Category: Beavers elsewhere

MARKING THE DAY GRANDLY IN SLO

Never fear that June 27 came and went without a beaver festival. Actions to educate people and save beavers are happening in little ways all across the state. And this still happened in San Luis Obispo.

Today is a great day! I’ve been (safely, distanced + mask + outdoors) meeting so many amazing people and getting to talk about my favorite thing: beavs!

If you want to chat with me about beavs in Central or Southern California, my contact info is on my website: emilyfairfaxscience.com

Planning to do more socially distanced, mask on pond visits in the future both here and down on the Santa Ynez. Keep your eyes out for more info!

That’s right. That was Emily Fairfax leading a beaver tour on the day. And she’s wearing the very same beaver mask that I have. Because honestly, what else would suffice?

Audrey of the San Luis Obispo Beaver Brigade gathered folks together and was kind enough to remember what day it was.

It was a great day! Thank you Emily for sharing so much beaver knowledge to our county and getting folks excited about beavers here. I think we have a few more Beaver Believers after yesterday. Heidi Perryman, we honored your Beaver Festival date even with a cancelled festival!

Oh and something to keep your spirits up while taking a beaver hike in a mask. And here’s the soundtrack if you need a reminder. [wonderplugin_video iframe=”https://youtu.be/xDWAGyl3-8o” lightbox=0 lightboxsize=1 lightboxwidth=960 lightboxheight=540 autoopen=0 autoopendelay=0 autoclose=0 lightboxtitle=”” lightboxgroup=”” lightboxshownavigation=0 showimage=”” lightboxoptions=”” videowidth=200 videoheight=100 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”]

BELLEVILLE ABORTS BEAVER KITS, KILLS PARENTS

heidi08 What's killing beavers now? June 29, 2020

That’s what’s exhausting about beaver work. It’s one step forward two steps back. It can feel like all our hard work amounts to nothing. At least it feels that way to Doug Knutson, the defender of the Belleville beavers.

You might remember Belleville from their excellent interview on Furbearer Defenders, or the fact

that Doug is a filmmaker at Windswept Studios in Canada, or that they had Skip Lisle out last year for a training in installing flow devices. They were a success story.

Now they’re the other kind of story.

Senseless killing of our national symbol: McCaw

A Belleville councillor calls the city’s killing of beavers that were causing flooding in the city’s east end, as “troublesome.”

At this week’s virtual meeting of city council, Councillor Kelly McCaw was referring to a staff report that indicated four beavers had been removed and euthanized.

McCaw referred to 11 emails the city had received from citizens in the east end, “lobbying for the senseless killing of our national symbol.”

Doug did everything right. Reached out to friends. Got public attention. Earned the support of the city. Brought in Skip Lisle. How could this have gone wrong?

AND IN JUNE???

She added she didn’t blame the staff. “I want them to know I certainly don’t blame them for doing their job. Who I do blame, really, is the Ministry of Natural Resources. I consider them, in my personal opinion, to have not been helpful in any situation pertaining to beavers. From my perspective they’re nothing short of a propaganda arm for organizations like the fur managers. Relocation should be an option for us, but thanks to the ministry of natural resources that isn’t an option, and here we have a couple of beavers that have been euthanized because we have no option.”

Hear that? If we just could have MOVED them we wouldn’t have had to kill them. I don’t blame the murdering staff. I blame the rules.

Dear dear girl, don’t you realize if these beavers were moved new ones would have come? The same thing would have happened all over again. Either you learn to solve the problem or you keep on killing them. It’s that simple.

A report by Manager of Transportation and Operations Joseph Reid notes that staff has been using mitigating measures in the Belle Creek area.

After many calls from residents citing water levels and unmanageable issues, the city retained a Water Resources Engineer who recommended to remove some beavers from Bell Creek.

The city started live trapping May 27. A total of four beavers were live trapped and “dispatched humanely.”

Reid adds, “We believe there are still beavers in the area and will monitor the area. The flooding has been resolved for the time being.”

May, as you know, is not really a time of flooding. Or of beaver building up the dam. Temperatures are in the high 60’s and rainfall is about 3.2 millimeters a month. So not a time to hit the sudden flood.

But hey, about the time to be nice enough outside to do some trapping. And since everyone’s in quarantine, well that’s an added benefit.

Oh you know what else happens around May? Kits are born. But you knew that didn’t you.

Mayor Mitch Panciuk says there was a safety problem with flooding and under provincial rules beavers can only be moved a short distance. McCaw says she will do some research before presenting a motion to lobby the province to allow a longer relocation distance.

Hmm. I’m glad you made such an effort to switch from foot severing traps to drowning traps. That was mighty white of you. I mean if you’re going to kill infants or abort beavers you wouldn’t want them, to feel any pain right?

Poor Doug, and poor everyone who worked hard to get this right. It’s unbelivable the amount of sustained pressure it takes to get success to succeed when it comes to beavers. I told Doug that I knew just how he felt. It was after our beaver triumph that the city secretly decided to put sheetpile thru the lodge. I was horrifying and my heart was nearly broken.

But in retrospect, it was a turning point not a breaking point. In the secrecy of their private meetings the city let slip the dogs of war, and it meant nothing would be off limits ever again. I could push as hard as I knew how and never worry again about appearing unreasonable.

Some background from Doug himself:

[When Skip came out] it was an amazing time – full of hope and promise! The City seemed to have had a Road to Damascus conversion – they seemed genuinely committed to finding alternative measures to manage beavers and wildlife. And they seemed very proud of all the accolades they were receiving over Belleville’s new role as leader in sustainable management. I had the Mayor and City Manager say to my face that there was virtually no chance trapping would happen in Belleville again!!!

But something happened since then. I have been shut out of all communication with the City over the beavers. I was told not to film them working (strange when they were so enthusiastic last year!??). This issue could be this – at the other end of the space where the beavers live(d), is an open space park. We live on this park. It is a beautiful natural space enjoyed bu many and full of wildlife. But the City announced plans to build a massive “destination location” (mayors words) playground – we along with our neighbours fought this tooth and nail! It would be impossible to link these things together but things changed at this time. I used to be the Mayor’s best buddy for the beaver work we did – last time I saw him he just snubbed me!?

Anyway when flooding issues arose this Spring – new dams – Skips BD worked perfectly.- the City said it would remedy the situation. I OFFERED any assistance I could. Skip couldn’t come with Covid lockdown but he was only a call away – and I could refer the vast amount of experience and knowledge available here. However this offer was declined – “we know what we’re doing”. So they put in their “pipe-thing” – I shared pics on this form and it was universally condemned – and sure enough it never worked. Rather than regrouping or asking for help, they seem to have hatched the plot to say “we tried everything” (they did not!) and went right back to trapping!?!

SISU MAJAVA

heidi08 Beavers and Forests, Beavers elsewhere, pictures June 11, 2020

Hot diggety dam! Today is going to be a great day, can’t you feel it? What am I saying. it is a great day already! Guess what our friends at Phys.org wrote about yesterday? An actual article about beaver science! Not just one that actually describes what beavers do every day and doesn’t give them any credit. And stay until the end because as good as the article is, something EVEN BETTER happened last night.

Beavers are diverse forest landscapers

Beavers are ecosystem engineers that cut down trees to build dams, eventually causing floods. Beaver-induced floods make forest landscapes and habitats increasingly diverse, but very little is known about the long-term effects of beavers on European landscapes. Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Helsinki examined the history and occurrence of beaver-induced floods and patch dynamics in southern Finland. They used a unique dataset of field observations from 1970 to 2018.

Go on…I’m listening…

“Beavers can help to restore wetland ecosystems and entire boreal forests, and they also help in conserving the biodiversity of these environments,” researcher Sonja Kivinen from the University of Eastern Finland says.

Oh yeah, baby. That’s what I’m talking about. They sure can. I assume Castor Fiber? Not in Finland.

The European beaver was hunted to extinction in the 19th century Finland. Nowadays, the study area is home to thewhich was introduced there in the 150s. The American beaver builds similar dams as the European one.

Oh that’s so sweet. So this article is about OUR beaver. Remember that.

“The spread of the beaver in our study area has created a diverse and constantly changing mosaic of beaver ponds and beaver meadows of different ages,” Kivinen says.

The researchers observed that the number of beaver-induced flood sites grew by more than 11-fold over the study period. In addition to creating new flood sites, beavers also often use old sites to cause new floods. The duration of an individual flood and the frequency of floods can vary greatly between different flood sites, resulting in an abundance of habitat patches with different environmental conditions.

“Thanks to beaver activity, there is a unique richness of wetlands in the forest landscape: flowages dominated by bushes, beaver meadows, and deadwood that can be used by various other species,” university lecturer Petri Nummi from the University of Helsinki says.

Credit where credit is do! Yes that is exactly what beavers do better than anyone else. Thanks so much for noticing! Shh this is my favorite part:

Indeed, beaver-induced disturbances are more predictable in diversifying the forest landscape than for example forest fires or storms.

Well, at least they like them in Finland! Beavers might be killed in Scotland and Russia and America but some Fins apparently know what a good thing looks like. I’m told the country has no official motto, but the unofficial slogan is “Sisu, Sauna and Sibelius“. Sibelius is their famous composer. Sauna is the soaking hot bath that we all know and love.. And Sisu is a Finnish concept described as “stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness and is held by Finns themselves to express their national character.”

Umm…like a beaver.

Ready for the good local news from last night? This was photographed by a neighbor in her backyard a few blocks up the creek from where I live. She said the beaver was awkward and moving weirdly. That sure looks to me like a beaver trying to haul down a big tree he might have cut from up on the bank.

Gee I wonder why would a beaver do that?

FOLLOWING UP WITH FRIENDS

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere May 25, 2020

Follow-ups needed: Here is the chalk-masterpiece by featured artist Ray Cirinio at yesterday’s Santa Barbara festival. Pretty nice work. (Although the beaver has way too many whiskers for my inner critic. He’s not a walrus for pete’s-sake!) The hands are lovely and to form, though. Everything else is very convincing, because he’s probably actually SEEN the other things…hmm.I wanted to be regaled with hundreds of beaver illustrations this morning, but Ray seems to be the only one online so far. Let’s hope his work inspires many others. You can see what a large undertaking it all is. One of my favorite parts of working with Amy is being there when she has Jon help her lay out the grid for her initial artwork. It’s always soo auspicious!

My mother brought over the ‘actual’ newspaper from last weeks Oakley bruhaha. This is the front page of the local news section. That’s some pretty good product placement! Now everyone in the town knows they had beavers.

The folks in England have been working round the clock to promote the next phase of beaver reintroduction. One of them recently shared this lovely info-graphic illustration with I thought I should pass along. Pretty nice, isn’t it?

And since its memorial day I want to make sure you’ve all seen this, If you were alive in 1918 you either died or knew sometime that had. I’m sure my 1898 house could tell stories about wearing masks or social distancing in those days. We are all so very lucky to be reading this and not living it. This represents 1% of the total number that died from this virus.

BETTER CHANGE THE NAME TO “RIVER-BROKE ESTATES”

heidi08 Who's saving beavers now? May 21, 2020

Now this is just the kind of story I like best. A family that loves their wetlands built by beavers and a mean old developer who wants it drained for his parking space. If I hadn’t been so immersed in Oakley shenanigans lately it would have been all we talked about. But everything comes in good time. And they still get a letter.

Beaver dam battle pits Sandown family vs. developer

SANDOWN — Jeff and Heather Blake have always enjoyed sitting with their kids along the edge of the wetlands in their backyard and watching the wildlife, but their slice of serenity is in jeopardy.

A large portion of the wetlands on the Blake property vanished without warning last Friday when a local housing developer who owns neighboring property hired an excavation crew to tear out a small beaver dam and remove a section of a larger dam.

Jeff Blake watched in horror as the acre of wetlands quickly drained. He said the water and silt “rushed out like whitewater” as he scrambled to transfer about 40 baby turtles to the nearby Exeter River as their habitat was suddenly disturbed.

Hey I bet some baby beavers were disturbed too. Or maybe a pregnant mother since this is New Hampshire. I bet a whole lot of birds and frogs didn’t like it either. It’s hard to believe their aren’t rules about ripping out a wetland in New Hampshire. Art?

Developer Bob Villella, a Hampstead resident and owner of Boemark Construction, said he wants to sell the land for a new house lot, but the beaver dams, which are located on his property, had flooded a small roadway in an area that’s planned to be used for a driveway.

Villella said he needed to address the damming problem and insisted that he did nothing wrong as state law allows property owners to remove beaver dams on their land if done properly.

“The beavers built it up. I have the right to take it down and that’s what I did,” he said Monday.

It’s always the developers. Have you noticed this? It’s always the almighty dollar that is willing to rip out beaver dams even when very photogenic children want to protect them. I see a battle coming on. I see a million preschoolers in beaver tails on the evening news, Don’t make me come over there.

“I just felt like it was gone. It’s a piece that was so relaxing to us, especially now. I’ve been home with the kids with daycare closed (due to COVID-19) and we spend a lot of time outside. That’s what we’ve put a lot of focus on lately, just enjoying the simple parts of life,” Heather Blake said.

While the wetlands have filled up again, the Blakes say they’re still about two but he said he has no plans to completely drain the wetlands on the Blakes’ property and the several more acres of wetlands behind other homes.feet lower than they were before the dams were disrupted.

Villella has built several homes in the Riverbend Estates development and is planning more, but he said he has no plans to completely drain the wetlands on the Blakes’ property and the several more acres of wetlands behind other homes. Villella said his only goal is to reduce the flooding on the land he wants to sell, which may mean lowering the wetlands to a depth of about two feet.

“I understand they’re upset, but the beavers are doing damage to other properties,” he said.

You are fighting progress sweet family. You are demanding the right to be in nature against a well funded landloard. It’s a hard struggle. It takes stamina. Courage. And a firm belief in that a brighter future is possible. And there’s only one way to do it, With an army.

I’d advise you to fight as dirty as possible from 6 feet away. Maybe get every child in her preschool to mail the judge a hand drawn picture of their favorite animal that once lived in the wetlands. And a photo of themselves in a beaver tail.

That’s a start.