Beavers or Social Ambasadors – Page 35

ADA Beavers

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Creative Solutions July 2, 2008

“individuals with disabilities continually encounter various forms of discrimination, including outright intentional exclusion, the discriminatory effects of architectural, transportation, and communication barriers, overprotective rules and policies, failure to make modifications to existing facilities and practices, exclusionary qualification standards and criteria, segregation, and relegation to lesser services, programs, activities, benefits, jobs, or other opportunities”

Americans with Disabilities Act 1990

Signed into law by the first president Bush, the ADA prohibited discrimination of persons with disabilities by employers, public service and telecommunications. I’ve often thought that our beavers (with their friendly triple bridge access) may be the only ADA beavers in the state.

Whether a visitor comes with a wheelchair, walker or cane, our beavers can be easily seen and enjoyed. This fact has already caught the attention of many who would otherwise miss the chance to see such wildlife at close range. It could easily be a central attraction and compelling reason for visiting. Several groups routinely review accessible sites for disabled outdoor enthusiasts. Ignoring the unique access opportunities of these beavers is foolish in the extreme.

Even without a disability, the opportunity to observe beavers at close range is rare. How many miles might we have to hike or canoe to get close enough to actually hear a kit mewing to its parent? I can honestly say that hearing that sound last year was like a summons to protect these beavers. I knew in my heart at the time that if they were taken away I would never hear it again. The sound is like the plaintive whine of a child, and indeed there are lots of references in older writing of pioneers being confused into searching for the lost orphan. I am still waiting to hear it from our 2008 kits, but in case you want to know what to listen for, National Geographic caught a little on audio.

Accessibility is key to equality and community. The fact that we had in our midst a blind beaver kit who had fully adapted to his habitat should not go unmentioned. That little fellow knew his environment and feeding options as well as his brothers, and not until his final hours did any one of the dozens of people who saw him every day notice anything different about him. Let our beavers be an “Equal Opportunity Attraction”, teaching everyone about stewardship and habitat.

Folkmanis will be friend to the beavers…

heidi08 Beaver News, Beavers or Social Ambasadors June 24, 2008

One of the most popular exhibits at our beaver display is this furry finger puppet from Folkmanis. I have struggled to keep him out of the coat pockets of many an adoring child, and given several as gifts. One went to appreciative beaver-expert Skip Lisle and is now enjoying the summer in Vermont. Believe it or not, I first purchased mine in Juneau Alaska, when the time away from our beavers was beginning to take its toll. Others I gave as “Welcome aboard gifts” to the members of Worth A Dam. A final specimen sat on my notebook during most of the subcommittee meetings, and it was an electric day when a certain beaver-unfriendly attorney accidentally knocked him down and had to gingerly pick him up and place the stuffed critter back where he came from.

Recently I wrote Folkmanis, which is based in nearby Emeryville, to ask whether they had heard about the Martinez beavers and would consider helping Worth A Dam by making these finger puppets available to us at cost. Worth A Dam could sell them to beaver fans, raising money for beaver maintenance. I was delighted by the response and learned that they were animal lovers who had followed the beaver saga closely and would be thrilled to help out! There are a few details to take care of, but expect to see these little critters for sale soon either at our display and/or the local merchants. It never fails to surprise me how many people have heard of this story and been affected by the beavers and the humans lives they have touched. The other evening we met a family from Indiana who were visiting relatives in the area and specifically asked to be taken to the beavers “they had seen on Fox news.” I can assure you they weren’t disappointed. Help us keep collecting stories of beaver recruits and write with anything you encounter. In the meantime, check out Folkmanis’ remarkable collection and website, which is a lot of good fun and not just for children.

Father’s Day for Beavers

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports June 15, 2008

Happy Father’s Day to all the brave Dads who brought their children over to see our display and took time out of their day to talk about the beavers. Have you ever stopped to consider what great role models beaver fathers are? They fully participate in raising the kids, work close to home, provide for for their family, are gentle, clean and entirely monogamous. I am pretty sure that if beavers had day-time talk shows there would be nothing to discuss.

Descriptions of our newest threesome were particularly popular at today’s Farmer’s Market, as were details of when was the best time was to see them. There were several who had seen more of them on the news than in the water, and I passed along beaver tips for best viewing. We collected some remarkable stories, 53.00 in donations, made new friends and spread the beaver gospel. A few visiting bay area instructors mentioned updating students on the beavers, and one aunt with a nephew in Marin revealed that her son’s elementary school teacher had followed the story with her students and helped them write the city council. There was even one gruff beaver foe who talked with me about his concerns for costs and flooding and left with a much more positive outlook and a thankyou. All in all a successful day in the field.

Oh, and about today’s letter in the Gazette protesting that I had “twisted” the petition writer’s words; allow me to explain that my intent was to “untwist them”. Or rather to “untwist” the numbers the words were referring to. I am surely not the only one who knows those costs were exaggerated to make a particularly persuasive point. (I dare say that the City used the same guestimator to assess the costs of the beavers that they cleverly employed to measure the height of the dam: and with similar accuracy.) The city twisted the numbers to argue that Martinez couldn’t afford to keep the beavers, and some very cooperative people were generous enough to believe them and sign the petition.

They twisted the record: I was merely setting it straight.

The Secret Garden

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Why We Care June 8, 2008

Did you have a favorite book as a child? I had lots of them, but one that I returned to again and again was the remarkable work of Francis Hodgson Burnett called the Secret Garden. It was written in 1906, so this original cover didn’t look anything like my copy, but her very mundane and highly magical story captured my imagination as a child, and grew up with me into a more complex understanding of the relationship between humans and nature.

If you never read the book, here’s the cliff notes version: A neglected, unpleasant little orphan is sent from India to Yorkshire to live in the nearly-empty mansion of her only remaining relative who pretty much ignores her and leaves her to wander the large empty gardens. She is an unloved and unloving child, whose first glimmer of curiosity is awakened by a story she hears about a “mysterious garden” locked up and unvisited for more than ten years. With that act of curiosity she begins to transform from a spoiled miserable creature who thinks only about herself, to a child capable of the greatest of all human acheivements:

Wonder.

Mary was an odd, determined little person, and now she had something interesting

to be determined about, she was very much absorbed, indeed.

Wonder takes her out of herself and allows her to stop thinking about being hot, tired, bored or lonely, and start thinking about “maybe” and “what if”. The story of the garden was the first and most important signpost on Mary’s journey from self-preoccupation to compassion. A common robin becomes the second, and she is startled out of herself into watching this beguiling and plucky creature.

She heard a chirp and a twitter, and when she looked at the bare flower-bed at her left side there he was hopping about and pretending to peck things out of the earth to persuade her that he had not followed her. But she knew he had followed her and the surprise so filled her with delight that she almost trembled a little.“You do remember me!” she cried out. “You do! You are prettier than anything else in the world!”

Mistress Mary forgot that she had ever been contrary in her life when he allowed her to draw closer and closer to him, and bend down and talk and try to make something like robin sounds. Oh! to think that he should actually let her come as near to him as that! He knew nothing in the world would make her put out her hand toward him or startle him in the least tiniest way. He knew it because he was a real person–only nicer than any other person in the world. She was so happy that she scarcely dared to breathe.

Now the psychologist in me recognizes that this is a parable about the way humans can awaken their awareness and interest in others by contact with the natural world. This is solid science, and it’s why we get our children goldfish and hamsters and eventually dogs. It’s probably why children with a vocabulary of less than 500 words still spend hours learning what a pig says and what a duck says even though they no longer live on the farm. We learn about our impact on others through the natural world. The gentleness and ruthlessness of nature prepares us for the complexities of a lifetime of socialization. Nature is a bridge that stretches from our deepest self to the benign awareness of others. That’s why cruelty to animals is one of the early signs of sociopathy. Lucky humans travel that bridge and come out better on the other side.

The psychologist in me understand this, but the child in me just wanted to find that garden.

Which is what most of us wanted the first time we went to see the beavers. Somehow we heard about them and wanted to see for ourselves. Curiosity made us seek them out, but wonder made us come back.

The child in the story becomes curious about a walled garden, and this matures into curiosity about the things that live in that garden. At the end of that book her entire interpersonal world of four gathers inside that garden and we see she is fully anchored not just to her environment, but also to her new and emerging sense of self, and ultimately her community.

Sound familiar?

Heidi P. Perryman, Ph.D.

Beavers on a Sunday

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Friends of Martinez Beavers June 1, 2008

Today’s farmers market saw the usual host of beaver questions and answers. A few welcome surprises made an impression worth relaying. First we were greeted by a very enthusiastic beaver-supporting child, who looked familiar and introduced herself as one of our Earth-Day art contest winners. Mom said both her daughters love the animals and when the paper reported the beavers were going to be killed, they were in tears. She kindly added that she would give permission for publication, and I’m eagerly awaiting her email.

A second beaver first was the arrival of two deaf beaver fans who generously explained to me the sign for Beavers. With a combination of lip-reading and finger spelling we were able to exchange information and questions. I had to come home and look up the sign because I liked it so much. Turns out there are a couple of sanctioned ways to say “beavers”, although I think I liked theirs best. Make two curved rabbit ears out of your middle and index fingers for teeth pointing down. Do the same thing with your other hand pointing up, bring them together and “chew.” How sweet is that? Two other possibilities can be seen here, both invoving the forearm bent as a tree. sign

Now usually good beaver news comes in threes, and today was no exception. Robert Rush, the gentleman who took the picture of mom in 2006 brought by a disc of footage he had taken of her, way downstream, past the train bridge. It is lovely and a little alarming to think of her, just starting out, making her way in the world. I wish I had been there when she caught sight of Mr. Beaver. Apparently even though it is difficult for dispersers to find each other, they are choosy, and don’t take the first pair of teeth that comes their way. Well that makes sense I guess: they mate for life.

If you stopped by to talk about volunteering on Saturday, thank you and we’ll see you around nine am. Check the website for updates. The most delightful part of the day was swapping stories with ESA instructor, Rona Zollinger, who is without a doubt one of the coolest humans around. Her students are “lottery lucky” and I know the district is counting its blessings. She described how exciting the Nov 7th meeting was, and talked about feeling “high for a week” afterwards!!! I couldn’t agree more! I thought it was three hours of the end of “Its a wonderful life” at the time but have since met those who felt the riff-raff was a little too vocal that evening. Not me. I thought that from every level of society we were an eloquent, impassioned community, and I’m grateful that I got to be there.

Thanks all for another friendly Beaver sunday. We received 30 dollars in donations today and lots of promises of help. Remember to keep an eye this week for our newly emerging kits. Last year they were first filmed on June 10th.