to me why people like to write about beavers as if their dastardly plot has been “Curses foiled again” every time a dam washes out in the spring? Beavers don’t WANT the dam. They WANT the water. And when the spring comes they don’t need it for a while. Their work of keeping the pond deep enough not to freeze solid is done. Their work of making cover for their house so they have a safe space to bring new lives into the world is done. They did everything they set out to do, correctly.

Sheesh,

The study said the population at North Star appears to have increased in recent years, paralleling the improved health of the riparian ecosystem.

“The current density of beavers appears to be sustainable and beavers are likely improving ecological conditions at North Star,” the study said. “Beaver cutting stimulates vigorous sprouting in willow and beaver and willow can persist indefinitely in a stable equilibrium.”

What a coincidence! I mean you’re creek gets healthy just around the same time that beavers move in and get established. What are the odds! That’s like a pretty big coincidence. Do you think they have some kind of radar that tells them when places get better so they can move in right away? Hey you don’t think maybe they’re CAUSING that improvement do you? I mean backing up water. increasing invertebrates, stimulating plant growth, making homes for frogs and turtles, bringing dinner to all those birds, otters, and mink.

The dams haven’t survived spring since the explosion of stand-up paddle boarding, so there hasn’t been a conflict with river runners encountering an obstacle. The 2020 management plan prohibits removal of beaver dams or lodges. If obstacles survive into summer, the open space program will consider the surrounding terrain and provide information on how to negotiate them.

Meanwhile, the open space program hopes the motion cameras reveal some winter- and spring-time secrets of their flat-tailed friends.

I like the 2o2o plan. Let’s stick to it. Probably there were no paddle boarders last year because the whole place was shut down with Covid, so I’m hoping you’re lucky streak holds for 2021.

I can imagine paddle boarders would greatly resent having to portage;

THIS JUST IN: WATER IS WET, WHO KNEW?

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact, Beavers and Frogs December 9, 2020

There’s a whole host of beaver appreciation on this mornings docket, but we have to start with the most impressive. Even though its certainly not the most surprising. This from our friends at Phys.org.

Beavers may help amphibians threatened by climate change

The recovery of beavers may have beneficial consequences for amphibians because beaver dams can create the unique habitats that amphibians need.

That finding was reported by four WSU Vancouver scientists in a paper published in the journal Freshwater Biology. The research took place in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest of the Cascade Range, where the researchers identified 49 study sites either with or without beaver dams. The researchers found the beaver-dammed sites were 2.7 times higher in amphibian species richness than the undammed sites.

Certain types of amphibians, particularly those that develop more slowly, such as red-legged frogs and northwestern salamanders, were detected almost exclusively in dammed sites.

Get the hell out. You mean to tell me that beaver dams are great places for amphibians to grow up? I mean with all that slow water, all those invertebrates and a tangle of plant cover? It’s almost like all those herons and kingfishers come there on purpose. Consider my mind complete not blown.

Red-legged frogs and northwestern salamanders are also the species most threatened by climate change, which is projected to bring drier summer conditions to streams and wetlands in the Cascade Range. By expanding existing ponds and increasing the time before they dry up, beaver dams are allowing such species more time to reproduce and develop.

“Beavers may be a key component of ecological resilience to climate change in these ecosystems,” Piovia-Scott said.

I uploaded the paper to our library a couple days ago. Go here to read it for yourself. Then make sure you tell all your froggy friends who’s the man.

Then it’s time for some Canadian style beaver appreciation from the CBC.

Busy beavers dam Bow River side channel near Calgary Zoo

The Bow River is known for being pretty wide, but that hasn’t stopped a family of beavers from constructing a dam right across the river in the heart of Calgary.

Naturalist Brian Keating spotted the unlikely dam while out walking along the river. Keating told The Homestrech this is only possible because of the low water.

“At this time of the year, there’s only a small flow of water that goes down that side of the island, but the dam has been successful in creating an area of flat water, which is now frozen as a pond on the upside of the stream,” Keating said, adding that the construction is solid.

The dam is constructed of large and small logs and branches, held together with stones and mud.

“It appears to even have some good-sized, cantaloupe sized stones sitting on top of some of it,” Keating said.

“You can just imagine the beaver walking by repeatedly holding that rock, and bringing up the rock and mud and all kinds of debris, lots of branches, even some big logs.”

Beaver building dam with two rocks: Rusty Cohn

Here at beaver central we don’t need to imagine what that looks like. Because Rusty Cohn of Napa took the very best photo of it happening in person.

Keating said beavers are one of the only animals that will build themselves a home and alter the landscape.

“They can change water courses, they can flood forests, they create new wetlands. And it makes for a wonderfully diverse bunch of habitats,” Keating said.

“A beaver will go into a forest environment, for instance, that’s essentially a monoculture. And they’ll create edge habitat, which is biologically very rich. Of course, for us, they sometimes cause issues. It’s that age-old problem of us versus beasts.”

One of the animals that build a home and dramatically change the ecosystem? What are the others? I think he’s kind of mixing up the Keystone species concept with the “Ecosystem Engineer” catagory. They’re pretty different. Beavers are amazing, you know.

Keating said this dam shouldn’t cause a problem during the winter, and will not hold up in the rising waters of the spring runoff.

“It’s going to fail next spring when the snow runoff begins,” he said. “There’s no way that a beaver dam will work, that dam will become history virtually overnight when the water starts to rise. But … amazingly, it appears to be working now to a degree.”

Oh ye of little faith. Let’s just wait and see if beavers are up to the task, shall we? Oh since we all know beavers are special. let’s toast them, shall we?

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