I saw this article yesterday and it got me to wondering whether I ever saw kits learning from watching older beavers. Have you? I did once see the father trying to show the kit how they lay logs on the dam. But she was having none of it. She wanted to do it her way with reeds and no wood.

Was she being stubborn or incapable of social learning?

I think now about the two “useless bookends“. Two yearlings from the original mom that died that never had a chance to learn from her. They never did any work at all until they had a new mom.

Macaws learn by watching interactions of others, a skill never seen in animals before

One of the most effective ways we learn is through third-party imitation, where we observe and then copy the actions and behaviors of others. Until recently, this was thought to be a unique human trait, but a new study published in Scientific Reports reveals that macaws also possess this ability.

Second-party imitation is already known to exist in the animal kingdom. Parrots are renowned for their ability to imitate human speech and actions, and primates, such as chimpanzees, have learned to open a puzzle box by observing a human demonstrator. But third-party imitation is different because it involves learning by observing two or more individuals interact rather than by direct instruction.

Scientists chose blue-throated macaws for this study because they live in complex social groups in the wild, where they need to learn new behaviors to fit in quickly. Parrots, like macaws, are also very smart and can do things like copy sounds and make tools.

To find out whether macaws could learn through third-party imitation, researchers worked with two groups of them, performing more than 4,600 trials. In the test group, these birds watched another macaw perform one of five different target actions in response to a human’s hand signals. These were fluffing up feathers, spinning its body, vocalizing, lifting a leg or flapping its wings. In the control group, macaws were given the same hand signals without ever seeing another bird perform the actions.

I am sure I saw beavers learn from other beavers. But did I ever see third person learning?

What did YOU see?

Pinch me because now I’ve seen everything. Apparently there are beaver believers in the Buckeye state.

RJRD board hears benefits of beavers; board approves a nonprofit application

The Richfield Joint Recreation District’s 3 ½-hour meeting started with a presentation about beavers by Meg Hennessey, watershed coordinator for the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District. Hennessey said the aquatic animals are nature’s engineers and can be beneficial for a park, their dams preventing floods.

She said beavers raise the water table and can help mitigate drought conditions and slow a wildfire, pointing out that more intense storms and climate related threats are showing up in Ohio.

“[Beavers offer] an ecosystem service that we would normally have to pay for,” said Hennessey, explaining that beaver dams improve water quality by removing sediment.

She said that when a problem is created by a beaver dam, flow devices can be added to a stream or pond. Removing beavers from the park is unrealistic because the habitat is ideal for them, and they would return.

Now I know it’s a new day and everything. But OHIO? The state the killed18 Bengal tigers in a single night? where Trump won three elections handily?

No. I shouldn’t be surprised, It’s a new world Heidi. Beavers have friends everywhere?

Beavers built three dams in the park. Hennessey evaluated the area to see if one of the cabins would be at risk for flooding because of the dam. She found that the dams did not increase the risk.

Recently, all three of the park’s beaver dams were washed out in a heavy rainstorm. They are expected to be rebuilt.

Beavers gnaw on tree bark to sharpen their teeth, often killing the trees. Friends of Richfield Heritage Preserve have built cages around some of the park’s favorite trees. They have also applied a sand/latex mix to some trees.

After the meeting Hennessey told the Richfield Times that she has received about $200 in grant funds through the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District to purchase more cages to protect select trees.

She added that her agency helped evaluate drastic erosion of a ravine near Hi Lea Campground, which resulted in a nearby trail and bridge being closed. She said she has secured funds from NEORSD to help investigate and correct the problem.

That’s the way of things. Some brave person starts telling the new truths about beaver and then five more do and then twenty more do and then the entire state changes and its a movement.