Category: Who’s blaming beavers now?

“More Killy – Less Frilly!”

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Environmental, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's Killing Beavers Now? April 15, 2015

It wasn’t an accident that the poet said “April is the cruelest month”. Have you noticed how everyone and their cousin is deciding to trim their trees and hedges right during nesting season? It’s as if no one looks outside all the rest of the year but as soon as they want to barbecue they have to start killing some nature to make the yard nice. Apparently, it’s true for beavers too.

Beaver bounty considered for 2015-16 budget

BOLIVIA — The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners has been asked to consider a beaver bounty for Brunswick County.

Stephanie Lewis, director of operation services, proposed putting $10,000 into a pilot program to remove beavers and clear their dams that cause trouble throughout the county.

Lewis added that while trappers would remove the beavers, the county is already removing the beaver dams except when explosives are required to clear them.

Commissioner Frank Williams said he receives more calls about beavers than any other types of calls in his district.

“Where are we in the curve? Are we ahead? Are we caught up?” Commissioner Marty Cooke asked regarding how the county has handled problems with beavers.

“Right now I’d say the beavers are winning.”

They’re definitely winning in the IQ contest, I’ll give them that. And why on earth would you call a town in Prince Edward Island “Bolivia”? It makes zero sense. Which, is perfect I guess. Because paying more money to get more of something that’s not working is pretty senseless.

To save trees, Park Board approves beaver cull

FARGO—Experts will begin trapping and killing beavers living along the Red River this fall or next spring, in an effort to spare trees from the animals’ teeth.

The Park Board on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve the cull, which will be handled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Beavers have been chewing into too many trees, causing financial damage and much consternation, park officials said.

“Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve known there’s been beaver damage to our trees,” Parks Director Dave Leker told the Park Board. “It’s just gradually, over the past five years, getting worse.”

Roger Gress, executive director of the parks district, said thousands of dollars have been lost due to beavers chewing into the city’s trees.

“We’ve planted new trees,” Gress said, “and then they’re gone.”

Expert trappers, led by the USDA’s John Paulson, will handle the cull, which will take place at Lemke and Trefoil parks, at a cost of about $1,000.

Paulson’s team will start by analyzing and locating the beaver colonies before laying the traps.

Yes, first hire the hitman and let him figure it out. Never mind about those crazy beaver-huggers saying you can wrap the trees or protect them with paint. They don’t know how much easier it is just to kill them. Bring in the traps!

Dead animals discovered at Charlotte neighborhood park

At least this park in Charlotte North Carolina has the good sense to be mortified by the site of these grisly deaths. Which is almost like being appalled that they happen at all.Something tells me they’ll be more discrete in the future.

King County crews work to clear beaver dam breach

And let’s end on a slightly more positive note because Washington is refreshingly good to beavers. If I were one of our flat-tailed friends I would swim north until I crossed the Columbia River and then start looking for a place to settle down.

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding

A little life with dried tubers.

T.S. Eliot The Wasteland

Remember to watch Episode 2 of animal homes tonight on Nature PBS for first ever seen footage inside beaver lodges!

Beaver message trickles East

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Chewing, Beaver Chewing, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's Killing Beavers Now?, Who's saving beavers now? April 14, 2015

Busy as a beaver: unique partnership helps maintain riverside trees

UI allows the native beaver to gnaw down invasive trees, while saving protected species. Keeping the University of Iowa campus beautiful is a full-time job. Luckily, the UI Landscape Services team gets a little assistance each year in the form of some notoriously busy helpers: the nocturnal, semi-aquatic beaver.

Beavers, a native Iowa species, typically gnaw down trees along the UI campus riverbanks, which is fine for some tree species, but not for others. Instead of stopping the beavers’ behavior, the tree care team decided to work with the beavers’ natural talents. By wrapping valued native and planted trees with protective wire, the invasive and common native species like Boxelder, White Mulberry, Siberian Elm, Willow, Green Ash, and Silver Maple, are left for the beavers to utilize in their underwater homes for food and shelter.

It is true that beavers can be destructive if their work is not redirected; however, under the right circumstances they can be used as an effective, low-cost management tool. Next to humans, no other animal appears to do more to take care of its landscape.

“While there may be a number of trees gnawed off along the riverbanks, the beavers’ work will not kill the tree as the root system is still intact, so the tree typically will resprout. As long as they continue to do this to the invasive species, we don’t have a problem with them. They’re a spoke in the wheel of life as are the trees, as are we,” says Andy Dahl, UI arborist. “We’re happy to have them as our partners to manage the riverbanks.”

Go Andy and UI! Awesome to read that the Hawekeye State has at least an island committed to coexistence. Sometimes I get the feeling that the beaver good news is spreading so far and permeating so deep that there eventually won’t be a single state where it doesn’t exist.

Except Oklahoma. Because, you know.

“The flood recovery is helping us to clean up and better celebrate the Iowa River. Those busy beavers are helping to contribute to that effort,” says Don Guckert, associate vice president of Facilities Management.

Even in Fargo ND the attitude towards beavers is changing. Just look at this:

Beavers beware: Fargo Park Board mulls trapping, killing

FARGO—Because of tree damage caused by beavers along the Red River, the Fargo Park Board will meet tonight to consider trapping and killing the animals in hopes of reining in their population.

“We’re not trying to eliminate all the beavers,” said Dave Leker, director of parks. “We’re just trying to reduce them.”

Leker said the district has received a number of calls from residents worried about beavers harming mature, riparian trees. He said there’s no problem with beavers using small trees for food and dam building, but the destruction of decades-old trees concerns district officials.

Sam DeMarais, the district’s forester, said he’s counted roughly 70 trees gnawed by beavers in city parks. Many of the trees have been felled, and in other cases, beavers have chewed off the bark all the way around the lower trunk. This is known as girdling, which is a death sentence for a tree, Leker said.

“Beavers are part of the natural ecosystem, and so are trees,” he said. “It’s kind of a no-win situation. You’re going to have people that, you know, are rooting for the beavers, and you’re going to have people that are rooting for the trees.”

Hmmm Fargo hasn’t exactly exhausted their resources trying to solve this problem. But it’s still better that they don’t want to kill ALL the beavers. An inquiring mind might ask how many beaver they have? And how they’ll chose which ones to kill? The Sophie’s choice of beavers, I guess. They are going to contact USDA next. Now how could that possibly go wrong?

Re-location, Re-location, Re-location

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? April 6, 2015

Beavers Star in Tribes’ Fish, Water Conservation Project

SEATTLE – Sometimes moving to a new neighborhood is the best choice for everyone. That’s the theory behind a research project by the Tulalip Tribes of Washington to relocate beaver families. The critters have become a nuisance in the lowlands but in higher elevations, their hard work can benefit the entire Snohomish watershed.

Ben Dittbrenner is a graduate student of University of Washington Environmental and Forestry Sciences and he’s working with the Tribes to trap and move beavers and study the effects of their dam-building. When less snow is predicted with a changing climate, he says a beaver dam is just the right type of eco-friendly barrier to moderate spring runoff.

“It will just flow right down to Puget Sound and it won’t stay in the system for more than a couple days,” says Dittbrenner. “But if we can trap it high up in the watershed, we can keep it there for months and hopefully continue to keep those systems healthier for a longer period of time.”

Great work Washington! (Well moving beavers is better than killing them, but not as good as learning how to coexist. Let’s be clear.) But Ben is working hard on what I think is his dissertation so we’re happy he’s adding to the data pool. I first met Ben at the State of the beaver conference 2013. I was dashing to lunch with Mike Callahan in between our presentations, and a young man we didn’t know asked if he could tag along. Ben was working at that time for the Snohomish public works, and was one of two folk assigned to fill Jake Jacobsen’s shoes when he retired. Ben and Mike got talking about fish passage in flow devices and eventually he became the site where the new adaptions were tried. Now he’s hard at work at the School of Environmental Forestry at the University of Washington. The last I heard his dissertation was about using beavers to mitigate climate change, which is a very valuable topic. Great work Ben!

Onto Washington, where one syndicated columnist finds humor in the cherry blossom drama. Tom Purcell is actually writing about beavers in 1999, which. considering they returned in 2007 is a good lesson about the futility of either trapping or relocation. The story is a bit of a bus-man’s holiday for us here in Martinez – but it’s a fun article anyway. Enjoy!

Purcell: Springtime in Washington, D.C.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival is beginning. The cherry trees, 3,700 of them given to America by the Japanese in 1912, will soon be in full bloom. It reminds me why Americans are so wary of Washington.

In the spring of 1999, you see, some culprits had been chopping down cherry trees. The National Park Service, in a state of high alert for days, finally identified the tree fellers: three beavers, who decided to construct a dam in the Tidal Basin.

In a normal city, this situation would have been dealt with swiftly. The beavers would have been trapped, transported to another location and released. In fact, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), not known for common sense solutions, suggested exactly that.

But Washington is no normal city.

No sooner was PETA’s idea floated than experts began crawling out of the woodwork. One said it would be tragic to separate the three beavers, since they’re likely from the same family.

Another said you can’t move beavers to a new colony because the new colony — beavers are Republicans? — would reject the freeloaders. Besides, what’s the point of being a beaver if you don’t have any buddies to plug up storm sewers with?

A third expert said that, all things considered, the most humane solution would be to euthanize the beavers. Boy, did the public react negatively to that suggestion.

This is because beavers are cute. Their cuddly television presence clouded the public’s ability to address the problem rationally.

The fact is that if beavers looked more like their pointy-nosed cousins, rats, even PETA would have lined the banks of the Tidal Basin with rifles and shotguns to take out the varmints before they felled more beloved trees.

Ha! Write this down: when people see beavers they are harder to kill. We know it’s true. Certainly true here in Martinez. I hope it’s true everywhere. Of course he points fingers at PETA but there’s no need to single anyone out. Everyone can care about beavers if given the chance. I guess NPS learned part of their lesson from the public response and used their visibility to make a tree mascot for the blessed blossoms. Lemons and lemonade. Hmm, someone is smart.

Now for the completion of long term goals here at beaver central. I always loved the idea of using this in some kind of printing, but it was too weird for a shirt and too detailed for a poster. I loved how the bandana came out on my recent button order from zazzle, so I’m adding historical touch. Doesn’t this make you want to be a beaver researcher in a dusty stone library somewhere?

Fit for a Prince

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Chewing, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Who's blaming beavers now? April 4, 2015

How many beavers is too many for Calgary’s Prince’s Island Park?

There are estimated to be several hundred beavers living in Calgary, clustered along the Elbow and Bow Rivers. One beaver can easily kill more than a hundred trees a year, which is a concern for the city, especially in its most-used park.

Manderson says the city is considering whether it makes sense to let the family stay in Prince’s Island Park, or perhaps limit the number of beavers allowed to stay.

“After the flood there has been a lot of change,” he said. “There are new areas the beavers are exploiting that they may not have in the past…what we do is keep on top of that with increased monitoring and wiring. I don’t know if there is a major number that I can say, ‘this size of park, this many beavers,’ I don’t know if it’s that easy.”

The city also wants to protect the trees and areas around the lagoon, said Manderson, but without harming any of the animals. The last thing officials want to do is to trap or relocate any beavers, as that too often ends in the animals’ death. The first option is to encourage the beavers to move along on their own.

Calgary Prince Island park is one of those city parks set in the middle of the river (this time the Bow River) with one side developed for festivals and the other side tapering into wetlands for birds and birders. For the most part it is accessible only by footbridges and is a treasure in the city as you might well imagine. Here’s a map that gives you a general idea.

When I read a headline like “How many beavers is too many” I immediately think of the answer “I’ll tell you the number if it gets close to happening”. But obviously in an area like that they could get lots of beaver visitors. They think they have hundreds, and they can’t really. What they actually have is a drive thru banquet table on the middle of a beaver highway. And even if they kill 500 beavers the only way they’re going to protect those trees is to protect those trees! If they don’t want to individually wire wrap them all, then build several brick perimeter fences around a clump – at least 3 feet high. Don’t raise the bed. Beavers don’t climb and what they can’t reach they won’t eat. I promise.

I think Mr. Manderson gets a letter.

Now onto more local interest. Guess what’s on page two of this issue of Bay Nature Magazine? I’m pretty happy with the way it came out. Even for a small ad it’s pretty eye catching don’t you think?

I would be pretty unhappy if I were one of the other three ads on this page. Knowing what we paid they paid a chunk of money and who will even see them when there’s adorable beavers to catch their eyes?

Which reminds me that I just got permission from artist Mark Poulin to use his button designs in some kind of shirt for Worth A Dam staff. Just to show off their purpose. I really like the way this looks so far, but am still tweaking.

Two final pieces of very good news. Look at our lovely footbridge dam! It’s getting so big I know Dad thinks there are kits to protect!

And ooh just look what one of our new stakes is doing! Doesn’t that look delicious?

Beaver Cheer x3

heidi08 Beavers, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? April 2, 2015

Ooh this is a fun day. There is so much good news to share, I’m like a kid in a beaver store! You will be too. Let’s start with a late April Fools from Canada that I received yesterday afternoon. I was excited by the headline, but you’re sure to be thrilled by the photo.

Beaver-deceivers to beaver believers

What started out as an ecologist’s dream ended up a nightmare mired in mud, myth and misery.

Rainer Wasserman is a 38-year old ecologist at The Ohio State University of Ohio, whose work used to focus on wetland restoration and ecosystems.

“When I first heard it, I didn’t believe it,” he said, shaking his head. He was referring to the first confirmed sighting of the Castorimorpha megaloenochae, a giant aquatic relative of the beaver, whose destructive power is equalled only by its orneriness. “I never saw one; neither did anyone else I’ve worked with over the years. Until recently, that is.”

The almost mythical creature came to the forefront recently when a 3-acre detention basin along King Street flooded in 2014. Great piles of debris blocked a culvert that allows for the basin to properly drain. And though beavers were fingered as obvious culprits, no one, in the basin’s ten year history, had ever actually seen the animals in the act of building the dams.

Hahaha! It reminds me of what I often say about our Castoroides skull….THIS is the size of the problems the city thought the beavers were going to cause! YS Ohio has definitely stepped onto the beaver stage this year. It has swallowed their news cycle, just like it did in Martinez. Funny to read a giant beaver is ruining a retention pond. To tell the truth though, considering the untrue things you say about beavers all the time, this article really isn’t that special.

Now it’s time to thank Connecticut because they had enough state pride to promote their resident filmmaker’s 3-part series on CPTV starting next week. I thought it was only going to show on the east coast, but when I called I learned that it will air on all PBS stations. The second part airs on tax day and will be about beavers!

CPTV to Air New Three-Part Nature Miniseries from New Haven Filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum

Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) will premiere the new three-part miniseries “Animal Homes” from filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum of New Haven, Conn., as part of the long-running PBS natural history series Nature on Wednesday, April 8 at 8 p.m. Parts 2 and 3 of the series will air on Wednesdays, April 15 and 22, also at 8 p.m.

This three-part series provides intimate, never-before-seen views of the lives of animals in their homes. It investigates just how animals build their remarkable homes around the globe and the intriguing behaviors and social interactions that take place in and around them.

Filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum, an avid outdoorswoman, has produced television documentaries for the past 20 years with a focus on the arts, science and nature. Her 2010 documentary “Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air” was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Nature Programming, and her film “An Original DUCKumentary” won the 2013 Emmy Award for Outstanding Nature Programming. Both films also aired on CPTV as part of the Nature series.

“Animal Homes: Location, Location, Location” (Premiering Wednesday, April 15 at 8 p.m.) – Finding a good base of operations is key to successfully raising a family. One must find the right stream or tree, the right building materials, neighbors and sometimes tenants. In the wild, every home is a unique DIY project, every head of household a designer and engineer. Cameras chart the building plans and progress of beavers, black bears, hummingbirds and woodrats, examining layouts and cross sections, evaluating the technical specs of their structures and documenting their problem-solving skills. Animal architecture provides insights into animal consciousness, creativity and innovation.

Whoohooo! More beavers on PBS! Thanks CT for the promotion, because I might not have known. I guess they were pretty happy with how Jari Osborne’s documentary did last year. You can read all about the upcoming miniseries here. Here’s a great promo to whet your appetite.

Something too look forward to on April 15th. How often can you say that?

Onto my favorite part of this trifecta of beaver cheer. It’s the just-spring update from Spring Farm Cares an animal sanctuary in New York. They’re good friends of Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife. Their beavers have just broken through the ice to check for treats. They made sure they weren’t disappointed.

BP 3 30 15 22 — Beaver under ice – Spring Farm Cares

BP 3 30 15 25 — Breaver Breaks Through Ice – Spring Farm Cares

BP 3 30 15 43 — Iceworld – Spring Farm Cares

: Beaver emerges- Spring Farm Cares

Aren’t those lovely? You might want to go see the whole thing for yourself here. Consider dropping something in their tip jar because they are doing wonderful things. There’s even adorable muskrats under ice photos. I’m very jealous that we never get to see beavers under ice, but there is one thing they photographed that Martinez has seen many, many times before.