Category: City Reports

Lost and Found

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Rehabilitation, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? October 22, 2017

There were two news stories yesterday that touched on the history of this blog. One of them was positive so we’ll do that last. The other is less positive but I’m at least happy that the reporter wrote me back this morning and apologized for not asking US first. Ahem.

What’s up with all the wayward beavers?

WALNUT CREEK — An injured beaver discovered recently in a Pittsburg parking lot near Kirker Creek may have lost its sight, according to the Lindsay Wildlife Experience.

When the Contra Costa County Animal Services Department brought the 35-pound male beaver to the Lindsay on Oct. 18, the animal was lethargic and staff believed he may have suffered head trauma and an injured jaw.

The medical team had been monitoring the beaver’s condition, administering pain medication and treating him with antibiotics for minor injuries.

Two days after the beaver arrived at the Walnut Creek hospital, however, Lindsay staff discovered that the animal could not see, which may be a temporary side effect of the head injury, said Elisabeth Nardi, associate director of marketing.

If the beaver is permanently blind, he would not be able to survive in the wild, she added.

Poor guy.

Typically, the Lindsay receives only one or two of the large rodents per year, but this is the fifth the nonprofit has cared for in 2017. Wildlife experts are not sure why so many beavers are venturing from their lodges into areas with people.

The medical team at Lindsay Wildlife Experience in Walnut Creek is treating an injured 35-pound male beaver who was found in a Pittsburg parking lot on Oct. 18, 2017. (Courtesy of Lindsay Wildlife Experience)

One theory is that the beaver population has grown.

The heavy rains that soaked the Bay Area last winter produced lush vegetation for the toothy animals to eat, so more kits may be surviving.

A second hypothesis is that people are encroaching on the animals’ habitat.

“We have had the better part of 10 years of drought and the human population in the Bay Area has increased and spread out more during that time,” said Amber Engle, Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Manager.

First of all, stop spouting theories about the population growing and ask the REAL BEAVER EXPERTS at Worth A Dam. Sheesh.

I actually heard about this poor little guy thursday morning from Cheryl, who was alerted by their vet. But this particular unconsulted beaver EXPERT doesn’t think it has anything to do with the population growing. (!) This wet winter and spring was terribly hard on beaver families. Flooding dislocated them all over, not just in the Bay Area. A beaver that is suddenly without family or home is disoriented and confused. He or she can easily wander into a public area, get hit by a car, and wind up in rehab.

This beaver’s dislocation is NOT storm related. And he sounds sick. The blindness makes me think of our very first sick kit. Remember that? He was picked up swimming in circles and they discovered at Lindsay he was blind.

After he died a necropsy showed that he had brain damage caused by round worm parasite that was responsible for his blindness.

And for goodness sake don’t euthanize a beaver just because he’s blind. Put him some farmer’s pond or backyard and let him find his way. Beavers have routines,their eyesight isn’t good anyway, and it he had a reliable food source he’d be fine and figure things out on his own. Two thirds of beaver life is probably spent sightless anyway – underground or underwater.

Go here to donate and remind Lindsay that caring for sick beavers is Worth A Dam.

Better news comes from Southern California at the site of the big bruhaha nearly two decades ago. For newer readers Lake Skinner was a reservoir that made a decision to trap out beavers and caused resident outcry. When they were challenged on this decision they said that the beavers were threatening the homes of endangered birds in the area, the least Bell’s vireo and Willow Flycatcher and had to be killed to protect them.

The outraged citizens hired an attorney who brought the whole thing to court, filing suit against the metrolitan water district, the power company and CDFG. When they lost they brought the matter to appeals court with expert testimony by the likes of Sherri Tippie and Donald Hey.

This time they won because the smart attorney (Mitch Wagoner) argued that that removing the beavers was a violation of CEQA and the court agreed that the decision was “discretionary” and not “ministerial” (meaning they did it because they wanted to not because they had to.) So they lost big time and had to all those pay court costs.

In addition but seperartely, researchers in the area were attracted to the story and published an article about the whole stupid decision wonderfully called “Management by Assertion” which remains one of my favorites.

Well yesterday this was posted including some of their findings.

Skinner Reservoir – Lake Skinner Temecula Ca

The reservoir and nearby Southwestern Riverside County Multi-Species Reserve host endangered species such as Least Bell’s vireo (Vireo bellii pusillis) and Southwestern Willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus), dependent on riparian willow habitat that is created and maintained by North American beaver (Castor canadensis).

Now originally I thought this was on the reservoir website which would have been awesome, but today I can see it was just a blog that I think might be computer generated. Never mind. It is still very good news though because the it means that the information from the good guys in this lawsuit and study is so widespread that it’s easier to pick up than all the lies they wanted people to believe and had a staff of thousands to spread.

Beaver truth will out. So there.

The peasants are revolting! (Beaver version)

heidi08 City Reports, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's Killing Beavers Now? October 21, 2017

It is impossible to read this article from the banks of lake Huron in Michigan without remembering the posterior-covering things told to us by our city staff when our beaver dams were threatened. What we learned in those early days is that everyone protects everyone else, and city attorneys are every bit as difficult and narrow-minded as you would expect them to be. And then some. Save this in case your city manager ever starts to do the same things, or just enjoy this trip down memory lane.

Beaver dam removal leads to complaints by public

LINCOLN — The Alcona County Road Commission has received complaints for the removal of a beaver dam on Cedar Lake that allegedly was causing drainage and flooding issues for residents.

Managing Director Jesse Campbell told trustees during a meeting Tuesday that although the dam may be gone, complaints from some members of the public still will be coming in.

Campbell, who acts as the county’s drain commissioner through a mandate by the Alcona County Board of Commissioners, said the dam was ordered removed by county Prosecutor Tom Weichel who is the drain commission’s attorney.

Chairman Alfred Scully said one complainant took the matter to the Cedar Lake Improvement Board and alleged the county made a mess of the dam removal, leaving debris in the area. Scully said this was Friday, the first day of the three-day removal project.

We’re in the middle of the job but he (complained) that we don’t know what we’re doing. We worked on it, and left a mess (he said) but it wasn’t like we were done,” Scully said.

We were just getting to that! Honest! It’s the way cities work. First you make the mess thoroughly and then you wait two days to see if anyone complains and then you clean up the mess. HONEST we were coming back on Monday to finish. (If we had to.) And our decision to engage in destruction on a friday had NOTHING whatsoever at all to do with the fact that we wanted the office to be closed and locked by the time you came home from work, saw the mess, and tried to call our bosses about it.

Campbell said some in the public questioned the process of dam removal in emails to the road commission. He said the county was in its legal right to remove the dam and did not need permits to do so.

“Under the drain law of 1940 in the road law there is no permit needed for beaver dam removal affecting a county drain or within the road right of way,” Campbell wrote.

One complainant was concerned with the dam removal because the presence of heavy equipment disturbed duck hunting areas near a 20-acre parcel of property.

Ripping a dam with heavy equipment might affect duck hunting? I’ve got news for you. Ripping out the dam PERIOD might affect duck hunting. Just think about all that tasty forage the silt and mud removal is going to ruin. Or the safe nesting spots that will be lost forever.

Campbell said two beavers will be killed in the removal following Michigan Department of Environmental Quality guidelines and the county would reimburse the road commission for the work, like many other subcontracting jobs.

“The person didn’t feel that we should be there and they may get an attorney,” Campbell said. “This may open up a big can of worms.”

Ohhh I think the proverbial can has been opened. And I think you are well aware of that – which is why you’re trying to cover your tracks with this weaselly little statement to the board.

One concern was the land and area where the dam was removed had ground that was disturbed.

As far as refurbishing the area where the dam was removed, Campbell said soil could not be put back into the area because it could contaminate the lake water with silt, though straw could be put in place as a maintenance measure.

“Within two years all the stuff is going to come back in, the vegetation is going to come back,” he said.

Of course we couldn’t smooth down the muck after we made it, because you know lake Huron would silt up and that would be terrible! I mean ripping out the dam probably released a little silt too, but it was necessary. Don’t worry, I know its an eyesore in your front yards now, but in two years time it will all have grown back! You won’t even know we were here.

That’s nothing. In two year’s time more beavers will move in and build a dam. Then we’ll come back and do it all again. The county reimburses for stuff like that doesn’t it?

Scully told Campbell that in the future all questions from the public would be directed to Weichel for his legal expertise. He said he was concerned with the rudeness of some of the complainants who personally contacted him by telephone.

I’ve never been spoken to by such ruffians in all my born days! My virgin ears are still stinging! There’s no cause to get personally RUDE just because my crew climbed into your front yard and ripped out the pond leaving mud and sticks all over (and that coke can). Insulting the dating history of my dear old mother is WAY out of line!

How Rude!

Ahh the pearl-clutching and righteous affront! It’s like we’ve gone back in time right down to the full tempers of the day. I’m pretty sure there’s a rule book somewhere that all city employees have access to.

First stall.
Then Lie.
Then Say there’s an ordinance.
Then act OFFENDED!

Remember when our public works director told staff that he didn’t want my husband to go to the subcommittee meetings anymore because he had scowled at him? (Truly willful scrowling can be a burden.) And remember when some smart-ass emailed the city council member after they were quoted saying the beavers should be euthanized by sarcastically saying maybe their children should be euthanized? And of course a swat team was brought in and the full 11 member police force had to be paid overtime at the meeting because of the “death threat?”

You know exactly what the drama playing out here is. Cities do what they want first, and find reasons to justify it second. They were just doing their jobs. If they didn’t remove that dam lives could be lost. When they said that offensive thing they were only joking. Can’t you take a joke? They’re only beavers, after all.

Ahh thanks for the memories, Alcona.

Beavers: Past, Present and Future

heidi08 Beaver Chewing, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, History, Who's saving beavers now? October 20, 2017

Whew, I was relieved to hear that Mike Callahan (whose WIFE is a trapper) had never heard about using a cross-bow either to shoot unwanted beavers either. So that means this is just a one-off until we hear otherwise. (A horrible one-off but better than a common occurrence.)

Meanwhile, I received a note from author Ben Goldfarb yesterday that his writing retreat is going well and that he will have the first draft of his beaver book in November! How exciting! And I heard from Tom Rusert that their home didn’t burn down, their beloved bulldog Daisy is recovering from smoke inhalation, and things are moving forward. There was an excellent article in the East Bay Times and Fire Rescue about our good friend Luigi feeding the first responders last week, which surprises me not at all. That man has been incredibly community-oriented since before he even had a community.

Calif. deli owner feeds first responders in Calif. wildfires

MARTINEZ, Calif. —Luigi Daberdaku has been making sandwiches at his downtown deli for years, but never this many all at once.

Since Thursday, there’s been an assembly line set up in his shop, right near the shelves with the specialty sodas. “Cutting the meat, cheese, lettuce, onions, cucumbers, I need volunteers… plus I need more meat; we ran out of meat today after 275 sandwiches,” Daberdaku said Monday.

By that afternoon, as he prepared to make his fifth delivery trip, he and his assembled teams had made almost 1,500 sandwiches. It started Thursday, Oct. 12, when he and volunteers made 150 sandwiches by midday. He took them to Fairfield that first day for further distribution; since then, he has gone straight to the hard-hit areas, mostly in Napa, himself.

Dear, sweet Luigi, you deserve all the credit you get. I recall he had barely set up shop downtown at the November 2007 beaver meeting ten years ago, when he stood up with his very thick Albanian accent and said “When I first come to Martinez there was no one downtown. It was like a ghost town! And now that the beavers have come there are many, many people every day!” He has been our friend since the beginning, and his wonderful daughter Louisa planted trees, worked the festival and brought us sandwiches every year. Helping first responders is just the kind of thing he’d do.

(Let’s hope that sweet steady rain we got last night helped them too.)

Yesterday the National Geographic Blog called Cool Green Science decided that beavers deserve a little credit also. Of course they couldn’t resist reminiscing on Idaho throwing them from planes – but this is a pretty nice summary. Watch the video all the way through.

Restoring Beavers by Plane and Automobile

“Beavers are really nature’s engineers and they do a really good job at what they do,” says James Brower, Idaho Department of Fish and Game volunteer services coordinator. “We love beaver and we love what beaver do.”

“We really want them to set up shop and transform that habitat and make it a little better for everything,” Brower says. “Beaver create habitat for not only fish but also for deer, elk, moose and bear. Pretty much everything needs water and places to drink. There’s no doubt in my mind this benefits everybody.”

I like what Mr. Brower has to say. I think I will try and make contact. But I’m never a fan of the beaver-flinging story – as I’m sure you all know by now.

WEBINAR WEEK!

heidi08 Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? October 18, 2017

Today is the day I’m letting you know that it’s time to sign up for your Compassionate Conservation webinars with Fur-Bearer Defenders. They’re free, easily attended from your computer and packed full of useful information. It is truly remarkable that FBD makes these webinars available world wide. They cover truly relevant topics like predators, presenter language and avoiding compassion fatigue, And oh, will you look at that! One of them will be about beavers and taught by yours truly!

Pragmatic Compassion: Teaching Martinez that Beavers were ‘Worth A Dam’

In 2007, Martinez California USA was surprised to find beavers living in the city creek. Officials were worried their dam would cause flooding and recommended trapping. Heidi Perryman worked to convince the city to install a flow device instead and started the beaver advocacy group Worth A Dam. Now she teaches other cities how and why to co-exist with the important ecosystem engineer.

Heidi is a child psychologist who became an accidental beaver advocate when a family of beavers moved into the creek near her home. Now she lectures about beavers nationwide and maintains the website martinezbeavers.org/wordpress which provides resources to make this work easier for others to do.

Click Here To Register

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit it’s not exactly a catchy title, but I really wanted to work the word “PRAGMATIC” into all that compassion, so it’s what we ended up with. Even though I’ve talked about our beavers a thousand times before this is different because a) I can’t use video and b) I want to emphasize the advocate’s role in saving wildlife. So it’s been an interesting challenge putting it together and re-including all the behind the scene things I usually leave out of my talk.

It would be SO nice to see familiar faces there, so sign up if you can, (assuming the formidable technology involved works and it actually happens) next tuesday at 1 pm!

More surprises? It turns out an Oregon Fish and Wildlife refuge is eagerly awaiting beavers too!

Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge marks 25 with fanfare

Skeins of Canada geese overhead may be a common autumn sight at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, but it felt nothing less than extraordinary on Saturday, Oct. 14, as the community gathered to celebrate the refuge’s 25-year anniversary.

In the Riparian Room of the refuge’s visitor center, refuge staff, volunteers, Friends of the Refuge members and visitors gathered to share the story of the refuge’s beginnings and its goals for the future.

As part of the anniversary celebration, visitors were invited to meander through the wetland along the site of the refuge’s next big project. Starting next summer and finishing in 2019, the refuge will restore Chicken Creek, which currently flows in a straight path to the Tualatin River through an agricultural ditch, to its historic channel through the floodplain. By replanting trees and shrubs along the bank, the refuge hopes to attract American beaver, an animal architect that will in turn enrich the area for many other species.

What do you know? Planting trees to encourage beavers at a refuge, while here in Northern California at the Malhleur refuge in the delta we know they’re actively killing them. Sheesh. Baby steps, right? Let’s all appreciate wisdom when we see it. Thanks Oregon!

“Changing the watershed one stick at a time.”

heidi08 Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Insects, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? October 5, 2017

The Methow Beaver Project is an enormously successful beaver reintroduction project in the Northwest of Washington. It was the brain child of beaver friend Dr. Kent Woodruff of the USFS and has literally convinced thousands of people to think differently about beaver benefits. They asked me yesterday if I would share this for their fundraiser and I said I’d be happy to. All beaver defenders owe a tremendous amount to Methow who were the first to learn how reintroduction could be successful on a larger scale and have advanced understandingin pairing beavers successfully and getting them to stay put in their new home so they can start changing the landscape. Kent also provided the lovely quote for our newsletter you see at the right. (Because beaver people stick together – get it?)

The Methow Beaver Project has been working to relocate beavers in the Methow Valley for the past decade as a natural way to restore riparian habitat and address climate change. Although we are affiliated with numerous agencies we are independent and totally grant supported by individual contributors like you and private foundations. Your support during the Give Methow campaign will enable the Methow Beaver Project to continue our restoration efforts to the benefit of flora, fauna, fish, and you. We’ll be using your donation to purchase beaver food, educational and outreach materials, volunteer training materials, and to support our ongoing scientific investigations.

Give Methow

The Give Methow campaign, put on by the Community Foundation of North Central Washington, makes every cent of your donation go to your favorite organization (they cover the CC fees) and based on the amount each organization raises, additional funds from their “stretch pool” is allotted. Finally, every Monday someone who donates will be drawn and receive $500 to go to the Methow group of their choosing.

Meanwhile we’re getting ready for Saturday’s Wild Birds Unlimited event in pleasant hill. I thought I might as well start promoting our new and improved beaver festival so I put this together. What do you think?