Category: Beavers elsewhere

HOW YOU KNOW YOU’VE ARRIVED

So yesterday we received a donation from Mary O’brien, which happened when she asked about our Ecosystem poster and I said we’d send some right away. There are VERY few things more affirming than receiving a donation from the woman that pretty much single-handedly inspired me to do this work in the first place. It was 2009 that I read what I still consider the most important beaver article ever written in High Country News and it was SO long ago that it wasn’t even by Ben Goldfarb. (Sorry Ben.)

Voyage of the Dammed

Even with a tall wooden cross mounted on the wall behind her, Mary O’Brien doesn’t look like a typical preacher. In her blue cardigan and jeans, a single heavy braid falling like a gray rope down her back, she paces slowly from side to side, telling her listeners that we are worshipping a false landscape.

I was so star struck by the article that when I went to my first beaver conference I remember busily SCANNING the crowd for that thick grey braid to see which one was her. It turned out there were far too many grey braids to count – (some of them on the men). Plus it turned out she had cut hers off by then. But she was genuinely happy to strike up a conversation anyway, and that’s how we first met. Here she is at one of our early festivals photographing the children’s tiles on the bridge.

Mary’s an amazing and powerful woman, who is very patient with the many competing and stubborn voices in Utah. She’s also not afraid to tell people what to do or ask for help when its useful. I agree with her that this is a really cool poster. My favorite part is that it makes people smarter when all they do have to look at it. Coyote studios did a wonderful job with my idea and the quote from Alex Riley. It was a joint effort.

Well there many be more sources of beaver wisdom that there used to, but there’s still plenty of beaver stupid to go around. Here’s a little slice from North Carolina.

Mayor says beavers may be to blame for damage to Cary road

Cary, N.C. — Beavers may be behind a dip that has recently developed on Green Level Church Road in Cary, according to Mayor Harold Weinbrecht.

IWeinbrecht said it appears as though a group of beavers has built a dam inside two 72-inch storm pipes that run beneath the road, which likely led to issues with the pavement.

Beavers are SO useful to mayors! Think about it. Whether you’re blamed for a pothole or a power outage or a warehouse fire beavers offer the handy excuse and get-out-of-jail-free that card city officials need most. Surely it wasn’t due to Cary’s shoddy workmanship or anything like that.

Just like it wasn’t Martinez fault when the creek bank started eroding because all they did was put in topsoil near a flood plain.

Blaming the beavers is a civic treasure, Politicians should love beavers. There should probably be a national holiday.

BEAVERS : THE NEXT GENERATION

In keeping with our only good news Sunday theme, I thought I’d share this very convincing essay Molly Foley penned after attending her first ever State of the Beaver Conference. Molly is the next generation of beaver supporters and will be here to do this work long after we’re gone.

Here’s what I have to tell you people about beavers. Beavers shaped this country, and the wildlife that co-evolved with them for milions of years. Want to know why our birds, fish amphibians, and insect populations are plummeting? Loss of habitat. About half of endangered species rely on wetlands. When we decimated beavers during the fur trade, then drained the land for agriculture and development, we sentenced our ecosystem to death.

Beavers, humble creatures they are, can re-create that habitat. Its not just the Coho salmon and the red legged frog that need beavers either. From a self interested human point of view, WE NEED BEAVERS TOO. In the west, beaver ponds are helping to store water on the landscapecharge ground water, provide fire breaks and habitat

refuge. In the east beaver ponds provide flood protection and improve water quality.

So if you are lucky enough to be graced with beaver in your neck of the woods, I beg you, let them be! We have a blooming field of professionals prepared to non-lethally handle any beaver problem you might have, whether its to keep the flow going, or prevent loss of trees. There are solutions. Killing them isnt a long term solution because there will be new ones to take their place. Be smart monkeys and learn to co-exist.

Well said Molly! I’m so glad you’ve been thoroughly bitten by the beaver bug. We first met when she was taking the California Naturalist Course in Santa Rosa and presenting on the Martinez Beavers. She swung by the festival last year and then made her way to the conference this year. Beaver acolyte! Hmm, just asking but do you want to inherit a festival and website when I die?

As if that wasn’t wonderful enough, Ben was back on the radio yesterday talking about saltwater beavers in “Living on Earth” where he did another amazing job. It’s a very fine listen but for my money the best part is at the beginning where host Bobby Bascomb’s four year old is delightfully searching for “Beavehr twees”.

I’ve always been a sucker for four.

Saltwater Beavers Bring Life Back to Estuaries

Until recently, biologists assumed that beavers occupied freshwater ecosystems only. But scientists are now studying beavers living in brackish water and how they help restore degraded estuaries and provide crucial habitat for salmon, waterfowl, and many other species. Journalist Ben Goldfarb speaks with Host Bobby Bascomb.

What will I ever do when these Ben-terviews about beavers stop rolling delightfully onto my doorstep? I can’t even imagine that dark hour but I know it’s coming. He is already working on his next book, which is not about beavers, or not solely about beavers. Shudder. Let me not think on’t!

Today let’s end with two wonderful donations from Sparrow Avenue in Toronto. Barbara crafts original textiles and silkscreens and was my first generous YES in this year’s asking for beaver donation. Her enthusiasm gave me the courage to keep asking other poor souls. She donated an adorable little coin purse AND a pillow from her incredible store. Thank you Barbara!

NO, NOT IN NEVERS!

heidi08 Beavers, Who's Killing Beavers Now? February 16, 2019

it’s been a long time since I was reminded of the flurry of community objection to killing beavers and the grumble of public works staff when they explain at a city meeting why they need to go. I wonders, is it like riding a bicycle? Does it all come back to you once you out your feet on the pedals?

Beavers decimating trees in Nevers Park to be trapped, killed this spring

SOUTH WINDSOR — Licensed trappers will utilize deadly traps this spring to remove the two or three beavers living in a Nevers Park pond that have damaged and felled nearly 200 trees over the last six months.

Unless the beavers abandon the area before spring arrives, trapping will be used as an uncommon last resort to protect public safety and prevent further damage, town officials said.

A January Facebook post by a resident on a South Windsor community message board asked town workers to stop destroying the dams that beavers built in the northern section of the 157-acre park. The post received over 80 comments from residents who overwhelmingly agreed that the town should leave the beavers alone if they’re not harming anyone.

“We do not hate beavers,” he said, emphasizing that officials are in favor of peaceful and safe coexistence whenever possible. There’s beaver activity at about 40 park locations in South Windsor, he said, and town workers don’t typically disturb them.

Well, well, stop me if you know this one. A flurry of folks object to killing beavers! And the parks department says ‘we don’t hate beavers’ – that sounds so familiar! i think this is an ACTUAL QUOTE from our director of public works. Let me pull it up.

What do you know, I guess this really is like riding a bicycle!

Favreau explained that the beavers eating tree bark and building dams have destroyed over 187 healthy trees and caused trees to fall onto the Nevers Park trails. Flooding in the area from beaver activity also creates stagnant pools of water that serve as seasonal breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Ahhh the old song and dance! Mosquitoes and falling trees! i’ve heard that song before! Tell me, if you have beavers at 40 locations how is it that you haven’t learned to wrap any trees yet? How could you be saying that you actually installed a flow device and never learned to wrap trees? That’s like trying to do a lung transplant before you dissect your first frog in biology class.

While beavers can provide benefits to an ecosystem by raising the water levels of bodies of water and creating habitats for other wildlife, officials said their activity in Nevers Park has become hazardous, and trapping and killing them is the best option.

“In this case it’s in a high public use area,” Favreau said, “and we feel it’s the safest thing to do.”

Yes there are a few nice things beavers do but this is SERIOUS! A tree could fall on a child!

Town staff also tried several times to remove the dams the beavers built to encourage them to leave, but they persisted and rebuilt each time, Favreau said.

As a last resort, Favreau recommended trapping and killing the beavers, which is listed as the best option for their population management on the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s website. Relocating the beavers is a costly way of moving the problem from one site to another, DEEP research shows.

Beavers overpopulate Connecticut, Favreau said, reproducing in great volume and remaining unaffected by predators or diseases that could control their population naturally. Beaver damage complaints led to a regulated trapping season in the 1960s, according to DEEP.

I’d be very curious about the definition of the word ‘overpopulate’. I mean does it mean more than there used to be? more than is convenient? or more than can be sustained? I’m sure it’s not the last because if there weren’t enough food for them they’d die off on their own. I believe it’s just another case of using a word about beavers to mean whatever you want it to mean.

Been there. Done that.

BEAVERS ARE WORSE THAN HURRICANES?

heidi08 Who's Killing Beavers Now? February 7, 2019

If you were looking for Lewisporte on a map (and I can’t imagine why you would be) you would need to go all the way across the united states. Past North Dakota and New York and Vermont. All the way up past Maine. Past New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Past Labrador and East coast of Canada. Into the cold Atlantic ocean and onto the very last shivering northern island of Newfoundland – the very last stop on the very stretched out fingertips of an entire continent.

And THEN – once your on the very last piece of land before endless blue – go to the upper most farthest corner- practically the farthest place IN the farthest place – before you can find Lewisporte. There is a sliver of NL to their east, but basically It is so far into the blue that their closest neighbor to the North is Greenland, to the south is Guyana, and to the East is Spain.

This city is quite literally as far away as it can possibly be and still be North American.

And it has a problem with beavers. All the way out there. Are we surprised?

Dealing with the dam problem: Lewisporte hopes to trap beavers to prevent flooding

LEWISPORTE, N.L. — In hopes of preventing future floods, the town of Lewisporte is tackling a beaver problem. At their town council meeting Jan. 29, Coun. Stephen Hollet expressed concern around beaver dams in the watershed area near the Scissors Cove brook area.

With more frequent heavy rainfalls in recent years, and with memories of the flooding in 2016, the town council suspects these dams are playing a significant role in rising water levels and increasing flood risks.

“We never had that level of flooding before, even with storms like Hurricane Igor,” Hollett told The Central Voice. “The only thing that’s changed in that area is the presence of dams. We’ve noticed heavy rains are starting to occur more than what we use to see.

Because beavers are worse than hurricanes. Didn’t you know?

The town has contacted Ewen Whiteway, a licensed trapper in Lewisporte, to trap the beavers and remove them from the brook. According to Coun. Ken Tucker, while this may alleviate some of the problem, there is a risk that the beavers will return again.

“It’s only a temporary solution [if the beavers return],” Tucker said. “I think we’ll have to put in a plan of monitoring the area once or twice a year, particularly in the late summer and fall. It’s in our best interest to stay on top of the issue.”

The town council also decided to write a letter to Dept. of Fisheries and Land Resources Minister Gerry Byrne to seek input from the province. Because of the flood risks these dams pose to the infrastructure and safety of the community, Coun. Perry Pond says the department holds some responsibility.

The department said in an emailed statement that they deal with furbearers on a case by case basis, and while there are options for conservation officers to tackle the problem, hiring local trappers is the preferred solution during winter months.

You didn’t actually say how beavers are causing a the flooding. Dams in the watershed area of scissors brook cove? Your town is so very remote I cannot actually find this on a map, But I assume the dams are backing up water in the creek before it can reach the cove. Which is flooding someone’s back yard or driveway, i guess.

I would mention that trapping is a temporary solution and that installing a flow device would address this issue for the long term. But honestly, what’s the point?

Beavers are worse than hurricanes.

SAVING BEAVERS IS CONTAGIOUS

heidi08 Who's saving beavers now? January 31, 2019

There are lots of reasons to do the right thing.

Because it’s better for the world. or better for the people in it. Because it makes you feel better, Because you made a promise. Because it would hurt someone if you didn’t. Sometimes because its easier or cheaper in the long run than doing the wrong thing.

But one of my VERY favorite reasons to do the right thing is because you saw someone else do it first and it seemed good, and possible and you liked the way it made you feel.

Meet the new beaver peer pressure.

Resident wants beaver traps out of Katzie Slough

Little by little, the Katzie Slough clean-up continues.

Now, a Pitt Meadows resident wants the city to take another step and try to find a friendlier way of dealing with an animal that’s been part of the nation for centuries.

Instead of trapping the beavers, who can dam up water flow in the slough, leading to flooding of nearby land, Jackie Campbell is asking the city to consider another option and pointing to a nearby neighbour as an example.

Port Moody is trying out a flow device or a pipe that will lower the water level near a beaver dam in Suter Brook Creek, by city hall.

I’m convinced that one of the reasons cities are so reluctant to do the right thing is that all the mayors have lunch and swap stories and are afraid it will catch on – next thing you know Concord will want beavers, and then Walnut creek. Doing the right thing is contagious and our friends Jim and Judy Atkison have started a movement.

Campbell acknowledges that such a device will take more time and effort.

“But this is where we want to go to be more wildlife friendly and safer,” Campbell said previously in a letter to the City of Pitt Meadows.

“Many groups and the Katzie [First Nation] are working hard to attract the public to the slough to appreciate and understand all it can be.”

Apart from the cost to beavers, which drown when a trap holds them underwater, Campbell is concerned about the safety of people and their pets along the slough.

“Wake up,” she said.

“The city will suffer the embarrassment of causing this danger to the public for using this tortuous method of stopping beavers. There are new ways to allow the dams to flow. We must learn to live with the wildlife around us.”

Jack Emberly, a local environmentalist, said modern technology is “finding ways to live with them … trying to find a better way, a more progressive way to work with wildlife.”

Hurray for people wanting to work with beavers because its more humane! That’s a great starting place that appeals to many people. But my favorite reason to work with beavers is because its good for us and our creeks and our wildlife. Because humans need clean water. Because it can lead to such important long-term benefits for our water and our planet.

Pitt Meadows operations superintendent Randy Evans said that the city’s flat terrain makes it easy for flooding to occur.

He has asked if engineers would sign off on such flow devices or pipes, but none so far is willing to do so and risk liability from possible flooding.

Such pipes could easily clog up, which could lead to flooding, he added.

“The device, when I looked at them, they’re very specific for certain locations.”

He added that the city tries to discourage beavers by wrapping trees trunks in protective material and by demolishing beaver dams, often several times, in the hope that beavers will move on.

“Trapping is the last alternative that we use.”

Well okay Randy Evans – we expected this kind of quote from you. And I’m glad trapping is your last option. We just need to refine your definition of LAST. How about you try a well-installed flow device first and then if it doesn’t work you can bring in the traps.

It can be your new ‘last’. First try it the right way.

You know, like Chelan sherriff yesterday in Washington state which posted these photos of their work saving the beaver that crossed the road which he wisely guided with a snow shovel instead of his fingers.