Category: Beavers and trout

CUTE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ENGINEERING?

heidi08 beavers and otters, Beavers and trout December 12, 2019

Sometimes you sing happy birthday to the wrong classmate. Sometimes the academy award goes to the lesser talent. Sometimes you thank the lady of the house for cooking the roast and the husband really did it all. It happens. We all make the occasional ‘acclaim’ error. Take this article for instance.

At park beaver pond, otters gorge on brook trout

Irene Greenberg had been roving around looking for something to photograph the Sunday before last when she came upon a brook trout bloodbath that’s the subject of Jackson Hole wildlife-watching legend.

It was a romp of otters that were responsible for the killing, which netted the mustelid family full guts of spawning fish. Greenberg, a semiprofessional wildlife photographer who’s got a soft spot for otters, was entranced and, for a while, watched on her own at a location she prefers not to reveal.

Hear that? A bunch of otters catch dinner at a BEAVER POND. And it’s ooh lets take photos of the atrocities! And be sure to canonize with our Cannon the 5 hungry culprits. Because they’re otters. And everything they do is adorable.

Even their murderous “gang” is called a “romp”.

Never mind that they owe their entire successful meal to the beavers who created that pond, and repaired the dams, Who wants to photograph those old things?

The brook trout are clearly spawning, with their ruddy undersides and yellow and red spotting easily visible in the shallow beaver-engineered ponds where they’re congregated.

The otters are “damn smart,” Mayo said. They faithfully show up to take advantage of the usually wary fish, which become easy pickings come the spawn.

“More or less every time they go under, they come up with a fish,” Greenberg said. “Sometimes they’ll come up and just eat them in the water, and sometimes they’ll come up on land and eat.”

“They are voracious,” she said. “And they eat a lot.”

Yes they do. Hey did you happen to notice in your frame-snapping frenzy, WHERE they’re eating a lot? My goodness it appears to be a beaver pond where all those brook trout are gathered. Gosh I wonder WHY they meet up there? I mean is it some kind of salmonid singles club?

Or could it be that beaver-engineered ponds make ideal habitat for babies to grow up? What with all those tastey invertebrates. And nice deep pools that don’t freeze solid in the winter where trout can thrive? Hey maybe you should be writing an article about THAT or photographing that doncha think?

But otters are cute. And you know how they sled in snow. It’s adorable! And so slinky. Lets write about them. Again and again instead of the brawny backed-engineers these ponds are made by. Because cute is more important than engineering.

Didn’t you know?

ANOTHER HEAD-SCRATCHER FROM PHYS.ORG

heidi08 Beavers and trout November 1, 2019

How was your Halloween? Ours was typical and one sharp little ghost-princess even correctly used the beaver knocker and exclaimed proudly “It’s a BEAVER!” So we of course gave her lots of candy.

Today it is officially November and time for the pondering of great mysteries as we brace ourselves for the holiday crush. First mystery? Figure out this very complicated riddle.

It’s really. really hard. I’m warning you.

Trout habitat improvements also benefit nongame native fish

Habitat improvements in the Laramie River intended to boost the brown trout fishery also have benefited native nongame fish, according to newly published research by University of Wyoming scientists.

In the Laramie River, a number of habitat improvements have been undertaken to boost the brown trout fishery, including placement of trees and logs to create additional structure, and rock riprap to prevent channel meandering. At four locations in the river near Laramie—including the public Monolith Ranch and Laramie Greenbelt sites—Rahel and Dugan studied the impact of habitat improvements on both brown trout and the smaller native fish.

They found that both brown trout and all but one species of the smaller native fish are drawn to the additional structure created by habitat improvements—especially wood placed in the river. Both added wood and natural wood patches—exposed roots, submerged branches and log jams—provide spaces for the smaller fish to hide from the brown trout, which also favor the additional structure.

Gosh. You’re telling me that woody debris in rivers helps all kinds of fish a whole lot? And piles of submerged sticks and branches help those fish flourish? Wow if there was ONLY some natural way we could fill our streams with wood bundles every so often, I mean without paying millions of grad students to do it. over and over. And then have something on hand to replace the wood if it washes out or rots. Sheesh, I can’t think of anything, Can you?

And hey, as an added bonus, Chris Jones of Cornwall just posted this excellent educational film on how fish navigate beaver dams. Apparently the beavers and climate change film that stars the Martinez Beavers is headed to Devon after their London appearance. So I’ve hope you’ve packed for a long stay.

Excellent explanation, Chris! And delivered at just the right time. Now the rule was I was supposed to finish the urban beaver booklet in October clearing the way for the grant application in November. But I’m still waiting on a contribution from Nancy May of Michigan, which I think is worth waiting for because of the regional distribution. So I’ll start the grant anyway and pop her part in when it comes.
Yesterday we were contacted by this years’ AmericCorp Watershed Stewards Interns asking for projects or activities to help out with and hopefully we’ll have volunteers again at Earthday or the Festival. They are excellent workers and usually happy not to be in the mud for an afternoon.

Oh and this was some lovely footage of my favorite thing eating my favorite thing. I wanted to share from Sally Naser of Massachusetts, Judy from B.C. says her urban beavers eat rose hips this time of year. Happy November!

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BEAVERS AREN’T DOING ALL THIS FOR THE TROUT

heidi08 Beaver Book, Beavers and trout, Friends of Martinez Beavers September 15, 2019

Ben Goldfarb & Sarah Koenigsberg toasting beaver success.

Which is excellent because last night was part one of the not-a-festival beaver event in Methow, Here are some late-breaking photos of last nights gathering (thanks Sarah!). Looks like they had an excellent turn out! Although the critics are withholding comment on Ben’s late-summer man-bun.

This morning there is more good news for anglers with a glowing beaver report from New Hampshire. I think the Chris Wood’s article set many things in motion and I hope we see more like this soon!

Adventures Afield with Andy Schafermeyer: Beavers help create brook trout habitat

A SUCCESSFUL angler often understands the relationship between fish and the world they live in. This complex system, often referred to as ecology, is crucial to catching fish.

Over the years, I have observed a direct relationship between Brook Trout and beavers that warrants further explanation. My favorite trout fishing is often small streams where beautiful brookies swim in pools and undercut banks. It is no secret that beavers create aquatic habitat where it might not otherwise exist and their role in expanding fishing opportunities seem clear.

To investigate further, it must be noted that beaver ponds/impoundments trap not only water, but many of the nutrients necessary for fish to grow larger than they would otherwise.

Why yes they do, Andy, So good of you to notice. Just wait, it gets better.

In short, I feel like beavers and I are working together to make the world a better place for Brook Trout. They set ‘em up and I knock ‘em out –- metaphorically speaking, of course. I don’t exactly knock them out but, rather, release them gingerly into the water I found them in. More accurately, I enjoy the experience of exploring a system perforated with small streams and still beaver ponds. I can catch fish in the fast moving current on a heavy nymph, and cast a dry fly on the still water of the pond. I find this type of fishing irresistible.

Well yes. Beavers are doing it just for you. And for trout. And for frogs and woodducks and otters. Why not be totally anthropormorphic about this?

The final selling point of these beaver ponds and connecting streams is that they are constantly changing — so frequently, in fact, that you will never see them on a map. I may fish a system for two or three summers only to find it gone the next. Beavers die, they move on, and dams break.

In contrast, these busy creatures are always moving into new areas. They are looking for water and unknowingly create awesome fishing experiences for a simple guy like me with an admittedly average understanding of the ecology that surrounds me.

I really hate to break it to you, Andy, but the truth is beavers are doing it for themselves.

Beavers have a lot in common with the women’s movement really, because when they are allowed to take care of their own needs society as a whole benefits.

Funny how that works.

WISCONSIN TROUT JUST HAD A VERY GOOD MORNING

heidi08 Beavers and trout September 14, 2019

Everyone knows that beavers are good for trout. Everyone, that is except to stubborn states that have insisted for years that beaver dams can be removed so that precious trout can survive. They’ve even gone so far as to say there are MORE beavers now than before the trappers came, and that’s why the trout population is so badly damaged.

Well look what just got published in the LaCrosse Tribune. As in LaCrosse Wisconsin!!!

Jay Thurston: Beavers provide for better trout fishing

Recently I finished reading the book titled, “Eager Beavers Matter,” written by Ben Goldfarb, in 2018. Many years ago I caught a 17-nch brook trout behind a beaver dam. Years later I caught a 25 inch brown trout behind another beaver dam. I was aware of the good food for trout behind beaver dams that was mentioned in Trout, publication from Trout Unlimited, about two year ago. If you have a beaver dam that is there for at least three years you could find big trout behind the dam.

WOW! Hear that, Wisconsin? And if you rip out that beaver dam its very likely that you won’t have a big trout behind it. Jay! You are doing the heroes work of preaching beaver gospel where it is needed most.

Considering fish food as the writer of “Eager Beavers Matter,” wrote, “Beavers make fish food. Beaver ponds containing up to five times more invertebrates than open channels, an almost unfathomable seventy three thousand bugs per square meter. And while fish folks sometimes complain that silty pond floors make lousy breeding habitat for salmon and trout, which prefer rocky bottoms, every particle that gets trapped by a beaver is a particle that won’t smother spawning gravel downstream.”

Have you thanked Ben Golfarb lately for writing the most wonderful book in the world? I am SO grateful that his wonderful words are rolling around the hard soil of public opinion and seeping into the minds of people who thought they knew better!

Beavers add to our groundwater that is sadly missing in many parts of the nation. From, “Eager Beavers Matter,” “Farmers above the Ogallala aquifer, the formation that underlies much of the Midwest, have pumped their aquifer with such exuberance that in some spots only a few decades of water remain. In California’s Central Valley, the nation’s produce aisle, water users slurped up forty-one trillion gallons of groundwater between 1920 and 2013 – one third the volume of Lake Erie. In the 1970’s when of pumping reached its furious apex, some farmland sank 30 feet as dewatered soil subsided, costing the state a billion dollars. Aquifers are often likened to saving accounts. Withdraw more than you make in interest, and pretty soon you’re eating into your principle. Then you’re broke.”

As our planet warms beavers have followed and recently build dams where trees appeared in Alaska. The dams provide food for moose, songbirds, and other species to adapt to global warming.

Jay goes on to talk about that fantastic article from Chris Wood the CEO of Trout Unlimited.

“When Trout Unlimited evaluated the effects of this type of conservation grazing and beaver at larger scales, across several Great Basin watersheds including Susie Creek, the increased wet streamside habitat was equivalent to the effects of adding 10 inches of annual precipitation. That’s nearly double the current precipitation at some sites, a big deal in this semi-arid desert.”

Wood concludes his article with, “The more water retained in the streams, the more drought and fire resistant the land around it becomes, plain and simple.”

When beavers build dams the trout behind the dams are the largest in the stream.

What a fantastic article! From EXACTLY the place it needs to be delivered and exactly the writer it needs to deliver it. Oh can you feel it? The earth is moving under our feet and starting to catch up with beavers.

It’s a new day.

SAME LATITUDE – BETTER ATTITUDE

heidi08 Beavers and trout March 23, 2019

What a difference a week makes. It seems like just seven days ago I was reading in Ted got-it-wrong Williams Angler artiicle about how BAD beavers are for fish. Apparently just 100o miles away they know better.

After a century’s absence, beavers return to Cedar Creek

Skiing into Cedar Creek isn’t easy, but a few Montana Trout Unlimited members willing to brave this year’s deep snow were rewarded with more than pretty scenery.

A few days ago, on her way up the drainage near Superior, Trout Unlimited project manager Tess Scanlan did a bit of a double take as she stared at one of the jumbles of wood she had helped position along the stream.

Where there should have been an undisturbed pillow of white covering the wood, she saw a narrow channel through the snow connecting two areas of open water. It could signal only one thing: beavers.

“We’ve been working for the past 10 years with the Forest Service on restoration up there,” Scanlan said. “Beavers are in that zone, but they’re now back in Cedar Creek for the first time in over a hundred years. It’s a super pleasant surprise.”

A decade ago, Cedar Creek wasn’t healthy enough to support beavers or a thriving population of native fish. A long history of placer mining had degraded the stream and surrounding riparian areas. Streambanks were damaged, some segments of the stream channel had been rerouted, and large woody debris and natural formations within the channel had been removed, according to Lolo National Forest documents.

Beavers can take over from biologists and finish restoring the stream, because beaver dams improve water quality, trap and store carbon — and can help retain groundwater during dry spells. Plus when that groundwater wells up at points downstream, it keeps stream temperatures down, helping native fish that need colder water.

Recognizing the importance of beavers to stream health, states such as Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Washington are trying to reintroduce beavers into streams that need help.

Fortunately, they moved into Cedar Creek on their own.

AHA! Finally some trout lovers who love beavers too! It’s about time they got some respect around here! What a fantastic way to recognize their top-notch contribution to streams. Everything’s better with beavers! This is what Sarah Bates from Missoula wrote this morning on the beaver FB management forum

Beavers recolonized a western Montana stream after a restoration project added woody debris and allowed a more dynamic floodplain. Since then, native fish numbers have increased, otters have showed up, and riparian vegetation is thriving. And now the beavers are making the news!

Now this is how it’s supposed to work. Beavers are given the credit they deserve and in return they give us the streams and fish we deserve. Isn’t that wonderful?

We’re trying to provide cold, clean, connected and complex habitat. The complex part comes with all that added wood. But with that, we’re also reconnecting the floodplain because it slows down those high flows in the spring runoff and helps recharge the groundwater,” Scanlan said. “You’re bringing back this natural ecosystem.”

Montana Trout Unlimited will do a little more road and revegetation work this summer, but this may be the last work season, Scanlan said.

“We’ve compared stream sections we restored to reaches where beavers have moved in and they create the same (natural formations),” Scanlan said. “You make it more habitable and they come in.”

I still think folks get this wrong much of the time. They think we cleaned the creek so the beavers come. When in reality the beavers don’t care much whether the water is polluted or clean. They care about willow or aspen and cottonwood. If you give them that, they can fix the pollution for you.

Just give ’em time