Category: What’s killing beavers now?

Out of left-field, Medfield.

heidi08 Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Massachusetts Trapping Law, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now? October 31, 2015

Less than 100 miles from Beaver Solutions in Massachusetts, the historic town of Medfield has learned something about beaver management. Something. Who was it that said “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing?“.

I mean, besides me?

Increased beaver population wreaking havoc in Medfield

A string of beaver dams has caused flooding in 28 acres of Medfield forestland over the past few months, backing millions of gallons of water up into the Fork Factory Brook and Rocky Woods Reservations.

We have a number of concerns from the loss of public ways, to mosquito concerns, to flooding areas, and residents downstream,” said Selectmen chairman Richard DeSorgher.

The avoidable problem is flooding on both sides of Fork Factory Reservation. If the water level continues to rise two to three more feet, then the integrity of the pavement on Hartford Street, a main commuter road, will be compromised said Town Administrator Mike Sullivan.

The Trustees of Reservations, owners of the Fork Factory Brook and Rocky Woods Reservations, are attempting to take a non-violent approach to the beaver infestation.

Okay, so far so good, right? Considering this is Massachusetts, home of the big whiners about beavers, and the alarming headline from the hyperbole department, that’s not a bad start. But keep reading, It gets very confusing very fast.

Rather than attempting to halt the creatures from doing their work, they aim to find ways to slow them down but mostly intend on “allowing the natural changes to take place, with some intervention,” said Mike Francis, superintendent of the Trustees. The transition from wooded area to wetland is not uncommon, and is often instigated by beavers, he said.

“Beavers are a keystone species. A lot of other species rely on beavers to create the habitat that they need. When beavers move in, you see a lot of changes, quickly,” he said. “I think people have started to see those changes there and will continue to. You will see new wild life and new species moving in as a result of the new habitat created there.”

The preferred and most humane method of dealing with the overpopulation of beavers is to use long 10-inch wide pipes to avert the water through or around the beaver dam allowing the brook to flow as it had before.

The idea is that the beaver eventually becomes discouraged by the lowering water level and moves somewhere else. Two of these water-diverting pipes, commonly known as “beaver deceivers,” were installed two weeks ago doubling the amount of covert pipes since early summer in the Fork Factory Brook Reservation.

Francis said that the culverts are monitored and maintained regularly, and that the water levels have decreased as planned. The Trustees are working closely and cooperatively with town officials to make the best decision for the community.

The issue that the two groups face is whether to install culverts at every dam hoping that the pipes prove affective [sic] in the long term, or to take advantage of the short trapping season this winter.

“We still feel trapping is the long term solution,” said Sullivan. “The long term for the beavers is to kill them unfortunately because otherwise they keep multiplying.

Wait, so you just put pipes through the dam because and didn’t bother about putting fencing around the pipes? Because I guess you think that that good-for-nothing Mike Callahan just makes up busy work to charge folks more and you know better? And you think this will make the beavers leave because they hate the water draining away? Um, sit down for a moment and take a deep breath. You’re right that beavers hate their water draining. But you know they have way to stop that, right? It’s called ‘plugging the pipe‘. And they have a nearly unlimited supply of plugging materials right there in the creek. It’s called ‘mud‘.

Send the photographer out to get a photo of what those pipes look like in 5 days.

This article could hardly be more wrong. Aside from the spelling errors and mistaking the word culvert for the word pipe. I think the reporter is every bit as confused as the trustees. Funny that he got the misleading numbers from Fish and Game exactly right. I guess they’re probably printed on the newsroom wall, (or the cocktail napkins). I can’t help it. I’ll print the last part with corrections.

The mammal’s population has increased from 20,000 to 75,000 in Massachusetts in the last seven years, according to the Department of Fish and Game. ~~The population spike is due to the passing of a law that shortens beaver trapping season to the early winter months.~~ The population spike is due to the passing of a law that outlaws kill traps except for in specified circumstances.

“We really want to just be installing these water flow devices,” said Francis. “Only as a last resort, when the other options have proven unsuccessful, then we will really adhere to a permitting process to go about trapping the beavers.” (We hate installing pipes and would much rather kill them but we didn’t do the paperwork fast enough.)

Sullivan said the ~~culverts~~ (pipes) will be monitored and hopes they do as they claim to. He does, however, have his doubts.

“If they leave, they’ve got to go someplace,” he said.

Can you go somewhere else please? Because you’re making my head hurt. I can’t decide where to START with this story. Especially because Mike Francis delivered that nice paragraph about ‘keystone species’ and made me think he’s trying to do the right thing. And then two paragraphs later said we can’t wait for them to leave. Obviously you don’t really BELIEVE that beavers will bring new wildlife to your beautiful historic brook. Other wise you wouldn’t want them to leave. And you don’t really BELIEVE that they’ll leave because you decorated their dam with a pipe. That’s why you want to kill them. This is beaver kabuki.

I almost trust Sullivan more at the end of the article because he can see these silly pipes aren’t going to solve the problem.

If two pipes thrown into a dam solved the problem why even bother installing them? Heck, if your beavers are going to be that accommodating just leave pipes on the bank and I’m sure they’ll install them themselves, before they leave the key under the mat and check out.

Oh and Happy Halloween Everyone!

What Scott Simon meant to say…

heidi08 Beaver Chewing, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? October 26, 2015

NPR’s Scott Simon was kind enough to provide the audio, so I added my own finishing touches. I especially like the first slide and the fifth slide. But it’s all fun, and will only steal 65 seconds of your valuable monday morning, so enjoy!

I LOVED making the flying beavers. I could do that all day. That’s worth every second of labor it took to put together. Onward and upward. This morning there’s some assorted beaver news, with beaver bemoaning, beaver barometers and beaver benefits.

I’ll show you what I mean.

Busy beaver destroying area around Yellowknife visitor centre

An industrious beaver has been wreaking havoc at Yellowknife’s Northern Frontier Visitor Centre lately. “This beaver has totally changed the appearance of our landscape, having removed an entire area of trees,” says Tyler Dempsey, a staff member at the centre.

The beaver started building his (or her) lodge in Frame Lake, in downtown Yellowknife, about a week ago, using vegetation from the property of the visitor centre to do so. The underwater lodge is about three metres from the lakefront building.

Dempsey says while visitors, and even staff members, have enjoyed watching the busy beaver at work from such a close proximity, they couldn’t ignore the amount of damage it was doing to the property.

“An entire area has almost entirely been cleared out resulting from the beaver’s behaviour,” says Dempsey. “The rapid pace and productivity he’s been able to do this with — we would see massive changes, even overnight.”
Chicken wire around tree

When enough was enough, visitor centre staff wrapped their remaining trees in chicken wire to prevent the beaver from using them as lumber.

Dempsey says that seemed to help, but admitted that he and other staff at the visitor centre probably wouldn’t be that sad if the beaver chose another locale altogether.

“If he did go for greener pastures, I think we would probably welcome that move.”

(I know what you’re thinking. Yellowknife has a visitor’s center?)

Even though it’s 2500 miles away in the remote Yukon, I would remind readers that ‘reluctantly wrapping trees’ is pretty massive progress for YK where a trapper as recently as 2012 reported in the paper that beavers could “Bounce from their tails and leap to attack you.” (That got a letter from me which was published locally). I’m going to count small blessings and be happy that people in this remote Yukon province are enjoying watching the beavers work at all, even if they are using the wrong materials to protect trees. Maybe this bit of beaver instruction will teach itself.

Onto the beaver as barometer article from Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia’s winter will be short, outdoorsman predict

Want to know what’s in store this winter? Chest-high snowbanks or rivers of rain? Joe Googoo of Wagmatcook First Nation in Cape Breton thinks he knows. Googoo was taught by his father and grandfather to read clues in the natural world.

Googoo said he has noticed beavers building their dams in lakes instead of streams.

“Yes, the beaver are the best indication right now,” he said. “I went to around 20 or 30 streams. There were beaver in there last winter. There’s nothing there now. They all went down [last winter] because the streams are so shallow, they’re easy to flood.”

Googoo predicts the water will be high in streams next spring, indicating a lot of precipitation over the winter.

Um, okay.

I guess its not worth considering any other variables that might be at play regarding beavers building in streams versus lakes. Food, predators, or trapping for instance. I remember as a child pointing at woolly worms and exclaiming that it was going to be a cold winter. And we celebrate groundhog day on a national level.

I guess if we’re going to believe a man whose last name is literally baby noises we might deserve what we get?

This last bit of beaver chivalry is generous even by beaver standards.

Beavers save the Catawba River from sewage spill

Thank beavers for a cleaner Catawba River, Charlotte’s water and sewer utility says. Charlotte Water initially reported that 3,660 gallons of sewage overflowed into the Catawba in northwest Charlotte on Wednesday night.

Thursday, the utility corrected the report: “The spill last night did reach a Catawba River tributary but did not reach the Catawba River. A beaver dam strategically located contained the spill.”

Pumping is underway to suck the spill from the tributary. No word on the health of the beavers.

From a city that kills so many beavers it has been regularly featured on this website, I’m going to say that it’s mighty kind of beavers to save your asses when you’ve been trapping them for years and years. No word on the health of the beavers? Do you really need word to imagine their fate after living and working every in your filth?

Just watch, after Charlotte lets the beaver soak up their sewage spill they will say they need to be eliminated because they spread Giardisis.

Beaver Lottery

heidi08 stupid solutions, What's killing beavers now? October 1, 2015

Apparently folks can’t wait to shoot beavers in Aragon Georgia.

No help needed in hunt for Aragon beavers

Chris Hindman has one simple message for Aragon residents following his and two other contractors beginning their hunt for the beavers blocking up the spring that feeds the mill pond: Stay away.

The trio of hunters who were asked by the city to get rid of the beaver population on land adjacent to the mill pond, have killed two beavers so far and will be continuing their city-sanctioned hunt. But first they want to make sure local residents understand that their help is not needed in the hunt.

Following last week’s SJ article on the need to eradicate the beaver population, Hindman said he saw several posts on Facebook alluding to local residents who planned to join the hunt.

“We just want ourselves and people to be safe,” he said

Killing beavers is such a special treat in Georgia. Everyone wants to do it. Maybe next time they should hold a lottery?

Aragon is postage stamp of a town with about 2000 people that was named for the deposits of Aragonite – (not a misspelling of Tolkien, as I originally thought.) This little sliver of a region on the northwestern border of the state that is already listed as “abnormally dry” on the drought monitor maps. What are the odds they will come crying to FEMA for drought relief after the entire town lined up to kill the water-savers?

Loved this yesterday and had to share. Actual rain fell from the actual sky. You can’t believe how good it smelled.

Last night we sat sentinel in hopes of seeing a beaver at ward or the footbridge. We saw a green heron, several bats, and a family of raccoons swimming up the creek, but no beavers. The sky felt sorry for us and treated us to a beautiful light show after most our delicate and scented rain. Lory and Ron took this photo from their home a few blocks away, but you get the idea. Even without beavers, it was magical.

In which In the Wall Street Journal commits plagiary. Again.

heidi08 Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? September 9, 2015

Merest coincidence? I’m thinking not. Google how many accusations there are of plagiary against the WSJ, the prominence Worth A Dam has in the recent New York Times articles and interview and the fact that you can’t swing a dead trapper without hitting one of our references on the internet – and I’m going to boldly accuse them of kidnapping. I suppose they could argue that the fact that they added a question mark slightly alters the meaning – thus protecting the use. But sheesh. When people steal from this website why don’t they steal the GOOD stuff?

British Beavers Gnaw Their Way Back, but Are They Worth a Dam?

Yet the Otter’s beavers are multiplying, and the mystery of how the rotund rodents came to Coleridge’s “wild streamlet of the West” has fanned the flames of a national beaver conflict.

That decadelong fight has pitted biodiversity advocates against anglers and landowners, leaving at least a dozen beavers dead and countless willow trees chewed.

Things are looking up for the beavers. Their population has grown to an estimated 212 in the U.K. wild.

And while the government last year decreed that the River Otter’s beavers should be removed, early this year it ruled they could stay, though it didn’t bar landowners from killing them.

431 73 A-hed British Beavers Gnaw Their Way Back, but Are They Worth a Dam? Gone for centuries, toothy rodent resurfaces in U.K. to love, hostility; ‘illegally released’ Mark Elliott of the Devon Wildlife Trust points out a tree along the River Otter chewed by beavers. The Trust says the U.K. has for centuries been ‘suffering from the loss of beaver activity.’ ENLARGE Mark Elliott of the Devon Wildlife Trust points out a tree along the River Otter chewed by beavers. The Trust says the U.K. has for centuries been ‘suffering from the loss of beaver activity.’ Photo: Justin Scheck By Justin Scheck Updated Sept. 7, 2015 8:13 p.m. ET 17 COMMENTS OTTERY ST. MARY, England—When beavers surfaced in the River Otter, Mark Owen smelled a rat. It had been centuries—probably before poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in this village in 1772—since wild beavers plied the region. In recent years, any local beavers were kept as curiosities or for research, living behind electric fences. Eurasian beaver Eurasian beaver “Nobody, as far as I know, has reported that they’ve lost beavers,” says Mr. Owen, freshwater director of England’s Angling Trust, a sportfishing-advocacy group that wants the rodents removed. His conclusion: “The beavers were illegally released.” U.K. law prohibits introduction into the wild of any animal that doesn’t already live there, even if it once did. Yet the Otter’s beavers are multiplying, and the mystery of how the rotund rodents came to Coleridge’s “wild streamlet of the West” has fanned the flames of a national beaver conflict. That decadelong fight has pitted biodiversity advocates against anglers and landowners, leaving at least a dozen beavers dead and countless willow trees chewed. Things are looking up for the beavers. Their population has grown to an estimated 212 in the U.K. wild. And while the government last year decreed that the River Otter’s beavers should be removed, early this year it ruled they could stay, though it didn’t bar landowners from killing them. Devon landowner John-Michael Kennaway holds a beaver pelt. ENLARGE Devon landowner John-Michael Kennaway holds a beaver pelt. Photo: Justin Scheck/The Wall Street JoURNAL — Devon landowner John-Michael Kennaway holds a beaver pelt. Photo: Justin Scheck

Beaver believers say the species could help restore England’s countryside to something like before medieval policies encouraged exterminating animals that competed with people for land or food. Advocates say beavers fell trees that choke streams and build dams that improve wetlands for fish and other animals.

Hardly, says angler advocate Mr. Owen. Beaver dams may block trout from spawning in streams like the River Otter, where fish already struggle with river otters, he says. And chewed trees are “a health-and-safety risk for anglers.”

Oh puleeze. The country shouldn’t have beavers because a tree might fall on my friends is not an argument any one older 12 should ever have. Here’s an idea. If WSJ is looking to steal something from this website why not steal the many papers quoted where it says that BEAVERS HELP SALMON AND TROUT. And the part where it says over and over that British anglers are big whiny babies who have their eyes and ears covered when it comes to the actual research and say “lalala don’t tell me I don’t want to hear it!”

Or you know. Do an ounce of research through your OWN WSJ archives and be reminded of that great article about the Land’s Council written a few years back. You know the one that by Joel Millman about how Ranchers are on a waiting list to get beavers on their property because they’re so important for water?

Just so you know. I plan of having new ideas every week. Make sure you keep checking the website to see if there are more useful things to steal.

They’re still number one!

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, What's killing beavers now?, Who's Killing Beavers Now? September 5, 2015

Yesterday Robin got a clump of depredation permit records from her PRA for Placer County 2015. (Fridays are always document dump days.) I went through and spread-sheeted their gory details. 14 permits good for the death of 307 beavers. Not much improvement after our meeting with them last November. Property owners still excused their behavior saying useless things like they tried ripping out dams or “hazing” first but since that surprisingly didn’t work they needed to trap.

But there was one big difference.

One of the most unique things about Placer County that struck us in our initial review was the number of permits they issued for an “unlimited number of beavers”. They were the only place in the state that did it. In our 2 year review there were 51 permits issued for unlimited beaver. Meaning however many you kill that’s fine with us. One of things we talked about at the powow meeting was how unique this was, and how unnecessary. I also wrote it in my letter to the head of fish and wildlife and tried to rattle as many cages as I could.

Flash forward to spring and the discovery of the piebald beaver in Winters. I contacted the folks we had talked to in Placer and they directed me to the representative for Winters. Jason Holley, who was a nice guy and willing to chat by phone. Fresh from the horrors I mentioned something about unlimited trapping and he corrected me and said they weren’t allowed to do that. Since I had just reviewed 51 times where they had done just that I challenged his assertion and he defended by saying that there had JUST BEEN A BIG MEETING and they weren’t allowed to do that anymore.

Then he stopped for a moment and seemed to calculate things. “Maybe it was you?” he wondered.

Which of course was a lovely thought but not one I believed for a moment until yesterday when I saw this. I spoke to Jason in early April so their big meeting would have happened late March.March 19 was the last permit issued for an unlimited number of beavers all the way through last month. Which I have to think is a kind of victory, however small. It means that sometimes when you poke hard enough you make a dent. Something about my yammering must have at least drawn attention to their time-saving procedure of issuing permits without borders. Someone said just ‘stop it’ and they apparently did.

They are still authorizing the kill of many more beavers than they could possibly have, though. With two permits good for 50 beavers and one for a staggering 99. 99? Is placer county a beaver factory? To explain, the 99 was issued to all county parks in Placer, of which there are 66. I went through and checked how many were had water. Around 27 contained a lake, a stream or a river. Remember, the upper left half of Lake Tahoe is in Placer county.

Griff Creek, the death camp featured in yesterday’s article where pointless beaver slaughter near a daycare started the Sierra Wildlife Coalition, is a Placer county park. Small world.

So all the county parks were issue a single permit good for any problem that might arise over the coming year, with authorization to kill 99 beavers or around 3.8 per water-containing park. That sure seems like a sneaky time-saving device to me. This kind of mass issue didn’t show up in our last review, I wonder if it’s a new invention? It’s sort of like getting a depredation permit for Contra Costa County, and any beaver that shows up from Antioch to San Ramon can be dispatched without the burden of paperwork.

One thing it made me realize is that all those little aspen-lined clear mountain streams pouring into Tahoe are actually a death trap for beavers, I mean people assume Martinez is a terrible place for a beaver to be, and think the beavers in the sierras are lucky- but that just isn’t true. Any beaver showing in any county park in the entire green section of this map can now be reliably dispatched without even the minor inconvenience of getting a permit – because a kill-beaver wildlcard has already been issued and can be used everywhere it’s needed.