Category: Who’s blaming beavers now?

In Beaver World 2.0

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Festival, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? May 3, 2017

Remember the barren ol’ beaver reporting days, when there were no news stories to catch up with and one reporter a month wrote about the crazy idea of beaver benefits? I would have to wrack my brain thinking of things to scribble about here, ask a question or describe the behavior of our ACTUAL beavers.

Sigh. We used to have actual beavers!

Well. nowadays, waking up to three beaver stories is a slow day. Seems everyone is hopping on the beaver bandwagon. So I thought I’d share the cream of the crop with you this morning.

City of Mill Creek to implement innovative approach to preserve beaver habitat while reducing flooding

The City of Mill Creek WA will install new tools to help preserve beaver habitat while reducing 35th Avenue SE flooding on Friday, May 5, 2017.

Beavers are to blame for many of the woes of travelers on the Mill Creek portion of 35th Avenue SE. Beaver dams, which appear very quickly, hold back the flow of water under the bridge at 144th Street SE as it curves into 30th Avenue SE. The wetlands at the mouth of Penny Creek then flood across 35th Avenue SE by Thomas Lake, which results in road closures.

In the past, the City has removed beaver dams as they appear. From spring through fall, this is almost a weekly occurrence.

Now, thanks to a Hydraulic Project Approval permit from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, the City will install two flexible levelers to allow the beavers to build a dam across Penny Creek at 144th Street SE to the north of the bridge in the City’s Highland Trails neighborhood. The flexible levelers will allow water to flow through the beaver dam and not disturb the dam.

“One of the goals of the City’s Surface Water Utility program is to rehabilitate stream and drainage corridors to benefit wildlife habitat,” said Marci Chew, Mill Creek surface water specialist. “This solution will enable us to prevent flooding while preserving the beaver habitat.”

Designed by beaver specialists, the flexible leveler is a system made from double-walled corrugated plastic pipe, which extends 20 feet from the wetland area and under the beaver dam. The pipe mouth is protected by cattle fencing, which prevents beavers from entering it or blocking it. The pipe is also anchored in place and staked every six feet to prevent movement. Water is then able to exit the wetlands without an impact to the beavers.

Wow. Just Wow. Do you ever have those moments when you feel like the world has moved forward so gosh darned much you aren’t sure you even recognize it? I went looking for “Beavers Northwest” who is installing this and found the slick glossy website of our friend Ben Dittbrenner and his merry band of beaver brothers. One of whom is our VERY long-time friend Jake Jacobsen who was kind enough to give advice way back in the dawning days of our beaver problems. Go check it out because the site has grown up a lot since I introduced it to you a few years ago. And while you’re there take a moment to notice the sites they recommend visiting, because it ain’t us. 🙁

There are a couple puzzling things in this very expository-rich article. First of all it says the pipe goes under the dam, which I’m sure is just a simple misunderstanding, it goes over the dam except for in the Clemson design which is why their such a pain to install. Second of all it says the leveler uses double walled pipe which I’m sure Mike Callahan’s design doesn’t. Skip’s Castor Master design does. We just spoke about it the other day and Mike said,

“Yes, but I use them sparingly, rarely more than a 10 foot section and almost always joined to some single wall pipe. In my experience, double wall pipes have the issue of being difficult to keep submerged. The can pop up at any time for no apparent reason. I had that issue too with 40 foot double wall pipes, but not when I use only a 10 foot double wall section connected to a single wall pipe. Then it almost always stays submerged indefinitely.”

Combined with this is the fact that Mike doesn’t really use the term “Flexible Leveler” anymore, but says pond leveler instead. So it’s funny to see this device described with the wrong name bearing the wrong pipe is described as ‘invented’ by unnamed beaver specialists?

What’s not strange at all is having beaver specialists now in EVERY pacific state. Jacob Shockley in Oregon, Ben and his crew in Washington and Kevin Swift in California. (Along with Ted and Sherry Guzzi of course). The world is certainly a very different place than it was a decade ago.

Meanwhile, this article from Pennsylvania reminds us that just because you call something a ‘beaver deceiver’ doesn’t mean it is one.

Beavers outwitting ‘deceivers’ on Milford Twp. property

MILFORD TWP., Pa. – The old adage “busy as a beaver” is definitely holding true on the two-acre property of a Milford Township woman.

Linda Weikert, who lives in the 1600 block of Fennel Road, came before the Milford Township Board of Supervisors Monday night looking for answers on how to avoid the probable flooding of her basement due to beavers in the area; the animals are building and maintaining — sometimes overnight — more than 100 feet of dams, now resulting in the formation of lakes and ponds on her property.

The resident said the beavers even have discovered a way around the “beaver deceiver” metal apparatus installed by the township and designed to stop dam-building in specific areas.

She said she has gone out with tools to loosen parts of the dam, however, she said the beavers work overnight rebuilding what has been disabled the preceding day.

“Should I now get flood insurance for my house?” Weikert asked the supervisors.

Township Manager Jeff Vey said a meeting on the matter needs to be called, including representatives from the government agencies.

Weikert said there is an upside from the damming: wildlife has increased, including minks, blue heron, ducks, kingfishers and various turtle breeds previously placed on the state’s endangered species list.

Okay, hurray that they used any technique at all to stop beaver damming in Pennsylvania besides trapping. But I’m going to go out on a limb and predict with absolutely certainty that whatever they installed wasn’t a ‘beaver deceiver’. Which is a specific term for a specific design invented by Skip Lisle. Even what we had in Martinez wasn’t a beaver deceiver. Although people say it was all the time.

The problem with using these names casually is that when the city installs their ridiculous metal T pipe and call it a ‘beaver deceiver’ then predictaly find out it doesn’t work, articles like this tell people that BEAVER DECEIVERS DON’T WORK. And folks think its true. Remember it’s not just a name. It’s a specific tool used skillfully with technique involved.

If I gave you heart surgery in my living room with my knitting needles and it failed it wouldn’t mean heart surgery doesn’t work.

Last night Amelia Hunter sent her final design for this year’s festival. She’s off now to Indonesia for a long trip so we’re grateful she squeezed us in before boarding! I think this will be an excellent 10th anniversary announcement, and I’m sure it will do a great job in linking Martinez to Beavers forever. I also think it looks kind of like a ‘help wanted’ ad for the next beavers that might come up the strait.

Beaver Fireside Chats

heidi08 Beaver Anatomy, Beaver Chewing, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Dispersal, stupid solutions, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? May 2, 2017

Three beaver stories you don’t see every day…from places you truly expect to know better. The first is from Maine where a man believes he saw castoroides in person. Yes, really. He doesn’t want to give the location to make sure no people want go hunting for him.

Maine Man Claims to Have Witnessed Giant Beaver

A man from Maine claims to have seen a gigantic beaver. His estimations of size were about 14 feet long and weighing over 350 pounds. The man didn’t want to give away the exact location, for fear someone would try to harm the giant rodent.

“It was about 30 years ago,” he told Crypto Crew researcher Thomas Marcum. “It was a very general geographic area,” he added.

The anonymous eyewitness says he doesn’t want to give too much information about the area of the alleged sighting in order to protect this “rare animal” from “unwanted” human activity.

The man believes the rodent was about 14 feet long with an estimated weight of 350 pounds. It is believed that giant beavers, also known as Castoroides, went extinct about 10,000 years ago.

You saw a giant beaver 30 years ago? That’s nothing, a mere 47 years ago I could fly down stairs! I carefully explained to my disbelieving sister that I could only do it when no one was watching, because mysteries must be protected you know. Which I think makes my story more believable. To be fair, people were certain the ivory billed woodpecker was extinct until someone found one lurking in the back woods. I guess it’s theoretically possible castorides could be hiding in Maine.

Well, maybe not Maine.

Onto Montana where a wastewater staffer who has been told to protect the precious levys by killing beavers. A lot of beavers.

Pat Brook has nothing against beavers, but Hurricane Katrina forced his hand

Up until six years ago, though, Brook says, he’d never given beaver a second thought.

“Why would I?”

The answer is Hurricane Katrina. After New Orleans’ levees failed in 2005, FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began reevaluating other levees across the country, identifying deficiencies and tasking local officials with fixing them. When Missoula’s time came in 2011, the feds found that beavers were burrowing into a portion of the levee stretching from California Street to Russell. Their directive: Get rid of the beavers. And so, over the past six years, Brook has trapped 21 beavers near the California Street footbridge with the help of Dave Wallace, a Kila-based private contractor who specializes in wildlife control and removal.

“Let’s face it, you’re right on a primary corridor there,” Wallace says. “Basically, trapping is just preventative maintenance.”

Even so, Brook hates to call what they do trapping. It’s a practice he doesn’t support. “I mean, what’s the word I’m looking for? Barbaric?” From day one, he’s bucked the advice he says he received from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to simply kill the critters. Instead, he’s insisted on releasing the captured beavers at either Kelly Island or Fort Missoula, the two sites that FWP, which issues his permits, instructed him to use for relocation. Keeping the beavers alive carries an additional $50-per-beaver charge, and Wallace says Missoula is “the only place [in the state] where that’s carried out.” Brook sees it as money well spent.

“It sucks, but I gotta do it,” he says. “There’s a reason I’m here doing it, but I’d rather leave them alone.” According to Brook, the city’s bill for beaver relocation since 2011 totals $15,023.03.

City officials haven’t exactly been keen to discuss their approach to the beaver problem, fearful of how the trapping might play with the public. In fact, Brook found himself at the center of a dust-up in early April after two women confronted Wallace while he was setting cages. Brook says the situation escalated rapidly, drawing in both Missoula police and FWP.

The April incident has made increased public awareness inevitable. So Brook is now crafting a new plan, one that calls for installing large beaver-resistant rocks, or rip-rap, along the threatened stretch of levee. The project will have “a hefty price-tag,” he says, and would have to get the OK not just from city administrators, but from the feds as well.

I don’t know about you, but I’m still scratching my head about this article even though there not a word I disagree with. The waterway would be full of beavers using it as a freeway on their way to disperse, and killing every single one and throwing away the skin isn’t ‘trapping’ by any stretch of the word.

But the odds of him getting approval for the rip rap plan are pretty slim. Just like the odds of relocated beavers dumped in a neighboring lake surviving are also pretty slim. The army corps of Engineers were always crazy about their levies, and since Katrina they’ve become downright levy nazi’s. Remember a couple years back when they told California that if vegetation was left standing on a levy it wouldn’t be treated as their responsibility in a flood?

Sure, more erosion. That’s what levy’s need.

Well I wish Mr. Brooks all the luck in the world on his quest, and wrote him some advice about cost saving arguments to wield. In the meantime we should just all appreciate the fact that there is at least ONE wastewater operator in Montana that thinks endless depredation of beavers is cruel and pointless, and that’s something.

Finally, CBC radio is fondly remembering one of their most famous stories today. Apparently this story was listened to and shared more than any other. The narrator is a mild-mannered canadian man who apparently wished the beaver no harm, and holds no grudges. I found the whole thing grizzly in the extreme, but I was somewhat touched by his comments at the end. Listen if you dare.

Something very annoying and something wonderful…

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's blaming beavers now? April 26, 2017

It’s never too early to start blaming beaver for flooding that may or may not happen. Whenever a city fails to check its culverts or clear its roadways, there’s an easy ‘out’. Apparently even the governor of North Carolina knows how this game is played.

Authorities warn about flooding

State and local emergency officials are expecting area flooding this week with the Tar River cresting Tuesday night. Conditions in Rocky Mount and throughout the Twin Counties have worsened due to heavy rains over the past three days.

Rainfall of nearly seven inches locally and an upstream flow into the Tar River will impact local water levels. The most recent numbers by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s prediction service indicated the Tar River would crest at 9 p.m. Tuesday at 26.9 feet as measured at the Atlantic Avenue gauge. Major flood stage at that location is 25 feet.

Gov. Roy Cooper said flooding and evacuations are possible in Tarboro and Greenville as rivers crest in those areas.

“In the past 24 hours, we’ve seen rainfall like we haven’t seen since Hurricane Matthew,” Cooper said. “We know floodwaters can be deadly and I urge everyone to be cautious and stay safe.”

The flooding is due to beaver dams in the Cokey Swamp, Williford said, adding that he’s complained to city officials and the U.S. Agriculture Department. Every so often, city workers will come out and knock down the dams, but the busy beavers rebuild them almost immediately.

“Even during a dry spell the creek is full,” Williford said. “Just a little rain and it’s flooding our backyards.”

That’s right. The water caused by beaver dams is WORSE than Hurricane Matthew. Because beavers are terrible horrible no-good very bad things. And the city staff has tried and tried fixing the problem with their backhoes and hello kitty dolls but it didn’t work. What’s a governor to do? The dam things just build them again!

Never mind that in a hard rain the dams would have been flooded or blown out so they can hardly be causing that problem. Never mind that you let a year of bad conditions accumulate and decided to blame an animal for your irresponsibility. I’m sure you’re flooded playgrounds are ENTIRELY because of beaver dams. Because you know how beavers like to store water near play equipment.

Sheesh.

On to better news. Jos Bakker lives in Auke Bay, Alaska (which is just north of Juneau) and sometimes posts beaver tidbits on the Beaver Management Forum Facebook page. This was a recent offering which is among the most stunning beaver display I’ve seen captured on film. Ever. (And remember that when it comes to seeing beaver feats on film I’m something of a connoisseur.) Just see for yourself.

Not only is it great footage of a beaver walking upright, perfectly mirrored in the reflection of the water, at .30 sec it also shows the beaver scent marking, which I have never witnessed. That little wiggle as he steps over his mud pile is the calling card he’s leaving, either to say “girl wanted” or “keep out”. I am so very impressed with this film. Apparently Jos is a photographer and naturalist of note in the area. We are grateful for your sharing it with us!

The good, the kinda good and the ugly

heidi08 Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Ice, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, stupid solutions, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? April 24, 2017

There is a lot of beaver news to catch up on this morning. I got behind on earthday and let our usual beaver-ticker slide. It’s monday and I think we should start with the good news and grim our way down the ladder from there, okay? (And yes I know that ‘grim’ isn’t a verb, but it just seems right today.)

Long time readers of this website might remember that a while ago Washington passed a ‘beaver bill’ that allowed them to relocate problem beavers in the Eastern (driest) part of the state. (Our beaver friends Joe Cannon and Amanda Parish of the Lands Council worked on that.) It was a pretty big deal at the time and was a struggle to pass. Well, on Thursday the governor signed into law a change stating that beavers could be relocated in WESTERN Washington as well.

This is Chompski, a beaver relocated in Bodie Creek outside Wauconda, Washington in 2012. (Chandra Hutsel / Courtesy of state Rep. Joel Kretz)

Western Washington can have relocated beavers

Western Washington beavers who are trapped by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife can be relocated to a more opportune location west of the Cascades, a bill signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee Thursday says.

The department has had a program to relocate nuisance beavers it traps in Eastern Washington for several years, with the restriction that they can’t be shipped over the mountains to the “wet side” of the state. The program started when Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda, thought some of the toothy rodents that the department was already trapping might be sent to land owners that were trying to improve their water tables by impounding creeks or streams.

This year, some Western Washington landowners decided they wanted to try it, too. The original bill took Kretz several tries to make it through the Legislature. This bill passed the House 98-0, and the Senate 45-1.

It was 2012 when the Eastern law finally passed – years after it had been promoted and voted down many times. In fact in 2005 a bill allowing it was vetoed by the governor of the state. What a difference 12 years makes, eh? I guess the state is finally recognizing the good things that beavers do for fish, water and wildlife. Now they just need to learn to leave the beavers where they are and change the people instead – making them use the tools that will let them to coexist.

Another dozen years maybe?

Meanwhile in Canada the “Beaver Whisperer” is teaching folks how to manage beaver conflicts using a ‘baffler’. Mostly good news, although we’re not thrilled by his protege’s statement that beavers damage water quality.

Learn how to manage beavers on your property from the ‘Beaver Whisperer’

Learn how to manage beavers and create a peaceful co-existence on May 11 at the Beaver Management Workshop, hosted by the North Bay-Mattawa Conservation Authority (NBMCA) and Friends of Laurier Woods.

**NBMCA staff install a beaver pond leveller known as a “beaver baffle” summer 2015 at Laurier Woods Conservation Area**.

“Beavers can be a benefit and a bur

den,” explains Troy Storms, NBMCA’s Supervisor, Field Operations.

“They help maintain important wetland ecosystems. They create habitat for themselves, as well as several other species. But they can damage vegetation, farmland, municipal infrastructure and water quality,” he added.

This workshop includes a morning presentation by “beaver whisperer” Michel Leclair, followed by an afternoon field trip to Laurier Woods Conservation Area to see a “beaver baffle” in action.

Two steps forward one step back. I’m pretty sure that even if beavers are important to other species damaging water quality is kind of deal-breaker. That’s what we call very bad advertising. I’m sure he’s referring to the bogus concern that they cause ‘beaver fever’ which we all know MUST be true because it rhymes. I wish someone was on hand to talk about how much they IMPROVE water quality or how their dams act as a filter to remove toxins and nitrates from the water.

Is it too much to ask?

Finally a very ugly story from North Carolina where they believe they proudly have discovered that beaver dams can be destroyed with a machete.

Busting beaver dams solves flooding problem near Linden

LINDEN — Flooding across from a neighborhood near Lake Teresa has greatly diminished after members of the community and other helpers tore down beaver dams nearby. Bob Hathcock, who lives on Canal Street, said the swamp that had formed in a wooded area between the street and a field off Lane Road near Linden has gone down.

“I’d say it’s down two feet and still draining,” he said.

He described the work as a community effort that involved four neighborhood residents and three people who live elsewhere. “We got out there with axes, shovels and machetes, and started busting things up,” he said. “The people kind of enjoyed it.”

Hathcock said the destruction of three dams, including one that was about 200 feet wide, did not reduce the swamp near the neighborhood. When a fourth was tore down, the water started receding. It went down even more after a fifth dam was removed.

“Everything is flowing out now,” he said. “We are so relieved.” Hathcock said eight beavers have been trapped. Some weighed more than 50 pounds each, he said.

“We’ve still got traps out there,” he said. One person managed to catch a beaver the day after he put out a trap, Hathcock said. “He was like a kid at Christmas trapping that beaver,” he said.

Hathcock said several companies offered to deal with the problem, but were going to charge up to thousands of dollars. The USDA charged the residents $25, he said.

How much do I hate this article? Let me count the ways.

So Jimbob and Billybud got all their axes and pitchforks and ripped out 5 (five!) beaver dams to make the water flow again. (Just because he lives on Canal street, Bob never expected there to be WATER on it.) Remember that this is a state we gave countless FEMA dollars in drought relief a couple years ago, but never mind, because who needs to save water anyway? Now it’s free like aMurica! Never mind the dying fish, frogs or the wood duck hatchlings whose nests are now too far from the water to make the jump safely. What matters is that 8 beavers are dead, the folk had fun destroying their wetlans and someone celebrated Christmas early.

I am curious though, if folks ripped out the dams and trapped the beavers themselves, what exactly the USDA was charging 25 dollars for?

Second Beaver Chapters

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Environmental, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? April 20, 2017

I have to tell you earnestly, our website has the BEST readers. Bob Kobres from Georgia found that footage of the Buda Texas flow device, and yesterday Robin Ellison of Napa tracked down the story of what happened to the cow-herding beaver. I’m so glad I got to watch this. And this fine rancher should be a spokeswoman as she is clearly the nicest person in Saskatchewan and a wonderful story teller.

I love the idea of the beaver going under the fence and the cows just watching with awe as he waddles away. Thanks Robin for assuring us this had a happy ending!

Not sure we’re going to get the same for some beavers in Rancho Cordova on CBS last night. But the fact that they were on the news instead of just quietly dispatched means they have a prayer. The report says the city is being ‘advised’ and you can guess by whom.

Beaver Dams Creating Flood Risk For Rancho Cordova Neighborhood

Given the location, I’m willing to bet that the ‘advisor’ the city is talking to is Mary Tappel, who came all the way to Martinez just to share her misinformation with our staff. Ahh, memories. The idea bothered me enough that I spent the past hour writing the city council about our solutions and the inaccurate information we received. I’m going to trust that there’s a chance it will get read and considered, but in between Placer and Sacramento is a hard place to be a beaver.

This lovely photo is from Leopold Kanzler in Vienna. He got my attention yesterday on FB when he changed his image to this great photo, which enchanted me for obvious reasons. Then I remembered he was the brilliant mind behind these photos and knew we were among friends. I’m told that these were not photo-shopped just carefully constructed beaver- curiosity driven moments that he perfectly captured on film.