Category: Who’s saving beavers now?

Beaver Deceivers Meet The Press

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Urban beavers, Who's saving beavers now? May 6, 2017

Remember that Mill Creek beaver project in Washington? I heard from Ben about this yesterday, clarifying that it was a single walled pipe that went over the dam, not under. (Also he’ll make changes to link to our site soon, thank you very much.) Looks like they’re getting a lot more press this week, which is great.

Mill Creek tries new tactic to prevent beaver dams from flooding nearby roads

MILL CREEK, Wash. – Beavers in Penny Creek are in for a surprise.

In an attempt to solve a perpetual flooding issue that causes traffic delays, the City of Mill Creek has commissioned Beavers Northwest to build a “beaver deceiver.” The system of pipes has no formal name but the idea is to let beavers co-exist with humans and end the flooding issue.

This is a great story, and will someone please pinch me because I’m obviously dreaming at the public works quote? Great work by our friends at Beavers NorthWest. This is really good coverage and fun to see. The reporter was obviously having a delightful time getting to use new tools that day, he even filmed the install with a go pro and tweeted about it, but you have to go to the article to see that, because I can’t embed it here.

Meanwhile, we’re off to the Mother’s day event at Wild Birds Unlimited in Pleasant hill. Always a fun day, and it will be a great chance for you to meet Gary Bogue and Joan Morris who inherited his column! (And for some unknown reason Chuck Todd is listed as a guest…I don’t exactly understand, will birds be on Meet the Press this sunday?) Jon and I are there the first half of the day, and Cheryl and Lory will see it close. Come see the bald eagle, stock up on bird seed and stop by and say Hi!

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.

Stepping up for beavers

heidi08 Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Ice, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? April 29, 2017

Beaver benefits are on Utah public radio this morning. Let’s hope that helps his case for Kelly’s visit to the court house next week.

The Beaver: Helping Keep Water On Drying Lands on Wild About Utah

*Installing a pressure transducer (inside the white pvc pipe) which is used to measure flow. Restoration treatments are assessed through monitoring water flows.*

Beginning as early as the 17th century, beavers have struggled to find safe places to build their homes. Initially, hunters trapped beaver extensively to keep up with the popular beaver fashions in Europe.Then as settlers began moving west, they considered the beavers annoying because of their tendency to cause flooding and damage trees – so the trapping continued.

However, today in many parts of the American West, the beaver’s 400-year-old struggle is fading, because of their ability to keep water on dry land in an efficient manner.

While beavers may not be welcome in most city limits, ranchers and wildlife managers are re-introducing them to rural areas where the benefits of their dams far outweigh the inconveniences.

When Jay Tanner learned of the potential benefit of beavers, he drove to Utah State University and met with scientists and researchers who had experienced success in restoring beavers in the west.

Eric Thacker, Rangeland Management Extension Specialist at USU said, “A beaver dam provides a buffer or mitigation for drought.”

Kent Sorenson, habitat biologist from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources described the financial benefit of the beavers, “[When beaver manage the dams] our operation and maintenance costs go to zero — they do all the work. They are 24/7 – 365-day maintenance crews that do not require a Corps of Engineers 404 permit.

And that! ladies an gentlemen, is what we call “good beaver press”. Share this site with your friends or nonbelievers because its a good big of persuasion from a pretty rugged source. Hopefully the judge in the McAdams case will accidentally hear it over coffee and waffles this morning. I don’t think it counts as ‘ex parte contact’ since it doesn’t star Kelly or his beavers, right?

Another nice beaver report in the form of a letter regarding depredation from the president of Protect Our Wildlife in Vermont.

Off-season trapping doesn’t help

Some of you may be familiar with official trapping season each year, but did you know that trapping occurs all year long under the guise of “nuisance” wildlife control? This unregulated, year-round trapping and killing occurs at biologically inappropriate times when animals like foxes, raccoons and others are raising their young. This means, among other things, animals are left orphaned with little chance of survival when their mothers are killed.

There are no set parameters as to what constitutes a “nuisance” animal. A warden once told me that a raccoon could be defecating in your garden and that could be considered a nuisance and therefore an excuse to kill the animal. There are many non-lethal ways to address wild animals causing damage that don’t involve killing, but the state seems to be mired in a trap/kill/repeat loop. Tragically, beavers are one of the most heavily trapped animals, leaving entire family units broken. Beaver kits stay with the parents for two years so the loss of a parent can be detrimental to the survival of offspring. Water flow control devices, exclusion fencing and wrapping trees are all long-lasting, humane options to address beaver damage.

Not only is this unjustified trapping and killing bad for wildlife, it’s bad for people. Unlicensed, unregistered “nuisance” wildlife control operators can collect payment to trap and kill animals, but these operators are not even required to have a trapping license. This means that they haven’t undergone the trapper education program nor are they familiar with best management practices. Animals trapped and killed as “nuisances” aren’t reported to the Fish & Wildlife Department so there is no data collection or controls in place to monitor what kinds of animals are killed, how many and why. For a Department who is responsible for protecting wildlife for the benefit of all Vermonters, including future generations, this seems to be a lapse in responsibility.

We are thankful for bill, H.262, An act relating to the licensing of nuisance wildlife control operators, introduced by Representative Jim McCullough, which will hopefully close some of these loopholes, if the bill is successful. When unlicensed trappers set leghold and body gripping traps during the warmer months when people are out recreating with their dogs, that presents an unintended threat. A baited trap for a raccoon will just as likely trap a dog or cat. We must emerge from the dark ages and find a better way.

Brenna Galdenzi, president of Protect Our Wildlife POW

Good letter Brenna! We here in California agree that beaver nuisance depredation is the unregulated, unobserved practice that kills far, far too many beavers. Near as I can tell looking at the text of the bill, H. 262 requires even nuisance trappers to have a license and to show the reason why lethal means are needed and what will be done to discourage wildlife in the future.

Since depredation takes resources away from EVERYONE in the state, it seems pretty reasonable to ask for these things, doesn’t it?

Nature in the City Again

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Urban beavers, Who's saving beavers now? April 25, 2017

Here at beaver central I’ve been getting ready now for my upcoming presentation at Safari West on Mother’s Day. It’s usually a crowded, family bustle with coughing and crying and plenty of aaawww so I’m trying to make my talk less educational and more inclusive this year. My theme is that you don’t have to go to Africa to see Nature. It’s right in your own backyard, schoolyard, or city. In fact the nature all around you might be the nature that needs your help the most!

Here’s a fun clip I’ll be starting with before I talk about how Martinez helped the beavers.

I think the blossoming interest in urban wildlife is part of a much larger trend, daylighting creeks, replanting natives, and helping green cities. It makes good sense since it’s where we’re all going to spend most of our time. Just look at this great article from Vancouver.

5 ways Vancouver is bringing more wildlife back to the city

The Vancouver Park Board biodiversity strategy is starting to take root, one year after the wide-ranging plan was approved to bring wildlife back to the city.

“There’s a social aspect to nature in the city — people want to be able to experience it as part of their daily lives,” said Nick Page, a biologist with the park board.

1. Salt marsh restoration in New Brighton Park

Vancouver has drastically altered its shoreline to make more space for industry and housing. But in New Brighton Park on Burrard Inlet, Port Metro Vancouver and the park board are working to remove fill that was placed there in the 1960s and restore a tidal salt marsh. The aim is to restore a habitat that once supported clam beds, juvenile salmon and shore birds.

4. Create wildlife corridors

To thrive, wildlife needs to be able to move around the city, Page said. So finding ways to make corridors through the city — like the still-under-design Arbutus Greenway — is also an important part of the strategy.

5. Return of the wild

One way to measure the success of biodiversity efforts is when animals come back to areas they left decades ago. Beavers are a common sight in Stanley Park — but recently they returned to Charleson Park in south False Creek. Page would like to see the return of smaller predators such as the American marten because that would signal the ecosystem is healthy enough to support the full food chain. He acknowledges humans and animals can come into conflict in the city. But “I think we can co-exist. Our alternatives are much more difficult and probably unsuccessful in terms of trying to manage or remove [animals].”

Vancouver is doing an excellent job thanks in part to this man who can definitely see the forest for the trees. Nick Park is exactly the kind of biologist we all want working in our cities, and we’re thrilled that he is a positive force for beavers in the region.

We should be working with biologists like Mr. Park to teach us to value what is right in front of us. Whether it’s baby ducks OR beavers. Say it with me now:
“Because, in the end we will conserve only what we love;
we will love only what we understand;
and we will understand only what we are taught.”
(Baba Dioum, 1968.)