Category: Beavers elsewhere

THERE ARE LIES, THEIR ARE DAM LIES, AND THERE ARE BEAVER LIES

heidi08 What's killing beavers now? April 4, 2019

Just three days ago I wrote that Nevers park was “bringing in the calvary” and hiring Mike Callahan rather than trapping beavers. I said that because Steve Straight told me that because he had been relieved to hear it from councilwoman Brittany Poster said to him. But it turns out that both Steve and Brittany were lied to. Mike was never contacted and a trapper came and dispatched three beavers the next day. The whole thing was on local news last night and in the local papers this morning.

Beavers trapped, possibly killed after causing issues at South Windsor park

If you’ve been following at home for a while you might remember that the most egregious beaver lies – the real whopper -, are always handed down by the city administrator. Maybe because he’s hired and not elected and will never have to face voter outrage. In Martinez the beavers lead to our cycling through three city administrators. The first famously said that a flow device couldn’t work in our creek AFTER he first said he’d never heard of them. The second asked what “John Muir would have to say about planting trees for beavers” when the eagle scout asked for permission to plant willow, And the third – well, we’ll let you know.

It looks like the South Windsor city manager got stuck delivering some doozies. Beavers, apparently attack people in parks. Didn’t you know? Matthew Galligan is just doing his job to protect the community (and the mayor).

Beavers removed from SWindsor park over community protests

When beavers are trapped, the trappers licensed through the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection determine their fate, Town Manager Matthew Galligan said. They may be relocated, but will more likely be euthanized, since beavers are overpopulating the state, Galligan said.

“There were too many factors that affect public health, safety, and property in place to allow for the beavers to coexist” with Nevers Park activity, town officials said in a written statement Tuesday. Another concern is the possibility of beavers attacking humans who come too close to their young.

Mosquitoes, fish, disease, drinking water. You know the drill. At this stage the city council just throws every possible concern at the all and sees what’s going to stick. At our big November meeting Mike Mensini talked for a half an hour about salmon even though there never were salmon in Alhambra Creek. Because when you’re in charge you get to say ridiculous un-examined things until you run out of breath and never get interrupted with questions.

At least concerned residents did their part.

Many residents who wished to leave the beavers to their business continue to disagree that removal was the best option, however, and criticized Galligan on social media.

One resident, Stephen Straight of Abbe Road, maintains that town officials were wrong to trap the beavers before bringing in an expert to reassess other options, including methods of tree protection and controlling water levels. The beavers did not pose any threats, he said, calling the yellow tape closure of the trail “a stunt.”

Straight and another resident spoke up at Monday’s Town Council meeting to urge officials to reassess the situation. Both residents and council members were unaware that the beavers had already been removed until Galligan informed them that night.

Good for you Stephen. You gave it your all and these beavers deserved better, As we learned in Martinez it takes every last voice to save beavers, and even then it might fail. Here’s what turned out to be our game-changing meeting. but we didn’t know what would happen at the time. It was part luck and part circumstance and part sheer stubbornness. Without councilwoman Janet Kennedy going on vacation at the time. It all could have ended very differently.

Instead of the Middlechild Productions Documentary “Beavers Las Vegas“.

THE GOLDEN STATE TRAPPERS LAMENT

heidi08 Who's Killing Beavers Now? April 2, 2019

There are two pieces of great news that make this morning seem luxurious. The first is that I got my “W” key back – it had stopped working entirely and I as forced to paste it in or find another way to say the words work, wonder and why. The vast internet(s) helped me find out how to reprogram my keyboard and now my F2 key is behaving like a w, so I’m THRILLED. (Now if I can just reprogram my finger to remember that we’re in business.)

The second is this delightfully guilty pleasure I think you will share reading this article about the end of trapping in California – I imagine for many, many people it’s producing a thrill akin to watching porn. As a woman whose written about the ‘dying noble trapper‘ articles that appear religiously from Nebraska to Alberta every single winter, it is truly wonderful. Get your popcorn or your donut and settle in because honestly it’s that good.

As anti-fur sentiment grows, California’s oldest trappers are calling it quits

After a lifetime spent trapping animals in California’s western Sierra Nevada, Tim Wion traveled to Oregon recently to make one big, final sale at the annual Klamath Falls fur auction.

Unlike his fellow woodsmen, however, Wion wasn’t hawking the luxuriant pelts of wolves, bobcats, otters, coyotes, foxes and muskrat. Instead, the 75-year-old was selling off the many foothold traps and fur-stretchers that once provided him a livelihood.

“I’ve got no use for them,” Wion told a reporter. “Trapping is dead in California.”

See what I mean? That kind of start to an article right away makes you want to lean back on one elbow in bed and smoke a cigarette. Savor it all. It gets better.

A San Francisco ban on fur sales took effect in January, while two bills in the state Legislature seek to ban trapping for commercial purposes and outlaw the sale of fur products statewide. At the same time, a coalition of animal rights activists called Direct Action Everywhere is stepping up demonstrations at fashion shows and department stores.

“I’ve been on the front lines of this battle since the 1990s,” Aiton said. “But there will be no fighting this time. I’m 77 and … my health won’t allow me to fight one more minute.”

“They won. We lost,” Aiton said.

“My association is not fighting back because trapping is a dead horse in California,” Aiton said, “and there isn’t a dad gum thing we can do about it.”

Oh that’s sweet. The reporter who wrote this must know it’s sweet, right? I mean Mr. Louis Sahagun couldn’t be thinking readers would be sad or wistful when they read this, right? He’s got to know he’s giving a lot of people a lot of cheap thrills.

One of the bills slated for a final vote this summer was introduced by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), who argues that there are so few active trappers in the state that their license fees no longer cover the expense of regulating the industry.

A total of 68 trappers reported killing 1,568 animals statewide in 2017, according to the most recent data available from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Among the 10 species reported taken were coyote, gray fox, beaver, badger and mink.

The revenue received by the Department of Fish and Wildlife for the sale of their trapping licenses was $15,544 and $709 for the sale of fur dealer licenses, officials said. Many of those trapping licenses were held by pest control companies.

The costs of regulating trappers doesn’t even pay for itself anymore! Mind you, I’m enjoying this too much to even begin to talk about the unregulated free-for-all that is depredation. Apparently California is just fine with killing animals as long as you don’t wear them afterwards, but that’s a fight for another day. Let’s just enjoy this for now shall we?

“What’s happening in California is too bad,” Nichols said. “We see the problem there as a movement of people who regard wild animals as almost human-like.”

Ahh, I can’t believe this article is going to make us all climax again so soon, but shh, here’s my favorite part.

Trapping advocate Nick Catrina, who runs a pest control business in Stockton, offers a less politically correct reason for trapping’s demise in the Golden State.

“Animal rights activists are terrorist groups, mostly led by lesbians, who destroy property and burn down animal research facilities for their cause,” Catrina said. “And progressives, in their march toward communism, are trying to ban trapping. They’ll get rid of hunting too after they take over the government of the United States.”

Communist lesbian terrorists! The indigo girls perform Karl Marx with pipe bombs?

Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my goodness this article is so delicious it should be fattening. I just want to stash it in a brown paper bag and place it under the bed so I can read my favorite parts over and over again every night. I just can’t think of anything better that he forgot to mention. The funny part is that I recognize Mr. Catrina’s name from reading years of beaver depredation permits. I guess sometimes he moonlights in pest control. Next time I’ll say hi!

Today, trappers who were taught the secrets of their trade before their teens by older friends and relatives are feeling isolated.

“Old trappers are dying off,” Aiton said, “and not being replaced by younger ones.”

He realized that trapping was in trouble in California when, he said, “I ran out of world — the places I used to trap were covered with new homes and tough laws.”

The article ends with the wistful mention of his placing a live trap on his front porch to catch the occasional opossum or raccoon and watching them walk off merrily into the sunrise as he whispers goodbye, but it’s too late.

By then we are already lost in the the glorious sunrise of our own.

LOOK FOR THE BEAVER UNION

When the beaver revolution finally comes to Texas – and mark my words, it will come – it will be to somewhere like Tyler, where we already met at least two unrelated stories about women trying to save beavers on their little community lake. The first was Carmen Sosa, a staunch beaver defender that still donates to Worth A Dam every month, and the second is our new friend Brittany Poster Oak Hollow.

Residents speak out on beaver trapping in south Tyler neighborhood

TYLER, TX (KLTV) – Since the first of the year, beavers have been causing problems at a lake in the Oak Hollow neighborhood in south Tyler.

And they are taking care of it using a trapper hired by the property owner’s association through the property manageme

nt company.

Okay this you expect from Texas. But this next paragraph not so much.

“I just think there could be a peacful resolution for both the residents and the wildlife,” resident Brittany Poster said.Poster says while she understands the Beavers are a problem, she doesn’t agree with how that problem is being handled.

“The way that they were originally trapped is they just left them that way, “I felt that was both dangerous to the residents, our pets, and our children who use that lake. But it also seemed unfair to the beavers, who were just trying to make a home.”

Well said, Brittany, now if only there were a few more of you and a few less of these:

“We know it’s going to undermine the shoreline and they’re headed to the root system of the trees and we certainly don’t want to lose the trees,” resident Gene Shull said.

“We’re just really interested in protecting the lake and protecting our trees,” Shull said. “And we don’t want to be liable to misfortunes that we didn’t try and take care of.”

Game Warden Captain Quint Balkcom says that beavers can cause big problems and while they can be relocated, it’s not the best option.

Okay, saving beavers is never easy. It always takes more effort than you think you can spare. Step one is to talk to the media, which you’ve done. And step two is to UNION-IZE. Talk to your neighbors and that woman down the street who took your parking place, that nice mom with three little girls, and that english teacher you never liked. Find allies. All the allies, not just the ones who bring brownies to the meeting. Some of them will be flakes, some will be really annoying, and some will become your friends for life.

It takes a village to save a beaver. It really does. For some reason the voice of trapping is always louder than the other one. Even if it’s one against a dozen. You have to team up. Do everything at once. Fight the battle on many fronts. That’s what happens when you start a beaver-union.

NEVER SAY NEVER

heidi08 Beaver Rehabilitation, Mike Callahan, Who's saving beavers now? March 29, 2019

Regular readers of this website might remember the story of Nevers park in Connecticut, where there was a plan trap the beavers once the freeze unfroze. There was ample outcry on the ground and I thought there might be enough public support to change the outcome. This morning I read this from Steve of Ct.

Some local success in South Windsor, CT. After promising not to, our head of parks had traps set for our beavers in a local park. Someone posted that on Facebook, I snagged a town council member on the way to their meeting, after which the mayor called me at home and we talked. This morning he called again to say the traps were being removed and he was calling Mike Callahan to schedule an assessment. Not a bad way to start the day!!!

And thus begins another urban beaver success story, only this time they only had to call in the expert from 30 miles away not 3000. The joys of living on the east coast eh? I sense great things for the beavers in Nevers Park. Good luck team, you are in great hands.

I also received a worried message message from our beaver-watching buddies in North Carolina in Pokeberry Creek, Apparently one of the yearlings hasn’t been using his right front paw and they are wondering whether to involve a rehabber.

Yup it definitely looks like its hurting. I’m asking some rehab friends for advice. But it’s a big deal to trap and take it to be treated, and my friend Lisa reminds me that casting is really hard with an aquatic animal. Since its a front paw on a beaver – and not all that important – I’d be inclined to make sure it has plenty of food within swimming distance and wait. But what do I know so we’re asking the experts.

Meanwhile there’s strangely beautiful story out of Utah.

School Board approves wetland, bike trail project near Jeremy Ranch Elementary

The land around Jeremy Ranch Elementary School will be getting a makeover in a few months as Summit County plans for a major construction project.

To accompany two roundabouts the county plans to construct in the spring, it will be restoring the wetlands around the elementary school and building a bike path for students. The Park City Board of Education approved the county’s Wetland Mitigation Plan and easements to create a new trail at its meeting last week.

Wonderful! Wetlands, elementary school, bike path, sounds perfect. What’s the weird part?

According to the county’s mitigation plans, it intends to reroute Toll Creek east of the culvert into a new channel. The county will then install beaver dams and berms and plant willow cuttings to slow down the stream so the wetlands can re-form. The idea is that flora and fauna that left the area when the wetlands dried up will return, Hauber said at the meeting.

“For the school, it gives an opportunity for outdoor science because they can go out and actually see a wetland,” Hauber said.

THE NEW BEAVER GUARD

heidi08 Who's saving beavers now? March 28, 2019

I”m thinking it’s time for another beaver hero article with good strong folks working to solve problems. Skip Lisle and Mike Callahan are both great, but they’re the old guard, bringing up the rear. Who’s new to the field and making waves?

Listening to the Land: Oregon’s threatened wildlife

For several years, wildlife biologist and Beaver State Wildlife Solutions owner Jakob Shockey has developed and implemented anti-lethal solutions to help property owners deal with beavers and the challenges they can present when they take up residence.

Shockey, who grew up on a farm in the Siskiyou Mountains, shared various ideas and solutions during his presentation “Resolving Conflicts with Beaver Using Natural Science and Design” at the Necanicum Watershed Council’s Listening to the Land event at Seaside Public Library on March 20.

Hurray for Jakob Shockley and Beaver State Wildlife Solutions! I remember the buzzing excitement of his recruit at the state of the beaver conference in 2013. Everyone was eager to see the torch being carried to the next generation and Jakob was more than up to the task. Plus we were grateful to finally have someone doing this work in Oregon.

Beavers can create problems for land owners in two primary ways: Building dams that block waterways and/or cause flooding, and tree mortality, or cutting down trees, in particular. To resolve these conflicts, land owners have a number of options, including trapping, relocating or killing them.

Shockey’s goal, however, is to help residents instead pursue predictive management, which includes working within the ecosystems of streams, rivers and wetlands and implementing long-term and cost-effective solutions that serve as alternatives to bullets and bait.

“If you’ve got beaver at your site, that means it is good beaver habitat,” he said. “If you open that niche up, there is going to be another population at some point. … You start getting on a treadmill of removal — doesn’t matter if it’s lethal removal or relocation. If you’re taking animals out of a territory that’s been deemed high-value by the animal, there are going to be more that come in.”

Well now doesn’t that sound reasonable? If a beaver is on your land it’s because it’s land that supports beavers. Killing one won’t solve your problem. Killing five won’t either. Identify the problem that needs solving and let the beaver stay like a kind of watch-beaver to keep others away.

When it comes to tree-cutting, Shockey said, effective solutions include surrounding the base and root collar with welded 2”-by-4” wire at least 30” inches above the ground and 24” above the snow line; and covering the surface of a tree base with a mixture of latex paint and clean, dry sand. For large areas, such as orchards or crop fields, land owners also can consider electric fences, as long as they maintain the vegetation beneath the fence.

To address flooding—the other primary conflict, which can cause impoundment and damage to urban infrastructure and cropland—Shockey suggests installing flow devices. They fall into three main categories: flexible pond levelers; trapezoidal culvert fences; and fence and pipe systems.

In all cases, the devices capitalize on natural science and beaver behavior to address potential negative ramifications of damming without relocating or harming wildlife. Shockey pointed out a potential issue with flow devices is property owners can be held liable if they alter a beaver dam and it causes flooding on neighboring property.

What a fantastic article. Jakob must be very good at explaining his case to reporters because the writer has picked up all the salient points. Use natural science to take on beavers, and get Jakob on your side!

The endeavor is worthwhile, in Shockey’s estimation, because beavers are a keystone species in the Pacific Northwest. Their dams create wetland ecosystems that provide nesting sites for birds and increase fish and waterfowl populations.

“There is a myriad of animals that depend on the systems the beavers build,” he said. With beaver being an animal whose presence is quantifiably proven to increase water supplies, suitable habitat and fish populations, he added, a question to ask is, “How can we kind of get out of their way and let that happen?”

WONDERFUL! We here at Worth A Dam are all about getting out of a beavers way. They bring benefits we just can’t and they do it for free. If we can let them do their job we will be the happier for it. I believe I said something like that myself.