Category: Who’s saving beavers now?

Big Sky Beavers

heidi08 Beaver Conference, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Ice, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? October 29, 2017

Not too long ago Rachel Hofman of the NWF magazine in Vermont contacted me about an event they were co-sponsoring with the Clark Fork Coalition in Montana about the benefits of beavers. She was working on a flyer to promote the event and wanted to use a few of Cheryl’s great photos to do so. The talk would be given on October 25th by Amy Chadwick, who is also a friend of ours.

It sounded like a fine cause, and it reminded me I hadn’t seen that particular photo in a while, so Cheryl gave consent and then we pretty much forgot about it because not long after our exchange the entire napa-sonoma valley erupted in flames and that held our attention for a while. Yesterday I was reminded of it by reader Rob Rich who sent me some great information they put out on beavers. It reminded me that I had forgotten to share it, so enjoy!

Beavers – Nuisances or Watershed Heroes?

For CFC’s inaugural Beaver Month we chatted with Andrew Jakes, Regional Wildlife Biologist for National Wildlife Federation about the unsung bucktooth heroes of the watershed – the beaver.

Why are beavers considered ecosystem engineers?

Beavers aren’t just considered ecosystem engineers…beavers are THE quintessential ecosystem engineer! They change a landscape like no other species in the world, besides humans. They change the landscape to suit their needs, and when they do that, it turns out that they change a lot of other things too.

OK, so what else changes in the landscape when beavers are present and building dams?

So much! When beavers show up, a lot starts to change. Studies have shown that beaver dams change everything in the system; from soil to vegetation to water quality to wildlife. It’s hard to sum up in only a few sentences, but I’ll do my best to give you a summary…

First of all, beaver dams slow the flow of water. This means water is on the landscape for longer. This can cause the floodplain to expand, soil structure to change, and the water table to rise. All of this also means that riparian vegetation can thrive. This means extra foraging opportunities for beavers and other creatures, so more wildlife starts to frequent the area. It’s no secret that wetlands are beneficial to the ecosystem, and beavers are little wetland creators.

The bottom line of all this is that when a beaver dam shows up, we see an increase in biodiversity, which thereby means the ecosystem becomes more resilient.

Mother and kit enjoying fennel: Cheryl Reynolds

You can read the rest of it the fine story here. The entire ‘beaver appreciation month’ concluded with the talk by Amy Chadwick at a local pub in Missoula on Thursday evening. Obviously convincing the land owners of Montana to coexist with beavers takes the best and the brightest, and Amy (who worked with Skip Lisle) is well up to the task.

Walk and Talk: Busting Beaver Myths

During the month of October, the Clark Fork Coalition is putting a spotlight on the hard-working, fur-ball hero of the watershed – the beaver. Join the Clark Fork Coalition and Ecologist Amy Chadwick for an evening of natural history and cutting-edge restoration featuring beavers and beaver mimicry. Chadwick is an Ecologist at Great West Engineering and the chair of the Montana Beaver Workgroup. Amy has been working in stream and wetland ecosystem assessment and restoration in Montana for 20 years, but in recent years her work has focused primarily on beaver habitat restoration and improving natural water storage.

Amy will share facts of about beaver ecology, review how beaver act as ‘ecosystem engineers’ in western watersheds, and share the implications lost beaver habitats on our water budget. Chadwick will be joined by Andrew Jakes, Wildlife Biologist with the National Wildlife Federation for a discussion of beaver habitat recovery work underway in the Upper Clark Fork and a Q & A session.

Don’t you wish you were there listening to Amy’s talk? I met her at the Beaver Conference in 2013 and we have kept in touch over the years when beaver issues arose over the years. She worked with Skip installing flow devices in the area for a while and now carries on the work bravely on her own. It’s wonderful to see folks like Amy and the Clark Fork Coalition working in their own backyard to make way for beavers and teaching others about their benefit to the environment. I hope the beaver night was a resounding success and I hope NWF thinks of us first when they have a beaver event to promote in the future!

Autumn watching Beavers

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Ice, Beavers elsewhere, Who's saving beavers now? October 28, 2017

You’ll be happy to know that the beavers in Hope Valley on the west fork of the carson river are doing just fine. We counted 7 dams yesterday in the cool clear flat water edged by leafless aspen and tamarack. It looks like nobody is messing with their idyllic lifestyle in the curvy shallows of the carson and we were happy about that! I’m sure they’re hard at work in these last warm autumn days to stock up that food cache for the winter. Good luck!

It is also very good news for us that one of our best beaver buddies in the UK is very tech savvy and made sure the complete autumn watch episode on the Cornish beavers was online and shareable. I’m not thanking them by name because the BBC frowns on this sort of thing! This is a rare treat so even if you never ever watch any video I post WATCH THIS! Trust me.

Wasn’t that amazing? They are being so smart about this, with the baseline study and the careful followup! Hurray for the farmer who had the sense to step into the forefront of this issue and allow his land to be reborn.

You never know where unexpected beaver friends will come from next. Here’s a fine defense of Heron pond from the Cabinet Press in New Hampshire! The author, Suzanne Fournier, is not at all happy with the actions of the conservation commission in charge.

Anti-conservation move must be opposed

The Milford Conservation Commission voted on Oct. 12 to lower Heron Pond by a foot! It’s quite an arbitrary decision, motivated not by what’s in the best interest of the pond and the threatened and endangered wildlife it sustains, but by vague expressions from the Public Works Director that the water is high enough already.

In summer 2014, Director Riendeau’s crew destructively lowered Heron Pond by four feet, absent a real emergency. The beavers eventually repaired the breached dam.

In fall 2014, along the Rail Trail, the CC had beaver pipes installed so low down that three ponds were drained of much of their water, one of them the lovely place called Dickerman’s Pond.

The CC members should be educating themselves more about the value and functions of a healthy wetland like Heron Pond that actually plays a major role in flood prevention.

They would also learn that drawing down Heron Pond with its Blanding’s and spotted turtles during the fall violates the directives in the N.H. Wildlife Action Plan that says turtles would likely die.

This anti-conservation move on the part of the CC must be opposed by all who care about wetlands and wildlife.

Nicely put! I honestly think this is a historic first for beaver reporting. Never before have I seen any paper or person complain about a flow device installed TOO LOW so that too much water drains away. Even in Martinez we didn’t complain about that because we were too grateful the pond and the beavers got to stay at all! Keep the pressure on, Suzanne. We think you’re doing ponds a great service!

Why-not Wyoming

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? October 26, 2017

Looks like those pesky beavers have been up to no good again. This time in Sheridan Wyoming which is almost far north enough to be in Montana. Apparently they took care of the problem JUST in time.

Beavers Cause Problem on County Road

Beaver dams, apparently built this past summer, caused some flooding over Slack Road, a county road in the northwest part of Sheridan County. County Engineer Ken Muller said three beavers have been removed, although a fourth may still be in the area, and county crews plan to take action this week to deal with the dams.

Muller said a state trapper was called and trapped three of the beavers. He said they’ve been relocated. The dams were built in nearby West Pass Creek, and Muller said the road is currently in pretty good condition. However, he said, the water is right up to the edge of the road on both sides, and crews need to deal with the situation before winter sets in.

Muller said this kind of situation doesn’t happen too often, but about four years ago, the county had an issue with a beaver dam flooding South Creek Road. In that situation, he said, the water actually crossed the road. Fortunately, he said, the road wasn’t damaged.

Relocated? Really? Do think Wyoming is ecologically sophisticated in ways for which we don’t give them credit? Or do you possibly think that trapper is just spinning a tale and blowing some smoke up our skirts by alleging that they were like that puppy our parents said went to ‘live on the farm”? I’m guessing that those beavers were relocated to Hamlet’s “Undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveler returns“. But either way it’s a death sentence because it’s 34 degrees there this morning, with poor conditions to build a lodge or establish a food cache.

Still the lying irks me. So brazen. This song popped in my head as I read it, although different Sheridan, I imagine.

Ohh you cannot get to Sheridan, says the false knight on the road

Speaking of my husband’s homeland, God bless BBC programs like Autumnwatch which is broadcasting an admirable program filmed on the Devon beavers with a rare local farmer who isn’t a beaverphobe. I love seeing the wonder with which they watch as Autumnthe beaver does the most mundane beaver things. It is how i felt the very first year watching our beavers alone every morning. Turn your sound UP for this just to hear it in their voices.

Lost and Found

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Rehabilitation, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? October 22, 2017

There were two news stories yesterday that touched on the history of this blog. One of them was positive so we’ll do that last. The other is less positive but I’m at least happy that the reporter wrote me back this morning and apologized for not asking US first. Ahem.

What’s up with all the wayward beavers?

WALNUT CREEK — An injured beaver discovered recently in a Pittsburg parking lot near Kirker Creek may have lost its sight, according to the Lindsay Wildlife Experience.

When the Contra Costa County Animal Services Department brought the 35-pound male beaver to the Lindsay on Oct. 18, the animal was lethargic and staff believed he may have suffered head trauma and an injured jaw.

The medical team had been monitoring the beaver’s condition, administering pain medication and treating him with antibiotics for minor injuries.

Two days after the beaver arrived at the Walnut Creek hospital, however, Lindsay staff discovered that the animal could not see, which may be a temporary side effect of the head injury, said Elisabeth Nardi, associate director of marketing.

If the beaver is permanently blind, he would not be able to survive in the wild, she added.

Poor guy.

Typically, the Lindsay receives only one or two of the large rodents per year, but this is the fifth the nonprofit has cared for in 2017. Wildlife experts are not sure why so many beavers are venturing from their lodges into areas with people.

The medical team at Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek is treating an injured 35-pound male beaver who was found in a Pittsburg parking lot on Oct. 18, 2017. (Courtesy of Lindsay Wildlife Experience)

One theory is that the beaver population has grown.

The heavy rains that soaked the Bay Area last winter produced lush vegetation for the toothy animals to eat, so more kits may be surviving.

A second hypothesis is that people are encroaching on the animals’ habitat.

“We have had the better part of 10 years of drought and the human population in the Bay Area has increased and spread out more during that time,” said Amber Engle, Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Manager.

First of all, stop spouting theories about the population growing and ask the REAL BEAVER EXPERTS at Worth A Dam. Sheesh.

I actually heard about this poor little guy thursday morning from Cheryl, who was alerted by their vet. But this particular unconsulted beaver EXPERT doesn’t think it has anything to do with the population growing. (!) This wet winter and spring was terribly hard on beaver families. Flooding dislocated them all over, not just in the Bay Area. A beaver that is suddenly without family or home is disoriented and confused. He or she can easily wander into a public area, get hit by a car, and wind up in rehab.

This beaver’s dislocation is NOT storm related. And he sounds sick. The blindness makes me think of our very first sick kit. Remember that? He was picked up swimming in circles and they discovered at Lindsay he was blind.

After he died a necropsy showed that he had brain damage caused by round worm parasite that was responsible for his blindness.

And for goodness sake don’t euthanize a beaver just because he’s blind. Put him some farmer’s pond or backyard and let him find his way. Beavers have routines,their eyesight isn’t good anyway, and it he had a reliable food source he’d be fine and figure things out on his own. Two thirds of beaver life is probably spent sightless anyway – underground or underwater.

Go here to donate and remind Lindsay that caring for sick beavers is Worth A Dam.

Better news comes from Southern California at the site of the big bruhaha nearly two decades ago. For newer readers Lake Skinner was a reservoir that made a decision to trap out beavers and caused resident outcry. When they were challenged on this decision they said that the beavers were threatening the homes of endangered birds in the area, the least Bell’s vireo and Willow Flycatcher and had to be killed to protect them.

The outraged citizens hired an attorney who brought the whole thing to court, filing suit against the metrolitan water district, the power company and CDFG. When they lost they brought the matter to appeals court with expert testimony by the likes of Sherri Tippie and Donald Hey.

This time they won because the smart attorney (Mitch Wagoner) argued that that removing the beavers was a violation of CEQA and the court agreed that the decision was “discretionary” and not “ministerial” (meaning they did it because they wanted to not because they had to.) So they lost big time and had to all those pay court costs.

In addition but seperartely, researchers in the area were attracted to the story and published an article about the whole stupid decision wonderfully called “Management by Assertion” which remains one of my favorites.

Well yesterday this was posted including some of their findings.

Skinner Reservoir – Lake Skinner Temecula Ca

The reservoir and nearby Southwestern Riverside County Multi-Species Reserve host endangered species such as Least Bell’s vireo (Vireo bellii pusillis) and Southwestern Willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus), dependent on riparian willow habitat that is created and maintained by North American beaver (Castor canadensis).

Now originally I thought this was on the reservoir website which would have been awesome, but today I can see it was just a blog that I think might be computer generated. Never mind. It is still very good news though because the it means that the information from the good guys in this lawsuit and study is so widespread that it’s easier to pick up than all the lies they wanted people to believe and had a staff of thousands to spread.

Beaver truth will out. So there.

Beavers: Past, Present and Future

heidi08 Beaver Chewing, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, History, Who's saving beavers now? October 20, 2017

Whew, I was relieved to hear that Mike Callahan (whose WIFE is a trapper) had never heard about using a cross-bow either to shoot unwanted beavers either. So that means this is just a one-off until we hear otherwise. (A horrible one-off but better than a common occurrence.)

Meanwhile, I received a note from author Ben Goldfarb yesterday that his writing retreat is going well and that he will have the first draft of his beaver book in November! How exciting! And I heard from Tom Rusert that their home didn’t burn down, their beloved bulldog Daisy is recovering from smoke inhalation, and things are moving forward. There was an excellent article in the East Bay Times and Fire Rescue about our good friend Luigi feeding the first responders last week, which surprises me not at all. That man has been incredibly community-oriented since before he even had a community.

Calif. deli owner feeds first responders in Calif. wildfires

MARTINEZ, Calif. —Luigi Daberdaku has been making sandwiches at his downtown deli for years, but never this many all at once.

Since Thursday, there’s been an assembly line set up in his shop, right near the shelves with the specialty sodas. “Cutting the meat, cheese, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, I need volunteers… plus I need more meat; we ran out of meat today after 275 sandwiches,” Daberdaku said Monday.

By that afternoon, as he prepared to make his fifth delivery trip, he and his assembled teams had made almost 1,500 sandwiches. It started Thursday, Oct. 12, when he and volunteers made 150 sandwiches by midday. He took them to Fairfield that first day for further distribution; since then, he has gone straight to the hard-hit areas, mostly in Napa, himself.

Dear, sweet Luigi, you deserve all the credit you get. I recall he had barely set up shop downtown at the November 2007 beaver meeting ten years ago, when he stood up with his very thick Albanian accent and said “When I first come to Martinez there was no one downtown. It was like a ghost town! And now that the beavers have come there are many, many people every day!” He has been our friend since the beginning, and his wonderful daughter Louisa planted trees, worked the festival and brought us sandwiches every year. Helping first responders is just the kind of thing he’d do.

(Let’s hope that sweet steady rain we got last night helped them too.)

Yesterday the National Geographic Blog called Cool Green Science decided that beavers deserve a little credit also. Of course they couldn’t resist reminiscing on Idaho throwing them from planes – but this is a pretty nice summary. Watch the video all the way through.

Restoring Beavers by Plane and Automobile

“Beavers are really nature’s engineers and they do a really good job at what they do,” says James Brower, Idaho Department of Fish and Game volunteer services coordinator. “We love beaver and we love what beaver do.”

“We really want them to set up shop and transform that habitat and make it a little better for everything,” Brower says. “Beaver create habitat for not only fish but also for deer, elk, moose and bear. Pretty much everything needs water and places to drink. There’s no doubt in my mind this benefits everybody.”

I like what Mr. Brower has to say. I think I will try and make contact. But I’m never a fan of the beaver-flinging story – as I’m sure you all know by now.