Category: What’s killing beavers now?

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN

heidi08 What's killing beavers now? June 20, 2018

Where do the days go? Yesterday we redesigned the stage musician sign and made 53 place cards so the exhibitors know where they set up camp. Oh and checked on Luigi to make sure sandwiches can be delivered to the park for our volunteers. Done, done and done.

Meanwhile I’m just stunned it took 11 long years for me to finally find the perfect ‘tagline’ for the festival. It finally just came to me while I was promoting yesterday’s article on facebook. I think this is beer commercial, madison avenue good. I played around with it a little yesterday, but I’m sure they could do something awesome with it.

I mean I suppose monkey festivals or rat festivals have a tail too, but they’re not here to defend themselves so I win! I never heard of a rat festival anyway but I bet there is a monkey one. Don’t you? I saw several species in Costa Rica but what I remember most about monkeys comes from a badly tended large cage when I was a teen on a spring trip to Mexico. There was a friendly adult and young monkey that would wrap their arms around you tightly if entered the cage, holding on for dear life. I guess it was boring in that cage. Or maybe they just knew that if they held on tight they had a better chance of bolting once the gate was open again,

All I know is that I quickly learned the only way OUT of the monkey cage was to get some other poor sap to come in and receive the eager primate hug so you yourself could make a break for it. It turns out there are many situations like that in life, and I remember the lesson well.

Just so we remember it’s not all sunshine and roses in a beaver life, lets take a fast visit to South Dakota.

South Dakota battles problems with beavers

MITCHELL (AP) – In the spring, Randy Becker’s workload gets busy. Busy as a beaver, you might say.

Becker is wildlife damage specialist for the South Dakota Game Fish & Parks Department. His job, otherwise known as “state trapper,” involves ridding nuisance animals like coyotes and beavers for South Dakota landowners. Yes, beavers – those little semi-aquatic rodents that can cause “a world of headaches” – are a big problem here.

“They’re an amazing animal, but they get themselves in a lot of trouble,” said Becker, who’s worked for GF&P for just shy of a decade.

In the past five years, GF&P’s Animal Damage Control program has received an average of 370 beaver calls annually statewide, The Daily Republic reported. The total funding spent removing beavers has climbed, too, and reached a peak in 2017 of $213,800. Since 2013, GF&P has spent nearly $1 million on removing beavers in South Dakota.

214,000 to kill 370 beavers? Wait, that’s like 60 dollars per beaver. Who gets paid 60 dollars a tail? If you consider 5-7 beavers per family then killing off a single colony is nearly 500 dollars a pop! You know what else South Dakota could do with 500 dollars? I mean besides open health care clinics, provide childcare and fix all the potholes. They could install flow devices that fix beaver problems for a decade, fire Mr.Becker (who will certainly never be able to take vacation in England with a name like Randy Becker) and do something useful with that million dollars every 5 years.

But hey, why FIX a problem that pays so well to stay broken?

WE DON’T KNOW WHAT BEAVERS LOOK LIKE, BUT WE HATE THEM ANYWAY

heidi08 What's killing beavers now? June 9, 2018

Winnipeg is the largest city in Manitoba Canada, just northeast of North Dakota. Being so near Saskatchewan their beaver IQs are predictably not the highest – although things are slowly moving from the lower registers. At least this article discusses wrapping trees. But.check out the muskrat photo they chose to tell their brave woes recently.

Winnipeg should stop killing problem beavers, St. James resident says

After sending a city-hired trapper off his property, a St. James homeowner is demanding Winnipeg change its policy on killing problem beavers.

Chad Hepp came home on June 1 to find a contractor setting up a lethal trap on the small beaver lodge abutting his backyard.

Complaints about beavers in the area started in 2012, said City of Winnipeg spokesperson Ken Allen in an email. The city responded by wrapping trees with wire mesh, to keep beavers from chewing on the trees, on both sides of the Assiniboine River every year since.

This is the first time since the complaints were made that the city set kill traps in the area to prevent further damage, Allen said. “The homeowner who requested assistance with trapping also wrapped all of the larger trees in their backyard; however, the beavers started taking down trees in their front yard,” Allen said.

Hepp, who lives on the river side of Assiniboine Avenue, said no one from the city asked for his permission before setting up the traps. The hunter and fisherman believes two beavers live in the lodge — a mother and kit.

“I’m concerned some general contractor that works part time for the city can come onto somebody’s property and make a call like that,” he said. “I had to ask him to leave, politely.”

Mr. Hepp is a rare breed among men. He is upset that beavers would be lethally trapped (an objection of which we approve) and has wrapped trees in his own back yard, (a precaution which we applaud). So far so good. However, his shall we say romantic notion of the lodge containing only a beaver mother and kit pair begs a little education.

“A single beaver is able to damage hundreds of trees each year. Beavers are only removed when there are no other options available to mitigate the damage they are causing.”

Winnipeg opts to kill beavers because the rodents can spread diseases if they are moved. Beavers are also territorial and if they are moved, will come into conflict with any beavers already living in the new location.

“Removal of beavers, when necessary, is conducted by a licensed trapper under approved provincial regulations utilizing humane trapping techniques,” said Allen.

Beavers will cause diseases if moved? You mean spread whatever they already have to other beavers? Or you mean like the plague, like make humans sick? Regardless of the ridiculous notion, Martinez doesn’t deserve to laugh at this because when CDFG agreed to relocate two of our beavers after much refusing they said they would first need to complete 6 weeks of quarantine. Which Lindsey Wildlife generously offered to be responsible for.

Of course the two beavers they agreed to relocate after quickly dispatching their family members would have probably died in that time anyway, so let’s just be thankful that never happened.

For Hepp, who lives closest to the lodge, the beavers have never posed a problem aside from an esthetic one — the jumble of sticks and tree limbs isn’t exactly pretty to look at.

“I get that they’ve probably chewed down the odd sapling, somebody was trying to grow an apple tree a few years ago or whatever but hey, that’s the cost of living on the river,” Hepp said.

Beaver lodges cause an aesthetic problem? You mean they’re not pretty to look at?

North American Beaver
Castor canadensis
Lodge in urban environment
Napa, California

GUNGA DAM

heidi08 What's killing beavers now? April 4, 2018

There are two breaking beavers stories that I am NOT going to write about. They both involve beaver predation, which we know happens. I’m fairly familiar with the readers of this site, and these stories only deserve a mention. Hardy curious souls should click on the links to go follow up on your own.

First is some fairly new research on wolf ambushing beaver, the second is just reported this morning of a lynx caught on camera attacking a beaver. Like I say, if you’re interested, by all means follow the links. But come back!

I will just say it’s a hard world out there for a beaver.

Here at beaver central we are more focused on human-beaver problems so I thought you’d want to read about an uninvited beaver on the watery east side of upper Washington.

New beaver dam raises water along North Camano Drive

Suddenly, Siegrid Hall had a pond.

Well, more marsh than pond, courtesy of an industrious beaver that recently moved into her north Camano Island neighborhood.

“We’ve lived here five years and had never had an issue,” Hall said. “Then he showed up a few weeks ago. Suddenly, we see alder trees down that look like sharpened pencils.”

The newest dam appears to be near the Hall’s property on north Camano, where recently the water level nearly crested over the Hall’s driveway and the busy North Camano Drive.

We get in there and rake out the sticks, but the next day a brand new dam will be built,” Currier said. “They’re fast and intelligent and they do a good job building it back up.”

Crews and property owners typically just monitor and manage the water levels by breaking dams and clearing culverts, he said.

Snohomish Conservation District offers options as well. The organization can send a specialist to develop site-specific plans on managing the water, program manager Ryan Williams said. For more information, visit snohomishcd.org/living-with-beavers or call 425-377-7013.

I can’t bring myself to be terribly worried about the fate of these beavers. If there aren’t solutions in that part of the country there unlikely to be available anywhere. Just two nights ago Ben Dittbrenner gave a talk not far from there on living with beavers, and Judy and her husband from Port Moody came down to listen and take him to coffee. The public works website in Sonohomish was one of the original four websites that offered information on flow devices that we relied on in Martinez, so something tells me they’ll work it out.

In the meantime, a burst of inspiration came to me yesterday and this just had to be written. Give it a second to load and look at least the chorus. If you’ve never seen the original you really should.

Gunga dam

16 MILES TO THE PROMISED LAND

heidi08 What's killing beavers now? February 6, 2018

On Saturday when author Frances Backhouse did a wonderful podcast for beavers on “Roughly Speaking” she said that the arguments for beavers were becoming more prevalent and that the change was happening “At the same pace” as the arguments against them. Remember? I later told her I loved the program but didn’t agree that the two sides were neck and neck. Since I reported about the issue every day I thought I had some perspective – we weren’t there yet, but that I would be very happy when we got there.

She said that she had seen a change since she wrote her book and thought things were looking better for beavers almost everywhere. I said I wished that were true but that I didn’t think I should retire just yet.

Here are just a few reasons why.

Don’t leave it to beaver: County, state provide help when critters’ dams cause problems

While the clever animals can produce significant environmental benefits, they can also create safety hazards and cause damage to roads, bridges and people’s properties.

But there’s a program that’s offered at a minimal cost to help landowners in alleviating beaver damage and preventing further damage to their properties. Wilson County has been a part of the state’s Beaver Management Assistance Program, which is operated by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, for two decades.

Wilson County pays $4,000 per year to be a member of the state program and the Wilson Soil and Water Conservation District is the point of contact for the program. After landowners apply for the program, a wildlife specialist will contact them.

The first visit is free and wildlife specialists will discuss with the landowner the positive and negative effects of the beaver. They will also work with owners to formulate a a strategic plan, which can include trapping the beaver. The cost for the landowner is only $25 per visit after the first initial assessment.

Oh is that all? For the cost of dinner at the local olive garden you can get a federal agent out to kill all the beavers on yer property. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance?

Alaska teen gets winter’s adventure in pursuit of the trapping experience

LAKE MINCHUMINA, Alaska — I have to confess to feeling a bit skeptical about beaver trapping in mid-winter.

“It’s a lot of work,” I warned my almost-13-year-old niece. Usually, my sister Julie and I get too busy checking fish nets and running a days-long marten trapline to invest time in pursuing the big rodents.

Karen wanted to go anyway.

She wanted to sample the succulent flavor of beaver meat, roast the tail and maybe keep the skin (or not, since, I declared, if she wanted the pelt she’d have to do the skinning).

Well isn’t that touching. A niece learning the trapping trade from her uncle at such a tender age. Who wouldn’t love the chance to go kill a beaver with their favorite uncle? I’m reminded of a young Anne of Green Gables.

Wis. 19-year-old is quickly gaining experience and having success in his trapping

Rankila, a 19-year-old from Lake Nebagamon, really hoped to find a beaver in an under-the-ice trap he placed in this pond. But his first priority was to not plunge through any weak ice into the frigid water below.

“The appeal is knowing you have active sets out there 24-7,” Rankila said. “It’s just a matter of whether that animal comes by. You hope you can trick him.”

That’s what Rankila likes about trapping.

I won’t post the video of the young sociopath bragging about his craft. But if you doubt me follow the link to the article and hear him spew. The article interviews his father and the older trappers he has learned from, brightly proclaiming his future. I’m sure they’re right and he’ll be VERY good at trapping.

I doubt he’ll ever be as good about selling a lie about trapping as this fellow though. He’s really something special.

Increased protection of wolves/coyotes increases danger to pets, livestock, wildlife

“Algonquin wolves must receive the full protection of the law if this threatened species is to have a chance of recovery,” says the report of the environmental commissioner of Ontario who is recommending a prohibition on hunting and trapping of wolves and coyotes in all areas where the wolf could be roaming.

“The government banned hunting in forty-one townships around Algonquin Park in 2016,” said Ray Gall, vice president of the central region of the Ontario Fur Managers. “Now they want to expand that to cover most of the province.”

“The endangered species act, in my opinion, has become weaponized by protectionist groups,” said Gall, who says the proposal will ban hunting or trapping of the wolves in a 40,000 square kilometre area.

He says one of the concerns for trappers is the wolves’ predilection for beaver meat.

You hear that? The aptly named Mr. Gall is worried that those wildlife-nazis will save so many wolves that the greedy bastards will eat up all the beavers.

Beaver trapping quotas have already dropped by 30 per cent, a result of the decline in the number of the animals being caught.

“Everyone thinks that wolves predominantly eat deer and moose, which they can catch easier in the winter snows, but during the summertime, they mostly eat smaller animals and they eat a lot of beaver,” Gall said.

“Without the beaver we end up with dry hay marshes, not fit to feed any wildlife, and the other things that are going to suffer as a result of a decline in beaver ponds and wetlands are the already endangered species like salamanders and turtles, as well as the moose and deer. That’s one of my big issues.”

Oh PUL-EEZE. Spare me your concern for the decline of beaver ponds. I’ve never heard you comment on their importance when its time to trap beaver. We all know that when the market demands you trap beaver you trap beaver. And when the government lets you trap wolves you’ll trap wolves. The very idea that Mr. Gall objects to letting wolves live because they EAT all those important beavers before they can offer their valuable ecosystem services is beyond ridiculous.

Is Ray Gall’s middle name “UNMITIGATED” by any chance?

When I think about it though, I guess the idea that a trapper is using information about beavers as a keystone species as an excuse to kill more wolves kind of backs Frances point. It’s in the public lexicon. The ecological benefits are so well known that the vice president of the trappers association will use it to LIE about killing something else.

I guess that’s a kind of progress.

WHY SUING WILDLIFE SERVICES ISN’T ENOUGH

heidi08 What's killing beavers now? February 20, 2018

I thought a lot about yesterday’s news, and was able to have a 20 minute conversation with Dr. Jimmy Taylor at APHIS in Oregon about it. What I learned is that the beaver trapping done by Wildlife Service is only a small portion of the entire trapping of beavers done in the state. This morning I hunted around and tried to figure it out for myself. For starters about a third of the state is individually held private land, which means any landowner can dispose of ANY BEAVER any way he likes, without a permit or agency involvement.

Beavers on Private land: Beaver are defined as a Predatory Animal by Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 610.002 on private land. Statute implemented by Oregon Department of Agriculture.

Let’s say another third of the state is federally owed either by the bureau of land management or by the forest service. On public land beavers are considered a ‘protected furbearer’ and there is considerable effort to protect them and the habitat they maintain.

Beavers on Public land Beavers are classified as Protected Furbearers by Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 496.004 and Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 635-050-0050 on public land. Statute implemented by ODFW.

The remaining third of the land is divided up by municipalities, state land, etc. These places can use any wildlife control operator who is licensed and approved by the state- either a private WCO or Wildlife Services for their trapping. Case by case permits are not required. Once a month the private WCO needs to file a report saying where and what he trapped (UNLESS it’s a predatory animal on private land (BEAVER). APHIS on the other hand, is required to report take, method of take, and accidental take, and report where it all occurred no matter what.

If APHIS stopped trapping beaver tomorrow forever, all it would mean is that all the work would fall on WCO’s and we would NEVER know this information. Wildlife Services has to keep records and report the numbers to the public. Private trappers don’t.

In my opinion, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Environmental Law Center might be better off suing the department of Agriculture who introduced this language and classified beaver as a predator in the first place making all this craziness possible, or demanding that ODFW be more stringent in it’s laws allowing beaver trapping in general. I hate to be a party-pooper but I’m wondering if this big lawsuit threat is actually meaningless and will do nothing to help beavers OR salmon.

Suing Wildlife Services is a little like invading Iraq after 9/11. We knew they probably weren’t the cause of the problem and it wouldn’t make things better, but we wanted to do something and we knew their address. I’m reminded of the old joke about the man who notices his wife looking for something on the floor and asks what she’s doing.

“I lost my contacts and am trying to find them”
“You lost them in here?” says the man being careful where he steps.
“No.” She answered. “I lost them in the living room but the lights better in here.”

Don’t get me wrong. I hate beaver trapping of all kinds. But at least fur trappers and WS are required by law to report what they do. Too many people aren’t. We need records. I’ll get to them eventually I guess, but I’ll fight with them last after we fix everything else.

You know what ISN’T a waste of our time? And does make a huge difference to the safety of beavers and the way people view them? Having communities who care about them. This week residents in Port Moody B.C. spoke up for the beaver that was killed at the local council meeting. There are precious few things that make me happier than a sight like this. I had to make a film of my favorite moments, but the whole thing is wonderful if you want to see it.