Category: Beavers

KILLING BEAVERS IMPACTS WETLANDS

Killing beavers impacts wetlands. Who knew? Can someone please do their dissertation on that? It’s especially dire when there aren’t very many of them I would think. Wouldn’t you? The research out of voyageurs national park always centers on how delicious beavers are to wolves. Little appetizers with tails. Apparently some wolves like them more than others.

Wolves impact wetlands, have unique hunting abilities, researcher tells Nature Club

MANITOULIN – The Manitoulin Nature Club was established in 1979 to increase knowledge of nature for its members and to support the preservation of elements of natural history, many of which are unique to Manitoulin. Members meet monthly to share observations and host guest speakers on topics of interest and recently had a look into the secret lives of wolves with a presentation by Thomas Gable, project lead on the Voyageurs Wolf Project. The project addresses the question, “what do wolves do during the summer in a forested ecosystem?”

Mr. Gable recently completed his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. He’s been studying wolves in the greater Voyageurs ecosystem since 2014, when he started his masters at Northern Michigan University. He’s particularly interested in wolf-beaver interactions and his graduate work was focused on trying to understand this predator-prey dynamic. Much of his early interest in wolves stemmed from encountering wolves, wolf tracks and occasional kills while exploring the wilds of places around his family’s McGregor Bay cabin. His research includes things not currently known about wolf hunting behaviour, wolf diet and how wolves impact larger ecosystems in the northern woods of Minnesota.

Those beavers are so delicious. A wolf can’t eat just one. But it’s the funniest thing. When a wolf cleans out a beaver pond all the wildlife that depended on that pond disappears too! It’s like the opposite of a keystone species. Gee do you think that when humans trap beaver that happens too?

During the summer, wolves are focused on two main things: having and raising pups and hunting and killing prey so they can feed themselves and provision their pups. To have a really detailed understanding of wolf ecology in the summertime, there needs to be a really detailed understanding of both of these facets of wolves, he explained. The VWP uses remote trail cameras and GPS collars to track the wolves.

One thing that makes the park unique is the abundance of beavers there. “It likely has the highest beaver densities in the lower 48 states and probably rivals even the highest densities in parts of Canada,” said Mr. Gable. One survey last winter identified 1,100 beaver lodges. “Compared to a place like McGregor Bay or Manitoulin Island, those would have substantially fewer beavers than we have here by a significant margin. Voyageurs National Park has a lot of mixed forest habitats and interspersed amongst those are a lot of wetlands and beaver ponds.”

Before VWP started there were no estimates in scientific literature on how many fawns and beavers a typical wolf kills in the summertime, despite hundreds of thousands of hours of wolf research in places like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba. “Because we don’t know really how many fawns and beavers a wolf is killing, we don’t understand what effect wolves are having on prey populations during these periods. It’s really hard to know how wolves might be impacting the beaver population if you don’t know how many beavers,” he said.

Sure but they’re just rodents right? No matter how many you eat they’ll always make more?

They’ve found that the typical wolf in the project area is killing between 13 and 15 deer fawns and 12 to 14 beavers in the summertime but there’s a wide range. “We’ve had one that killed only one beaver and last year we had a wolf that was sort of a beaver specialist and killed 42 beavers. To put 42 beavers into perspective, a typical beaver colony in our area has five beavers so that means that one wolf by itself killed eight-and-one-half colonies of beavers which is quite astounding.”

One of their most significant documented findings is how wolves actually alter wetland ecosystems. “Wolves impact wetland creation through a very simple, straightforward process. Wolves prey on beavers. Beavers create wetlands. By default, wolves impact wetlands by preying on beavers,” he said.

They found that wolves are impacting the creation of 88 ponds or wetlands in the Voyageurs area. “That is really just a drop in the bucket when you look at the ecosystem but when you look at this over multiple years then the impact becomes more substantial. If in year one wolves impact the creation of 88 ponds then the next year 88 ponds then the next and the next, then all of a sudden wolves are responsible for impacting the creation of over 400 ponds or wetlands,” Mr. Gable continued.

CAN WE PLEASE SAY THIS AGAIN only not about wolves? Can we say it’s what happens when HUMANS trap beavers? I mean the effect is EVEN MORE DEVASTATING when you are in a habitat that is surrounded by other beavers and other ponds. Wiping out one beaver family might wipe out the entire ecosystem for miles around.

“Another way to think about it is when a beaver creates a single pond in a localized area it radically transforms that area from forests or meadow into a thriving wetland that’s doing all sorts of things like nutrient cycling, carbon storage, water storage, and providing habitats. Wolves that prevent that habitat from forming are then connected to all of these wonderful ecological processes that beaver ponds are responsible for. What we’ve been able to document is that wolves are very connected to wetlands, streams and riparian habitats. It’s such a simple process; all they have to do is kill a young beaver.”

By the very same extension, Mr. Gable, human trappers whether for fur or sport or depredation do EXACTLY THE SAME THING and impact wetlands the very same way. Will someone one please do a dissertation on that?

A ROACH BY ANY OTHER NAME

heidi08 Beavers October 14, 2021

Now this makes sense, and I feel much better. Apparently the California Roach is a Native FISH! Not a avocado eating surfing variety of insect.

I guess that might have been a good thing for the reporter to mention in her article about why the return of beavers in Sonoma was a good thing.. But she got it from the Sonoma Ecology Blog and they really didn’t clarify as I’m sure they assumed everybody already knew.

Naturalists are soo weird,

It’s a chunky little bottom feeding fish whose mouth points down as it cleans up the creek floor of algae and unlucky insects or small crustaceans. I guess beaver really do make habitat for them. It is very hardy and can survive well in our weird ephemeral streams and cluster in small warm pools in the dry summer when everything else does poorly, It also turns into very good eating for larger fish like the green sunfish.

I’m sure it never asked to be named after a despised insect. Who on earth decided it would be good to call it a roach anyway? I look forward to many more such discoveries about animals that beavers help. Like the California maggots, for instance which turn out to be really small shore birds that clean the creek banks of dragonflies. Or Pacific leeches, which are actually small carnivorous flies that attach themselves to rocks in beaver pools and become important food for salmon.

SHEESH!

WENWEN AT THE UN

heidi08 Beavers October 13, 2021

One of my favorite beavers stories over the last few years is the amazing tale out of China of the Chu Wenwen, the fearless young woman working hard to save beavers of Xinjiang. Knowing that real conservation work begins with persuasion Wenwen has been taking her message to the people. And its paying off. This week she spoke at the biodiversity conference of the United Nations,

Xinjiang “princess beaver” tells eco-protection efforts of young Chinese at COP15

Before Chu Wenwen, a wildlife conservationist from China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, set out for Kunming, she had practiced her speech hundreds of times in front of a beaver nest.

As the youth representative to the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), Chu introduced how millions of post-1990s in China have made a difference for endangered beavers.

Listed as a first-class state-protected animal in China, Mengxin beavers are the only beaver species living in China and are found only along Ulungur River in Xinjiang’s Altay Prefecture.

“With the concerted efforts of over a million young people in China, the number of beaver nests has increased from 162 to 190 over the past four years. It’s a 20-percent jump for the population of the animal,” she said, barely able to contain her excitement during the speech at the opening meeting on Monday.

Since Chu was 2 years old, she has been following in the footsteps of her father, who was engaged in wildlife research. She spent her whole childhood in the Altai Mountains, Xinjiang. As there were no other children in the field station, beavers, snow leopards, wild horses, lynxes, golden eagles and brown bears became her “best friends.”

Don’t tell me that isn’t a big deal for anyone. The report says she practiced her speech for weeks in the field in front of a beaver lodge. Beavers are so lucky to have you.

In 2015, she established a nature photography studio and has taken more than 75,000 video clips and photos of precious wildlife. The next year, she registered a nature conservation association, focusing her work on beavers.

Mengxin beaver is a species that can improve the ecological environment. They build dams that become small habitats for fish and birds and attract more species such as small beasts and insects. Therefore, each beaver dam provides a new habitat for wild animals and helps to improve biodiversity levels, Chu told Xinhua.

In 2017, Chu graduated from university in Beijing, and unlike most of her classmates who chose to stay, she went back to her hometown out of love for nature.

“In the beginning, I often saw beavers die from fighting for habitats in the Ulungur River. They are very strict about their habitats, and they will only nest in areas with abundant food,” she said. “Willow shrub is their most important food source, but it was dwindling in the area at the time.”

In 2018, she initiated the beaver canteen program, which attracted over 1 million internet users to donate their snack money.

A super-canteen of about 400,000 willow shrubs was built with the snack money from those post-1990s and even post-2000s netizens. She was called “princess beaver” by her followers on social platforms.

One willow shrub could be purchased for the same price as a can of cola, six for the price of a cup of coffee and up to ten shrubs could be purchased for the price of a fried chicken meal, Chu explained.

How impressive is that? First she photographed wildlife and that hooked her on beavers. Then she went to university to study them. Then she started the beaver Canteen program and got a. million followers to donate their snack money. Plus a whole lot of believers to help her plant the snacks.

Also in the year, her nature conservation association gained the official recognition of the local government and was upgraded to the nature conservation association of Altay.

The association initiated the “beaver guardian” project, which trained and hired local herders from 190 households as conservation patrollers. In order to save the lives of injured wild animals, they launched the “beaver ark” project with the support of the local government. This upcoming winter, a professional wildlife rescue center in the Altai Mountains will begin operation.

“I am lucky to live in such a great era when young people can fulfill their aspirations while the country strongly supports nature e conservation,” she said.

Training locals to be beaver guardians is really really smart. Hats of to Wenwen again. I wish all of California did this, and all of the northern hemisphere. I hope every listened to that talk and took notes.

HUNGRY HERDS OF BEAVERS

heidi08 Beavers October 12, 2021

We remember John Holyoke. He likes to complain about beavers. Not kill them mind you. Or learn about them. Just complain about them.

Homeowner loses half-hearted battle with determined herd of beavers

Before we start, I want to assure you that despite what the headline says, I really have no idea whether one or a dozen beavers conspired to take its (their) toll on my home landscaping. And before we start, I want to assure you that I know that a group of beavers is actually called a “colony.” Fact is, I think “colony” is a pretty weak label for such a destructive (or determined) group (if there was an actual group) of animals.

And since I’m a writer, and this is my column, I get to call this particular wild pack of marauding buck-toothed pests whatever I want. Today, since I’m not allowed to use nouns that many readers consider “naughty words,” I’m calling them a herd. Period. Sue me.

A herd? A herd of beavers? You know I listen to a lot of complaints about beavers. I mean a LOT, And I gotta admit that’s an actual first. It conjures images of stampeding buffalo or elephants laying waste to everything in their path. Nice imagery.

I’d like to say I was angry. Instead, I suppose I’d come to the realization that the tree — already half-gnawed, if you recall — was short for this world. And this time, I reasoned, I’d surely have photographic proof to share with all of you. This could not be the work of one beaver, I thought. No way. There was likely a sizable herd at work here. Some were gnawers. Some were lookouts (like the squirrel). Others were supervisors, who leaned on neighboring trees, telling the others how fast to gnaw, and which way to look out.

Hats off sir. Slow clap and much respect. I’ve read Pliny saying there were ‘slave beavers’ and ‘master beavers’ and I even heard trappers say they were only going to kill the ‘soldier’ beavers. But supervisor beavers leaning on trees is perfect. Nicely done. In no way accurate, But nicely done,

Many suggested that I try to trap the beaver, and many others thought that was a great suggestion. After all, they probably reasoned: I’m an outdoorsman. I used to be the outdoors editor of this here newspaper. Surely I must be adept at pursuing and trapping animals. Right?

No, no traps were deployed. Partly because I’m not a trapper, and am not licensed to trap and kill beavers. Partly because I didn’t want to have to figure out what to do with any dumb beaver that would have wandered into a live trap that I set. And mostly because I figured that despite my frustration with the sharp-toothed vermin, I really had nothing against the beaver. Or herd. Or whatever.

I think we all know someone like John. That woman at the bar that loves to complain about how rotten her husband is and how she’s going to do better any day now and for the first two or three times we believe her. He’s a dog. And he doesn’t deserve her. We expect her to move out tomorrow and maybe even help her look for an apartment. But eventually we begin to understand. She’s never leaving. Not because she loves him. But because she loves the way people listen too her when she complains about him.

I’d write John helpful advice about how to protect trees and extoll the wildlife beavers will bring his way inspiring new columns. I’d even introduce him to someone that can teach him how to properly set up the wildlife camera so he could finally see the herd in action.

But we’re onto him now.

BEAVERS MAKE HABIT- FOR ROACHES?

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact, Beavers, Beavers and Insects October 7, 2021

It’s Thursday and that’s just another day to celebrate beavers. Today some fairly local ones from Sonoma who are leaving their mark in the creeks and in the local news.

Beavers return to Sonoma Creek

It’s been a long summer of extreme drought conditions in Sonoma Valley. But in what seems like a steady stream of dire news for the local watershed the Sonoma Ecology Center finds one glimmer of good news stands out: beavers are moving back into Sonoma Creek.

The return of these charming dam builders isn’t quite breaking news – since 1993 beavers have slowly made a comeback in Sonoma Valley. But this year, in the middle of peak dry season, their increasing presence is something for celebration.

From the perspective of drought resiliency and water retention in our watershed we’re observing how beavers are a positive factor in keeping what water is in creek beds and reducing hydrological impacts of water rushing through the main stem of Sonoma Creek. Their natural impulse to build dams and create ponds is a major factor in retaining refuge habitat for species that rely on water to survive.

Isn’t it funny how one city sees beaver dams in its creeks and says “GOOD LORD we better kill those beavers fast!” And another city drolly describes them as “Charming dam builders” and starts listing all the good things they do? Well maybe not. Just listen.

Beavers provide refuge habitat for crawdads, California roach, Sacramento suckers, frogs and the endangered California freshwater shrimp which rely on deep pools and submerged, structural habitat like fine tree roots which are often present in the structure of a beaver dam. Any animal, insect, or crustacean that requires water to live in creeks is something that benefits from the damming that the beavers do.

UM, Beavers provide habitat for ROACHES? Are you kidding me? That’s the best you got? Not Steelhead or salmon or otters or great blue herons or wood duck but ROACHES???

There are some issues of note that can arise with the presence of beaver ponds. One such issue being a proliferation of water fern or duckweed growing over standing pools. However, it’s better to have water in the creeks than none at all, and these refuges of cold pools allow many species that can handle the duckweed a little extra room to survive a dire drought year.

In town, beavers can cause localized flooding and/or excessive soil wetness where development or agriculture have encroached upon low floodplains. All in all it’s a net positive to have beavers back in our Valley and making their mark on our watershed.

Yes they can cause problems, but on the bright side they make habitat for ROACHES so that’s a plus, right?

That is LITERALLY what I’d call “Damming with feint praise”. Someone needs to step up to their publicity team. Something tells me that this campaign is persuading no one.