Today’s the big day for Lega and “Beaver Daze” in Maine. She wrote this week that the name felt apt because she was certainly in a daze herself since the preparations were underway. Sharon and Owen came yesterday and will present today on living with beavers. What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall! GOOD LUCK! Win new beaver friends and change hearts and minds!
Gosh, can you remember our first beaver festival? We had maybe 7 booths and fewer than 300 people. Children made beaver tails out of paper and FRO, who was just getting to know us, brought clay for an activity. The documentarian Don Bernier was there filming the “Happy Ending” and the rest of us knew better than to think anything was over. In between snapping photos, Cheryl endeavored to work the video camera for our “Video letter to the Mayor.” The first festival was only three hours long. Now here’s a walk down memory lane!
Wildcare is a rehabilitation and education nonprofit located in San Rafael. If a hawk ran into your office building in San Francisco or a shivering raccoon turned up in the parking lot in Corte Madera, odds are they’d bring it to Wildcare in Marin. Their newsletter is published every month and goes to some 10,000 addresses. So I was fairly excited when our new otter friends talked them into including beavers in their June issue. Check out the lovely photos, courtesy of Cheryl Reynolds as usual!
by Heidi Perryman, Ph.D., President & Founder, Worth A Dam
The animal kingdom often provides us with a fairly bleak view of fatherhood – especially in mammals! Defending territory and mating rites seem to take up most of dad’s time – but when it comes to beavers we see a whole new side to paternity!
Since beavers select a single partner and mate for life, dad has much more time for hands-on childcare, parenting moments, everyday repairs and helping around the house.
Beavers and father’s day! This is an exciting inclusion on the paternal theme! I have learned amazing things about beaver fathers since I’ve been watching our family. Go read the whole thing yourself which I worked hard to finish back before festival details were all-consuming.
When mom is getting ready to give birth dad will often move into a nearby “bachelor pad” to give her space, but once the kits are on the scene, he is in close attendance. It is dad who brings tender new shoots to the nursing kits to entice them to try solid food and dad with whom they spend much of their time. He gives them beaver-back rides and practices swimming and diving to teach them how to make their way in the water.
If you’re looking to be (or find) a better father, we’d recommend spending some time with beavers!
Having an editor who asked me questions, nudged me to say more and prompted me to clarify my more oblique points made me realize that I’ve been very, very spoiledon this website – writing without supervision whatever misspelled non sequiturs I might want to employ. JoLynn (who does the newsletters) reminded me to include a natural history section (what I would call ‘beaver basics’) and I was happy to feature dad’s remarkable parenting and talk about him as a single parent. We disagreed about how much of the beaver ;controversy’ to include, but ended up with a fairly harmonious compromise. I made sure to conclude with a plug for the beaver festival.
The Martinez Beavers have earned international recognition, local, state and national media, a popular website, a community of followers and a yearly beaver festival. This year’s (celebrated August 4th) will mark the 5th anniversary of their arrival.
While the first festival sought just to apply pressure to an ambivalent city council that had not yet decided to welcome the beavers, the event has turned into a celebration of all beavers, drawing wildlife supporters from around California. The entire crew of Worth A Dam is committed to helping cities learn about inexpensive solutions to beaver problems and teaching that these remarkable aquatic engineers “really ARE Worth A Dam!”
As of 2012, three other states have adopted beaver festivals of their own, and cities from Ontario to Maine are considering future trials.
Gosh that makes us sound impressive. Go read the whole thing and while you’re there check out what else wildcare has to offer. I love the idea that Northern California readers will read the article and think about beavers in a whole new light.
Revised management plan lets rodents be relocated.
By Mark Havnes | The Salt Lake Tribune
Cedar City • The first relocation of beavers under a revised state management plan went swimmingly, according to state wildlife officials.
Since Friday, nine of the rodents have been released in a southern Utah stream in the Dixie National Forest under terms of a plan that allows biologists to trap and transplant beavers to sites where they can help restore watershed and landscapes.
This relocation was set in motion by Merril Evans, who owns irrigated pasture land in Panguitch where six of the beavers were trapped. Evans said he called the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and asked what he could do when he noticed beavers were cutting down trees on his property. He gave permission for the animals to be trapped.
“They were really great guys,” he said of a biologist and a volunteer from the Grand Canyon Trust. They not only trapped the rodents but protected still standing trees with wire fencing to prevent future problems from other beavers.
Utah has released a shiny new beaver management plan that allows beavers from problem areas to be moved to areas where beavers are needed. Check out the whole thing here and pause to appreciate the rolling mountains of hard work by Mary Obrien in bringing this about – she has literally been at this since long, long before I even found out that beavers don’t eat fish. If you never listened to her interview, you might enjoy it now, and get her introduction to the remarkable up-and-commer Jeremy Christiansen who is featured in the article.
The new management plan reflects the current thinking that beavers can improve landscapes. Jeremy Christensen, a biologist with the Grand Canyon Trust, which played an active role in revising the management plan, said the transplant should provide a prime example of how relocation can be used as a management tool.
Beaver dams are a natural way to regulate stream flows, especially in areas of heavy runoff where the animals have been eradicated. The dams create ponds that slowly let out water as needed. Once a pond is created, it can spur development of meadows and habitat for other species, including the boreal toad, listed as a sensitive species in Utah that survives best in conditions created by beavers,
Is it just me? Or in the back of your mind do you hear an old time radio announcer at the race track, broadcasting:
Washington is firmly in the lead, with only Oregon trailing at her heels. Idaho is cresting at the bend and around the stretch comes Utah! She’s gaining, look at that stride as she passes the others on the rail! Now its Utah and Washington neck and neck! Where did she come from? Washington is starting to look nervous as its first real competitor comes into her own! And in the lead by just a nose as they finish —–
Great work Utah! Finally a real horse race in the west! (Obviously California is still having some trouble trying to get out of the gates.)
Oh and after all that excitement some relaxing Castor Fiber filmed was last night at Paul and Louise Ramsay’s beaver haven in Scotland. It was done by thecreator of this remarkable blog which we should probably all be checking every morning (right after this one – of course!)
Yesterday was a rocket ship of explosive activity! Wild Kingdom and Cockpits and Squid Disection and Duct tape wallets and Zip Lines and Rock Walls and Scuba Diving and Girl Power and lots and lots of pink! Rows and rows of tents, many of them pink, in the fair grounds where camping was allowed. Face paint and s’mores and llamas and circuit boards and floating sharks and astronauts in spacesuits. Words fail me. In the middle of all this someone came to invite us to display at Green Kids day on the Microsoft campus and I honestly wanted to laugh, “are you kidding?”
There was a moment in this massive wave of a day where I looked at Cheryl in a panic and said “THEY JUST KEEP COMING!!!!!!!” And it seemed liked that most times, clusters of girls in matching shirts with badges and bracelets and eager faces. Most of them enormously polite with thank yous and questions, with an endless stream of exhausted moms (and a few dad’s) shepharding them to through the many booths, waiting patiently while they painted with pine needles or drew in black lighting or added wildlife to a flag.
Imagine this scene over again at least a thousand times….
Three top conversations of the day would have to be
the mom who grew up in Sonoma who said her Dad had tried to save beavers on their land 10 years ago and is going to send me a photo of him standing by tree stump they chewed.
the woman who had gone to the beaver festival and said her daughter had painted a tile and STILL HAD HER TAIL!!!!
The woman from the San Joaquin watershed council in Fresno who said that she had called fish and game many times about protecting trees and was outraged that they had never told her about wire wrapping or sand painting!
I’m sure there are others that will come back to me as the sensation creeps back to my vocal cords. In the meantime, this came when I got home. The entire issue is about beavers and wetlands.
And an excellent conclusion to Thomas Knudson’s piece on Wildlife Services this morning with information about non-lethal methods. Other than the fact that I am fiercely disappointed that it doesn’t mention flow devices to control beaver problems, its a very good read! Next time, right Tom?
I was very sad to learn that the trapping-nazis at the four seasons had refused to try non-lethal solutions (even if someone else paid for it) (even if there was no danger from flooding) (even if it made their facility look bad) and had already hired a trapper to place 5 traps underwater. The Sierra Wildlife coalition fought valiantly to get even a temporary stay of execution, and Dick Parsons who had started the petition to save the beavers actually drove to Martinez with his wife, had lunch downtown and called me for a tour of our beaver habitat and flow device. Since I was at work Jon met the very nice couple and walked the dams with them. They saw a green heron and a muskrat and several mallards, and expressed their sadness that apparently problem-solving skills just aren’t what they used to be.
Later Jerry posted on facebook that he believes the beavers are dead and I could feel his heavy-hearted resignation. I tried to imagine what it would feel like to face that in a community with people you had to see every day – where you had to look across the creek in your own backyard and see the backyard of the very neighbor who wanted the beaver eliminated. Back in the drama days we had fierce opponents living nearby too, but mostly they were not voices accustomed to public scrutiny – preferring to make their influence in the background, slinking from the darkness to cast their spells and disappearing again from public view. Different from the fallout that comes from violently disagreeing with the neighbor you see every sunday in the coffee shop or at church.
The closest I could come to imagining what their loss might feel like was the horrific days after the sheet pile decision was made. I remember those days tasting like ashes and I remember the lost, falling, bereft feeling I had every waking moment. Within a day or two I managed tomove into combat mode, and I found new goals to move forward, but that horrible night where the city council voted to put metal through the beaver lodge, and told me I could be on the citizen oversight committee as long as I didn’t try to alter or affect the work in any way – (and I tearfully declined) – that night was the blackest beaver advocacy moment I have ever faced.
Now on the other side, I can be somewhat grateful for the severity of that night, because the beavers weren’t killed by the decision, (although mom’s eye condition was never seen before its effects) because it released me from the need to “behave” and “make nice” and freed me to use every possible skill at my disposal to push without worrying about looking ‘pushy’ – more so because it showed me that the rules I had been playing by weren’t in fact the actual rules at all, and that the real contract driving the city had nothing to do with the one on paper. Of course, the fact that it was all for a big lie helped a great deal of course and in a way I will always be grateful for the clarity.
So Jerry and Dick and Helen and all beaver supporters at Four Seasons, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for your beavers and sorry for your hearts, which probably feel a little bruised today. You did something good and compassionate and even though you couldn’t stop the outcome you made an incredible difference. It may not feel like that right now, but you should know that you did. People will remember this story the next time beavers come to Four Seasons, or to your neighbors in El Dorado Hills, or even Elk Grove. You introduced a new way to think, and a new way to solve problems and it will make a difference. I’m going to reprint this letter which made us feel so much better so many years ago – because you deserve it. Thank you for your good effort.
This is a letter from Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions to Heidi, but we really think it applies to everyone who has supported the beavers:Dear “Beaverlady”, 😉
Your efforts are Herculean. It is so difficult to promote coexistence with beavers in an urban setting, especially one that is prone to flooding without beavers. Nevertheless, your efforts have given these beavers a fighting chance at survival.
Irregardless of the City’s final decision with the M. beavers I hope you can see that your efforts have had huge positive effects for not only the Martinez beavers, but also for beavers everywhere. Along with others, you personally have raised beaver awareness in the California masses. Not an easy task, and extremely important if our society is to evolve a better culture of coexistence with the animals on this planet.
I thought you should know how impressive your efforts and results have already been, because I know when a person is in the middle of a fight it is hard to see the entire battleground. I’m glad you are involved. Thanks.
I’m thinking a trip to Martinez, a cold beer and a nice bout of beaver watching would be just the thing for your spirits right now! Don’t worry, it’s on us!
From the Sierra Wildlife Coalition:
We are so very sorry, and know how awful it feels to lose a friendly beaver that you had enjoyed watching…. and for no reason. Jim is following through with DFG to see if the permit was given properly, and thought perhaps KCRA or the Sacramento Bee might be willing to do a follow-up….
You all did a great job of raising awareness of inhumane and unnecessary trapping, which as Heidi says, is not easy when your own neighbors are on the other side…. thank you. We will all work to make sure it does not happen again.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) — Cubby the beaver was carried out of an El Dorado Hills neighborhood on a pitchfork Wednesday morning.
Trappers caught the animal and removed it from the area.
Several traps remain, just in case there are more beavers in the Four Seasons community.
“Mock tombstones and beaver signs draped in black cloth are being erected in memory of Cubby,” said Jim Sajdak, of the Sierra Wildlife Coalition, in an email to KCRA 3. “The (coalition) has sent documentation to the California Department of Fish & Game showing that removing beavers by a depredation process has proven to be an ineffective long-term solution, as well as a degradation to a wetland area.”
The decision on what to do with the beaver had previously split the community.\
KILLING FIELDS IN EL DORADO HILLS (Letter to the Editor by Resident)
Cubby, the Beaver and family, are being trapped and drowned in the quiet, pristine community of Four Seasons in El Dorado Hills, just off White Rock Road. This morning at 8:07 I witnessed an employee of Dept. of Fish & Game carrying Cubby’s dead body! What’s worse is that my husband and I, along with other members of our community, had staged an effort to get our Homeowners Association Board to slow down, to study, to educate themselves about beavers and their habitats. But, they voted three to one to kill the beaver. That was one week ago to the day!!! And now, looking out that same window I see a vulture poised on a rock, eyeing the open space. He smells death and so do I. The killing fields of El Dorado Hills. And here I am living in it.
Today’s the big day for Lega and “Beaver Daze” in Maine. She wrote this week that the name felt apt because she was certainly in a daze herself since the preparations were underway. Sharon and Owen came yesterday and will present today on living with beavers. What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall! GOOD LUCK! Win new beaver friends and change hearts and minds!
Gosh, can you remember our first beaver festival? We had maybe 7 booths and fewer than 300 people. Children made beaver tails out of paper and FRO, who was just getting to know us, brought clay for an activity. The documentarian Don Bernier was there filming the “Happy Ending” and the rest of us knew better than to think anything was over. In between snapping photos, Cheryl endeavored to work the video camera for our “Video letter to the Mayor.” The first festival was only three hours long. Now here’s a walk down memory lane!
