Category: Beavers elsewhere

GERMANY AND CANADA CELEBRATE BEAVERS

I count it as quite a morning to wake up with two countries praising both species of Castor in an unexpected double whammy. And the thunder and lighting show just makes everything more exciting. First the German with our friend Gerhard Schwab, Google translate helps me with the following rendition:

Nager mit Biss

Rodents with a bite

The beaver is a misunderstood eco-genius: studies show that its dams increase biodiversity and improve water quality. But when the dammed water causes crop failures, there is trouble. Beaver managers settle conflicts on site.

Click on the link for a lovely short and unembeddable film about the beaver conflict resolution offered by Gerhard and why cooperating with beavers is such a very good idea. There’s a wonderful graphic about pond complexity and nice footage of the wildlife that enjoys the pond. It’s wonderful but Gerhard says it hasn’t been released in English yet. Just get the visuals for now.

And when you’re done visiting Germany, why not visit Canada. The home of Whistler’s mother, to be precise.

FORK IN THE ROAD: Canada’s largest rodent is a joy in more ways than one

So where do I finally see a giant one, out of the water, trundling along, minding her own business before gnawing down two willow saplings twice as tall as me faster than you can say Lord Beaverbrook? In Vancouver’s Stanley Park—the lovely Ceperley Meadow now so wisely allowed to naturalize into a wetland, along with beavers’ help.

Luckily, a volunteer from the Stanley Park Ecological Society just happened to be there, so he filled us in. First, she was a she, since it’s hard to tell a male from a female by sight alone as they’re about the same size and rich, glossy brown colour. Madam Beaver is eight years old, middle-aged for a wild beaver, though reports regarding average lifespan vary widely, to as much as 20 to 24 years.

Not only are they instrumental in rebuilding the wetlands of Stanley Park, as biologist Bob Brett of Whistler Naturalists points out how useful beavers are in Whistler. “Protecting beavers is the best way to protect Whistler’s wetlands,” he says, three-quarters of which have been lost to development. See all those migrating Western toads Lost Lake Road has been closed to protect? The wetland habitats beavers create increase breeding opportunities for them, too.

As Bob and I can tell you, seeing a beaver in the wild is a joy. And it’s not hard in Whistler.

I can’t tell you how happy I get when people enjoy seeing beavers. Although he talks about an 8 year old being middle aged, which I think is very ambitious for a wild beaver.

“We’ve documented about 25 active beaver lodges in Whistler Valley last year,” he reports, about two-thirds of them on the River of Golden Dreams and adjacent wetlands in the Wildlife Refuge and Rainbow Wetlands, and in the Millar Creek Wetlands. Two obvious places to see active lodges are in Alta Vista Pond, just north of Nordic, and upstream of the Valley Trail Bridge over the River of Golden Dreams.

Go and watch, but watch respectfully. That includes not plowing your orange Explorer inflatables through an important dam that beavers so skillfully built.

Plus I’m always happy when anyone advises people now to plow over a dam. People act like its the easiest thing in the world to fix the damage they cause when they canoe or hike over a dam. We know otherwise.

SOLANO COUNTY BEAVERS

heidi08 Who's saving beavers now? August 15, 2020

The city of Fairfield has the dubious distinction of being the birthplace of 3 generations of Perrymans. My maternal great grandmother was born there to a father that migrated from the Azores to be a sheepherder in Suisun. He had 11 children and died of the Spanish flu in 1918. His third son, my grandfather went to school and is buried there. When he married their eldest daughter was born there. Fairfield is big in our family history.

So you can imagine how happy I was to meet Virginia and hear her story,

Double Dam in Fairfield; Virginia Holsworth

It seems about the time that Covid made everyone stay home, she started to notice some interesting wood obstacles in her local creek. And when she walked in the mornings on the path along side the creek she noticed the dark rodents who tended them. Movie filmed by Virginia Hosworth.

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She kept looking and watching and noticed there were a number of dams running up the creek from the elementary school up to the canal. She came to enjoy watching the family antics in the morning and walked there frequently to see them. She talked to her friends and took movies of them with her phone. We met in the hallways on facebook and she asked me poignantly, “How do I keep them safe?”

Ohh if I only knew the magic formula! Solano is the county that kills the most beavers around these parts and fairield in particular and shown up in our depredation searches three times before. Usually right around when she was seeing them. But just because it hasn’t worked before doesn’t mean it can never work, right? Filmed by Virginia Holsworth.

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So Cheryl went to walk the area with her on Tuesday and learn what she could and I sent our new buddy Patrick Page out last night with the promise of beavers that wanted their picture taken. he sent this from one of the little dams in the middle.

The way I’m thinking is that first you get some photos, then you build some community, then you get some media attention, then you have a chat with the city. Fingers crossed we are inching along our way. The good news is that nobody will pay much attention to the creek until October so we have a little time. Expect more on this story soon.

BEAVERS CAN STAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JON

heidi08 Beavers, Devon Beavers August 12, 2020

August 12th is a prodigious day. It’s the day that in 1957 in the little naval hospital of Portsmouth England, Jon Ridler was born. In case the name sounds familiar he is the treasurer of Worth A Dam, the man of 100 tasks at the beaver festival including beaver tours, and my husband of lo, these many years. Happy Birthday Jon!

Jon was educated in England and enjoyed the life of a navy dental surgeon’s son living for a while in Malaysia, Gibraltar and some other places the sun never sets. His home base was always boarding school in Truro England though, down the peninsula of Cornwall near by where his grandfather retired, and oh by the way where some beavers were introduced after 400 years.

I mention this because Jon became an American citizen recently (because of all the winning obviously) and clearly England is so proud of their native son that they celebrated by making recently granting the Devon beavers legal status. Devon is at the top of Cornwall and about 100 miles away from where jon spent the vast majority of his early life. When the pilgrims sailed for America they boldly left from Plymouth which is the very tippy toes of Cornwall. Now beavers have been given a toe-hold.

Beaver families win legal ‘right to remain’

Fifteen families of beavers have been given the permanent “right to remain” on the River Otter in East Devon. The decision was made by the government following a five-year study by the Devon Wildlife Trust into beavers’ impact on the local environment.

The Trust called it “the most ground-breaking government decision for England’s wildlife for a generation”. It’s the first time an extinct native mammal has been given government backing to be reintroduced in England.

Environment minister Rebecca Pow said that in the future they could be considered a “public good” and farmers and landowners would be paid to have them on their land.

Beavers have the power to change entire landscapes. They feel safer in deep water, so have become master makers of dams and pools.

The River Otter beaver trial showed that the animals’ skill replenished and enhanced the ecology of the river catchment in East Devon.

They increased the “fish biomass”, and improved the water quality. This meant more food for otters – beavers are herbivores – and clearer and cleaner water in which kingfishers could flourish.

Their dams worked as natural flood-defences, helping to reduce the risk of homes flooding downstream.

Yes they do! Whoo whoo. There have been a few MILLION headlines about this story but I thought it could wait until Jon’s birthday, for obvious reasons.

The evidence gathered by researchers during the trial helped the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to make what it called its “pioneering” decision to give the beavers the right to live, roam, and reproduce on the river.

Beavers were hunted to extinction 400 years ago for their meat, furry water-resistant pelts, and a substance they secrete called castoreum, used in food, medicine and perfume.

In 2013 video evidence emerged of a beaver with young on the River Otter, near Ottery St Mary. It was the conclusive proof of the first wild breeding beaver population in England.

It was a mystery how they came to be there. Some suspect that the creatures were illegally released by wildlife activists who, on social media, are called “beaver bombers”.

The beavers faced being removed. However, the Devon Wildlife Trust, working with the University of Exeter, Clinton Devon Estates, and the Derek Gow Consultancy, won a five-year licence to study it.

Now there are at least 50 adults and kits on the river – and they are there to stay.

Peter Burgess, director of conservation at DWT, said: “This is the most ground-breaking government decision for England’s wildlife for a generation. Beavers are nature’s engineers and have the unrivalled ability to breathe new life into our rivers.

Congratulations Devon! And beavers all over England that definitely got one webbed paw in the door! And congratulations to Jon who I have loved for 39 years and who made all this crazy beaver madness possible. Wait until I show you his awesome present tomorrow.

SKIP LISLE WORKS HIS MAGIC IN MAINE

heidi08 Flow Device Installed, Who's saving beavers now? August 8, 2020

Apparently Skip Lisle isn’t retiring quietly onto the deck with a scotch and soda sipped from the arm of his adirondack chair. He’s continuing to travel to other states and save beavers, this time in a Peat bog in Maine.

Beaver Deceiver: Device aims to mitigate Rail Trail’s dam problem

SPRINGVALE, Maine – For years, beaver dams have caused flooding after high watershed events along the Rail Trail abutting the wetlands of Deering Pond, but the installation of a new device on site is expected to help resolve the issue for decades to come.

Skip Lyle, the founder and owner of Beaver Deceiver International, traveled to the community on July 30 and worked with Kevin McKeon and Steve Mallon, both of the Sanford-Springvale Trails Committee, to install one of Lyle’s custom-designed flow-control devices at Deering Pond’s culverts within the Hall Environmental Reserve. Lyle, of Grafton, Vermont, is a conservationist, builder, biologist, inventor and entrepreneur.

“My goal is to protect any threatened property while at the same time maximizing ecological and hydrological value,” Lyle said.

No word yet on why a reporter who looked up Skip’s website still failed to get the correct spelling of his name. It’s L-i-s-l-e. We learned to spell in Martinez. Why couldn’t you in Maine?

“If they hear it, if they see it, if they feel it, they will try to stop it,” he said. “They can’t help themselves. It’s a natural thing that they do.”

Lyle said his devices are effective anywhere between 30 and 40 years and are a more practical, long-term and humane alternative to trapping and killing beavers. Trapping in the area also is risky for the trappers themselves, McKeon noted.

“This is a peat bog,” he said. “Unless you know the area pretty well, you could be walking along the shore of Deering Pond and all of a sudden you could find yourself chest-deep in muck. It’s a pretty dangerous area for trappers to be trapping.”

The entire installation of the Beaver Deceiver cost about $2,900, according to Trails Committee Chair Lee Burnett. The committee will cover the expenses, with hopes of being reimbursed through the state’s Municipal ATV Grant program, Burnett said.

Mousam Way Land Trust funded a video production of the installation as part of the organization’s goal of increasing the awareness of how people exist within their environment, McKeon said. WSSRTV, the broadcast station out of Sanford High School and Regional Technical Center, produced the video and is currently editing it for availability soon.

Good for Maine and hurray for Skip! I went searching for the video of this installation but it hasn’t been released yet, but while I was hunting I found this video of Skip’s presentation at BeaverCon in Maryland this year was just uploaded. I didn’t know this happened. How smart. What a fantastic look at the history and evolution of the beaver Deceiver. Don’t miss it.

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BLOWING UP BEAVERS TO SAVE TROUT?

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and trout, Who's Killing Beavers Now? August 7, 2020

I know what you’ve been thinking. The beaver news these past days has been so excellent and positive, beaver benefits are so well understood even around the world, that the tide has finally turned. Why would anyone need to fight for them any more? Clearly everyone’s on the same team now, playing for the good of the planet. You might be thinking “It’s finally over! The battle’s done and we really won! Lay down my sword, unbuckle my armor and rest my shield against the hearth. Let’s all have a jug of wine to celebrate. Because there’s no need to be a beaver warrior any more.”

But on that day, when every place in the nation and most in Canada understand the importance of beavers and values their presence on the landscape, when the people of the world can finally see the forest for the trees, and the water for the flooding —

There will still be Wisconsin.

How To Maintain Local Trout Streams? Often, It’s Through Explosives

Jeremy Irish, an assistant district supervisor with the USDA’s Wildlife Services program, triggered the blast, undoing some of this year’s construction by beavers in the area. In the process, he cleared another portion of one of northern Wisconsin’s best trout streams.

Hundreds of miles of northern Wisconsin’s best trout streams flow freely, providing excellent fish habitat and great fishing. But if beavers, and they dams they create, had their way, the landscape would be much different. Often, it’s humans like Irish who have to help strike the balance, doing it using fuses, detonations, and explosions.

“Beaver are a very unique animal. They can alter their habitat to suit themselves, and in the north here, they definitely need to do that to make it through the winter,” he said. “The difficulty is, in altering their habitat, they also create problems for other species. In this case, we’re talking about a cold water ecosystem to support brook trout populations and spawning habitat.”

Apparently the USDA has not yet released it’s ground breaking (ha) research on why trout in the state of Wisconsin would have evolved differently than the trout in every other part of the world, but apparently they have the proof. Because why else would they ever be spending all that money and time? Oh and did you know Wisconsin thinks they have more beavers now than they used to before the fur trade? And that these two species didn’t actually co-evolve because the situation got WORSE. Yup.

Maybe it’s the cheese curds.

Whatever the cause. there are clearly a few battles left to be fought in the state. There are really places that believe trout are happier with explosives in their water than with beavers. I wrote the reporter on this story yesterday and I’ll let you know i I hear anything back. But I wouldn’t put down your armor just yet.

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