FOOD FOR THOUGHT

There’s an article this morning from Winnipeg about those darn pesky beavers chewing up all the city parks. You and I both know the solution, and I wrote this morning to tell them about the knew tree manual from Project Beaver.

Problem beavers ‘mowing down’ trees in Winnipeg parks

A Winnipeg city councillor says a number of local parks are being beset by buck-toothed rodents, and a solution needs to be found.

Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West) said she’s seen destruction caused by beavers first-hand, and that the city’s naturalist services branch is working on solutions to humanely dissuade the tree-chomping animals from causing problems near local rivers.

“I understand that their teeth keep growing unless they chew. They have to keep chewing,” Lukes said.

“So they’re continually mowing down these trees. Spring, summer, winter, fall. And it’s disheartening…. It’s kind of it’s a battle.”

Mowing down? Constant? You mean more often than you wish? Think about it from a beavers point of view. That’s their food, their work supplies and their shelter. How often do you require those items? Constantly?

So far, Lukes said she’s seen damage along the riverbank at Maple Grove Park and has heard additional reports from park areas all over the city — along the Seine, La Salle, Assiniboine and Red Rivers.

Trapping and relocating the beavers isn’t an option, as it can endanger them, she said, so the next best solution is to protect the trees by wrapping them in what she describes as a “mesh type of” stucco wire.

That sounded promising. So I sent off the new resource right away. I’ll let you know if anything happens.

IN LOVING BEAVER MEMORY

heidi08 Beavers November 3, 2024

Last Sunday Cheryl’s mom and our long time beaver supporter Jeanette Reynolds passed away at the fine age of 92. She kindly asked that donations to Worth A Dam be made in her name and c0ntributions have been fluttering in ever since.

Jeanette was a cheerful, unflappable woman who had raised a daughter who kept a tarantula as a pet and a son who ended up photographing elephants so I doubt that she was surprised when the subject of the day became beavers. In her kindly, practical she helped cut out tails and ears for art projects, or worked the silent auction and always made herself at home.

Our hearts go out to Cheryl and her family and we wish Jeanette a hearty thank you for the many lives, both human and not-so-human, she touched in her 92 years.

Here she is helping out at the beaver festival in 20011.

BEAVERS HAVE LONG MEMORIES

heidi08 Beavers November 2, 2024

I’m excited to share this video of the performance at OAEC of Robin Eschner’s song “Memory of Water”. This was performed last month to a very appreciative beaver believing crowd. Enjoy.

Memory of Water by Robin Eschner

Sung by The Acorn MusEcology Project, as one of 12 songs in the BEAVERS Program, directed by Sarah Dupre.
Occidental Center for the Arts, Occidental, CA.
October 6, 2024 ~ Yolande Adams on piano

BEAVERS AND SMALL CIVIC ACTS

heidi08 Beavers November 1, 2024

Maybe you, like me, have been swamped with electoral mood swings as we await the future with baited breath. I was actually happy to see this headline from the Harvard newspaper. Our small civic acts [and beavers] can reshape the world. Makes sense to me.

Bribes, Beavers, and Ballots: The Unseen Forces of Democracy

Driven by the allure of their “manifest destiny,” 19th-century settlers brought livestock – and an inadvertent ecosystemic upheaval – to what we now know as Yellowstone National Park. Encountering native predators, they sparked a clash between agricultural ambition and the region’s delicate ecosystem. As farms expanded, wolves, deprived of natural prey, turned to domestic animals. In response, humans embarked on a systematic campaign of predator control, employing a lethal combination of poisoning and hunting. Bears, cougars, and coyotes were also targeted in the effort to protect livestock and promote “more desirable” wildlife, such as deer and elk. By 1926, the wolves had been entirely eradicated from Yellowstone.

Problem solved, right? Wrong.

Without wolves to keep them in check, the elk population surged, setting off a cascade of unintended consequences. The burgeoning elk herds overgrazed young trees along riverbanks, leading to erosion. As the trees disappeared, so too did nesting sites for birds. The loss of trees also decimated the beaver population, which in turn meant no dams to regulate stream flow. The exposed waters grew warmer, leading to a decline in fish populations. In short, the entire river ecosystem suffered, transforming in ways few could have predicted.

For decades, the ecosystem continued to deteriorate. It wasn’t until 1995 – in the face of significant skepticism – that biologists began considering the idea of reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone. Transported in what could only be described as the ecological equivalent of “the Beast,” eight gray wolves from Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada, made a celebrated return. Now, three decades later, the still-unfolding cascade of knock-on effects is nothing short of remarkable. Willow stands along streams, once in dire straits, are now thriving, even with elk populations at three times their 1968 numbers. Why? The wolves’ predatory pressure keeps elk on the move, preventing them from lingering long enough to devastate tree populations. Where there was just a single beaver colony in 1995, there are now more than nine, with even more expected to emerge.

Well now, we all know that wolves are the handmaidens of beavers in this story, allowing them to make the real differences we know they can. Still the point of complicated ecosystems relying on each other hits home. I liked how the author drew the line forward.

While individual votes are singular actions with wide-ranging effects, to reduce societal outcomes to the actions of elected officials alone is to absolve ourselves of our shared responsibility. Casting a ballot, while crucial, is table stakes – it is what we do between elections that shapes our future. At their best, nations function as unifying systems that bring people together under shared values, culture, and institutions. Nations are fragile constructs that are powerless without their citizens – that’s what gives us true agency.he seemingly mundane acts that sustain our communities – raising families, supporting local businesses, building trust – are what ultimately determine a nation’s prospects. In this sense, a nation is the sum of its parts. The true work – the day-to-day labor that keeps a nation whole – happens not in brutalist buildings or capitals, but in our local communities. Nations are built bottom up, not top down.

I like that. It’s the small connections that lead to the big changes. Beavers could have told you so.

As Americans head to the polls next Tuesday, they should understand that their role within this vast system is more consequential than it may seem. Real change is not sparked by dramatic, headline-grabbing events, but through the steady accumulation of small, deliberate actions by those who recognize that their choices, however minor, ripple outward. This election may be critical, but it leads to a larger question: what comes next? The decisions we make – to vote, to speak up, to resist complacency – compound over time. Even the most damaged ecosystems can regenerate when each part acts with purpose. And so it is with societies: we are the system, and our choices are the foundations of the future we aspire to build.

Beavers will be better off if we move forward. Not Back. But you knew that.

SEEING THE BEAVERS FOR THE TREES

heidi08 Beavers October 31, 2024

While California pats itself on the back for changing its policy and reintroducing two beaver families, Project Beaver in Oregon has been quietly marching forward. Yesterday Jakob Shockey and his merry band released a manual for protecting trees and shrubs that is truly a white paper worth sharing.

Beavers are famous for cutting down trees and shrubs, a persistent behavior that often frustrates humans who have planted special trees or crops near beaver habitat. Beavers find many of the annual crops we grow tasty, like corn and beets, and can eat a large area down over the course of a season. Trees and shrubs that are native to waterways in the Northern Hemisphere have a long history with beavers and will re-sprout after being cut.

Make sure you tell all of your friends about it. Beavers eating trees and crops is the number one reason given why beaver depredation permits are sought. It is also the easiest problem to fix with the right resources.

Pass it on:

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