Category: Beavers and Frogs

Forestry Beavers

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, kits, Who's saving beavers now? October 11, 2015

Our Georgia-based beaver friend BK sends this 1906 forestry text on beavers. He is looking for reference on the amount of water stored by beaver ponds, so send anything you have my way. I love reading this lost wisdom. It has so much hope for the future and a mistaken faith in our recognition of doing the right thing. Here’s the awesome conclusion:

How touching the author wants a closed season for beaver. Ahem. Let me be the first to tell you that’s never going to happen. Actually, I don’t worry about beaver trappers. I worry about depredation. At least recreational trappers have to COUNT the number of beaver they kill. Property owners and cities don’t.

All I want is for the number of inconvenient beavers killed every year to be COUNTED. Is that so much to ask?

In honor of the flow device removal and our 3000th post, I finally got around to making a video about this year’s kits. It was hard work editing through all that weeping. But I’m glad the monument to their brief lives is done. A few folks sent comments and were willing to share them, so I thought I’d pass them along. If you want to add some email me or post them directly to the website. I guess the lesson of all this is that loving anything means you let yourself risk the pain of losing it. I’m sure there’s wisdom to be gleaned from that somewhere.

At the moment I pretty much just think it sucks.

Oohh, just beautiful, Heidi. Can’t speak, can’t type. Wishing you lots of pennies from heaven. Oooh those sweet babies…If I could wave a magic wand and bring them back, I would. I don’t know how you have made it through, Heidi, but that is the sweetest little film ever. RE of Napa

Thank you so much for making this for all of us. Many tears fell but I agree it needed to be done. LB Martinez

Yes, thank you, too ….you do such great work for both man & animals! Tears tears tears. CB Martinez

That was very beautiful, Heidi. Thank you. Please, let’s hope Alhambra Creek becomes home to more beaver families in the near future. Once this drought is over and the creek flows normally again, the willows grow, and the tullies flourish, and the homeless have homes, we will sit together again at the creek side and marvel at how magnificent the beavers are. I know this isn’t the end, even though it feels like it might be for awhile. Because of your initial interest and attention those many years ago on our wonderful Martinez beaver family; and subsequently, your stewardship and your educating the world about them, more beavers everywhere are being appreciated and saved. I’m so sad as I know you and Jon are too. But what a beautiful tribute you made to them, and for us all. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Know I love and appreciate you and Jon, and all your hard work for our Martinez beavers, and beavers everywhere. I will educate anyone, anywhere about the beaver, and their incredible engineering for the environment. Yes, they are definitely Worth A Dam, and much much more.
JO Martinez

MMM Beavers!

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, City Reports, Creative Solutions August 8, 2020

Congratulations for having the strange fortune reading our three thousandth post! Where has the time gone? Three presents today, one for each of the thousand posts about beavers that we have endured. I’ll save the most fun for last, but let’s start with an awesome new article from Cattleman’s magazine in Canada.

In praise of water, and beavers

Steve Kenyon

Do you know who is responsible for most of the biodiversity in this country? Long before we were ever here, it was our friendly, hard-working beaver, that’s who! This country was built by the beaver long before the fur trade depleted their numbers. To make a home, he backs up water, causing his environment to flourish in biodiversity because all life needs water. Plants, animals, fungi, insects and birds all rely on water and thanks to the beaver, they can all thrive within abundant riparian areas.

Each ecosystem relies on the other and it all starts with water. It aggravates me when we decide that the beaver stands in the way of industry. First off, the beaver were here first. Secondly, his job is more important than ours. He created the environment that allows agriculture to prosper. Thirdly, water is a very valuable resource. If he provides more for you, you should be thanking him.

How’s that for awesome proof that we’re slowly changing hearts and minds around the hemisphere and beyond? Thanks for this truly visionary article delivered to the best possible audience. Go read the whole thing and leave Steve a comment in praise of his writing.

Rusty Cohn from Napa sent me this AWESOME photo of a kit the other day and I new it belonged in our celebrations.

10378537_10205350702753324_2801776248016580205_n — Tulocay beaver kit: Rusty Cohn

Finally, the beavers of the world told me to thank you for reading about them by giving you a good laugh. Back when Martinez decided to paint over the mural beaver our pettiness got national press. The best was a morning radio show in Chicago. I don’t think anything could be funnier, and believe me I listened a LOT when I was making the cartoon. Enjoy, remember this cautionary tail warning against truly bad decisions at the civic level and celebrate beavers![wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/i1HSvWopHMU” lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=600 videoheight=400 keepaspectratio=1 autoplay=0 loop=0 videocss=”position:relative;display:block;background-color:#000;overflow:hidden;max-width:100%;margin:0 auto;” playbutton=”https://www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/wonderplugin-video-embed/engine/playvideo-64-64-0.png”]

Unravelling Mysteries of the Beaver Genome

heidi08 Beaver Chewing, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? October 2, 2015

Here’s something we missed in September.

Fun video. Makes me genuinely curious about what they’d find. Hey, how much would we have to donate to have Bennie at a beaver festival? Looks like they’re having troubles raising the funds. I bet this website can help them a little. I’m not a fan of beavers in zoos but since he’s there already we might as well harmlessly learn what we can from him right? I mean since beavers are a big mishmash genetically because of US we should help fix what we can, right?

This article from New York tells us little that is new, but it’s a pleasant read anyway.

S pecies spotlight: The beaver’s tale

Looks like: The Beaver is a large, unmistakable rodent that can reach up to 26-65 pounds and features a broad, flattened tail that can reach 9-10-inches long and 6-inches wide. Beavers have yellow-brown to almost black fur, webbed feet and prominent orange teeth.

Niche: Beavers are herbivores, eating tree and water plant parts. As winter approaches, they will collect and cache food underwater near the entrance of their lodge in a “feedpile” to use during winter. Beavers can be prey for coyote, fisher, bear and bobcat when they leave the pond in search of food. Kits can also be prey for mink, otter, fox and great-horned owl.s tale

Not nearly enough about how this keystone species builds wetlands that safe fish, frogs, birds and otter. But it’s nice to see anyway. I am impatient for the day when the people who decide to print “interesting facts about the beaver” have things to say that are REALLY interesting.

I don’t know how your blood pressure is this morning, but I’m heading out on vacation tomorrow so mine’s looking pretty good. I’ll try to reach over the mai tai’s and coconuts and manage to post something, especially Wednesday because it will be the auspicious occasion of our 3000th post. Wow. I’ll make sure to tell you a really closely guarded beaver secret that day to make it worth your while.

In the mean time, your blood pressure can take a vacation by watching this, from our Norwegian friend of the Scottish beavers, Sylvia Mueller. She took this on holiday in Germany.

Beautiful footage. Enjoy.

Beavers at Cornell

heidi08 Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? September 29, 2015

I always knew Mike could get into Cornell if he kept trying!

Lucky beavers who get to inhabit the research pond of the smart people at Cornell Ornithology lab. Lucky frogs, fish and herons that get to continue thriving in glorious beaver habitat. Cheryl sent this today because she’s a regular visitor to the site for their bird cams and has always thought it looked like a great beaver spot. I’m glad Mike Callahan was on hand to do the right thing at the right time. Now they need to bring him back for the wildlife management courses to teach another 100 students to do this work in their own states. And maybe publish some reviews of its success.

Hmm, I’ll write a letter.

High water puts Manitoba resort area in ‘serious jeopardy’

Groundwater, not beaver dams, is causing levels to rise at East Blue Lake, says Perry Stonehouse, Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship’s western regional director. Stonehouse made the statement in response to concerns brought forward by a Manitoba man who’s worried he’ll be forced out of business because of the high water.

Arch Dowsett operates a store, restaurant and cabins at the resort area in Duck Mountain Provincial Park. He believes beaver dams are responsible for raising the water level more than three metres in the past five years.
East Blue Lake is located about 110 kilometres northwest of Dauphin, Man. The area is “overrun” with beavers, Dowsett said.

“(The province) was supposed to be monitoring them and removing dams to make sure the water would go in its natural course,” he said.

Umm…funny thing about beaver dams and groundwater. I know you ran around killing all the beaver and ripping out their dams. But they raise the water table you know, so even with the dam gone things would be wetter. Someone told you that, right?

Something tells me we need an adorable beaver kit picture after that. Here’s one Cheryl took of our most unfortunate 2015 children.

Martinez Beaver kit July 2 2015 — *July 2 beaver kit – Cheryl Reynolds*

Columnists behaving badly…

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Who's saving beavers now? September 27, 2015

Looks like someone else felt a little snarky when they watched “Beavers Behaving Badly.” I think this column complains about all the wrong things, but its a fun read. Thank you to Bruce Thompson for sending it my way.
Natural World – Beavers Behaving Badly: a sad way to treat a noble species.

Beavers are interesting creatures. Their instinctive urge to build dams has shaped America, and the lush habitats their waterways create makes them an essential part of the country’s ecology. It is hard, however, to take beavers seriously. They’re condemned by their unfortunate Bash Street teeth and junk in the trunk waddle to be the comedy figures of the animal kingdom. I’m sorry to tell you, beavers, but all that ‘keystone species’ shit you’ve been doing – it’s all for nothing. No one can respect an animal that looks like a child’s pyjama case.

There’s no dark side to a beaver. No air of mystery. Beavers will forever possess a gravitational pull for those who believe their name alone contains a wealth of comic potential. This is a sad, sad thing for the noble beaver, but do they really deserve the indignity of being narrated by Rob Brydon doing his best uncle-at-a-wedding routine? The secret beaver-cam is capturing a family of snuggling beavers as we’re told that the animals mate in the winter. “Lets face it,” says Rob with a silent chuckle, “locked in by the ice for months on end, there’s not much else to do!” I’m all for the dumbing down of television, but has it really come to this? This brave nest of beavers is trying to breed in the face of debilitating conditions, and all they get is Bryn from Gavin & Stacey cracking one-for-the-dads jokes.

Now I agree about the narration of this film being irritatingly perky, but who does not take beavers seriously? Either people are seriously upset about them, like the anglers in your country, or seriously excited about them, like the wildlife trust folk in Devon, but they all seem to take them seriously.

I like the line about the pajama case, though. (Even though you spelled it wrong.)

The captive is driven out of town while his beaver life partner grieves. Come spring, her bloated body will rise to the top of the thawed ditch and no one will lay flowers on her beaver grave. Did she regret it, in those final hours, choosing freedom over love? This question is never answered, as laughing boy is uncharacteristically quiet for this bit. Instead, it’s back to the hidden camera in a beaver lodge, where some fwuffy beaver kits are having a nice sleep. Honestly, it’s simply untenable, I refuse to be patro … but, awww, look at their funny faces!

Gotcha! AHA! Baby beavers are not just puppy cute, they are inescapably adorable aren’t they. Told you. Now they’ve got your attention.

Now that one’s having a little scratch! Yes NW:BBB, you’re right, it is just like me in the morning. Maybe this condescending fuzz isn’t so bad after all. I know I should beaver-y ashamed, but I can’t help myself.

Yep, anyone who starts watching beavers will probably keep watching them a little longer. They’re compelling that way.

Consider yourself warned.