Category: City Reports

Ask the Experts

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Rehabilitation, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's Killing Beavers Now? July 9, 2014

Beaver proves to be nuisance neighbour for Bathurst-area man

Hazen McCrea wants the province to deal with beaver dam blocking a culvert for fears of flooding

Beaver dam blocks culvert by Hazen McCrea’s home

A beaver dam is blocking the culvert that drains Hazen McCrea’s property and he’s worried about flooding if the provincial government doesn’t do something to help. (Bridget Yard/CBC)

The structure is starting to interfere with proper drainage of the 81-hectare property and if the beaver continues construction, McCrea worries about where all the water will go.

But he says every time he calls the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, he gets the run around.

Department officials told CBC News the beaver dam is not in the department’s right-of-way and suggested contacting the Department of Natural Resources.

New Brunswick is on the other side of Maine located about 500 miles from the inventor of the beaver deceiver which protects culverts (Skip Lisle in Vermont). I’m not clear why New Brunswick is so totally unprepared for beavers, except that its very near PEI which is NOTORIOUS in dealing with beavers. Maybe all that helplessness and beaver stupid floated in with the tides?

(Indulgent aside: This is one of my first and favorite graphics in the history of my beaver life. I couldn’t find it at first in my files – but no worries. I just googled PEI Beavers and it was the first image that came up.

Hahaha. I must be very popular in the region.)

Lory sent this photo the other day and it deserves our adoring attention. It also reminds us that it’s kit season and well-meaning rehabbers from Calgary to Kentucky are inheriting the orphaned beavers of a trap-happy world. It turns out taking care of kits is a lot more complicated than most people realize. I do all I can to funnel information to our good friend and adviser Cher Button-Dobmeier of the Abbe-freeland Animal Sanctuary. She has rehabbed thousands of beavers and realizes the mistakes folks are most likely to make.

Cheryl and I have been begging her to write something for the rehab section, but she is resistant. “Every kit is different” she says. “And I don’t want people to feel like they are confident in what to do. I want people to ASK and keep asking, so that we can spot the problems before they become un-fixably fatal.”

It’s hard to argue with that.

Cher Button-Dobmeier, Director

Abbe-Freeland Animal Sanctuary, Inc.

8104 Terwilliger Rd.

Angelica, NY 14709

585-808-3231

Beaver Independence

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Who's Killing Beavers Now?, Who's saving beavers now? July 5, 2014

Beaver Believers has hit the final 12 hours of their Kickstarter, and producer Sarah Koenisberg says she’s proud, humbled, and excited by how it’s gone! Someone has stepped forward and will match all funds raised above $15k – pretty awesome! So we have until 3pm today to make one final press to support this important film – the only film to feature our own Martinez Beavers and their festival! Please check your penny jar and see if you have anything left to spare.

Jon and I were on the bridge last night watching out for beavers with the massive foot traffic that was making its way down to the fireworks. Many surprised passers-by saw 4 beavers, including the little peanut who was taking advantage of the very high tide to get out of his playpen, over the secondary and swimming through the secondary to look for treats! This is the most horrible footage in the history of the world with all the bouncing foot traffic on the secondary, but at least he had the good sense to go back inside after this. Fun to hear so many visitors saying they saw the documentary on PBS about beavers and they couldn’t wait to come back to this years festival! Even a family from Walnut Creek who were all members of the SF Scottish Fiddlers and wanted to play this year but there wasn’t room!

It looks like Derek Gow in Scotland is thinking about a legal battle over the Devon beavers and that’s music to my ears. The sinister part of DEFRA’s decision is that the conclusion of the Scottish Beaver Trial means the final decision will be made in 2015, which means beavers will be formally back in the UK and protected. So they want to get rid of these refugees NOW while they’re still unsafe. Isn’t that rotten?

Expert may mount legal challenge to Defra’s beaver removal plan

Mr Gow said: “The Eurasian beaver is a former native species. There is significant national and local support for the restoration of this species and a wider appreciation within society of the ecological benefits that would accrue from its presence. Britain is now the last large western European nation state where the species has not been reintroduced.”

In conclusion, he said the beavers on the Otter should be captured and tested and – if clear of the EM disease – be tagged and re-released following a survey to ensure the river was a suitable home for them.

Mr Gow added that he and his colleagues would consider a legal challenge if Defra went ahead with the capture and re-homing programme.

Go Derek Go! He has been lone voice for beaver in the region for so long, but the tide is changing and he’s not alone anymore. And this is just the kind of negative ad campaign Martinez learned was so effective in raise public support for beavers! Nice work DEFRA!

I was a little more surprised to see the Austrian version of this story running Cheryl’s photo! But it’s on wikipedia so that means everyone in the world can use it. Your welcome!

And even if you had your share of fireworks last night, you HAVE to watch this because it’s a historic first that was never possible before and may never be legal again. This was filmed by drone last night from INSIDE the explosion of fireworks in West Palm Beach Florida in May. It had a couple thousand hits when I first saw it last night, now it is cresting 2 million. Aside from being the single best use of a drone ever, watch all the way through, because it will blow every part of your mind.

Apparent this amazing use of the drone caught the attention of authorties and is illegal. Check out the disapproving article on Forbes. But if Jos Stiglingh does ever get in trouble for this his attorney only needs to show the video to the jury. Because it’s awesome.

Beaver Investments with Joe

heidi08 City Reports, Creative Solutions, Who's saving beavers now? July 3, 2014

Restoration Ecologist Joe Cannon, standing on a beaver dam in Liberty Lake Regional Park, searches for solutions when beavers become pests.

Man vs. Nature

The outdoors can be a bit hard to tame — but for restoration ecologist Joe Cannon, that’s part of why it’s worth preserving

That’s where Joe Cannon, restoration ecologist for the Lands Council’s beaver program, comes in. It’s his job to be an advocate, of sorts, for beavers — to show that, as irritating and destructive as nature can be, it’s worth protecting.

When beavers chew up a farmer’s orchard trees or wreak havoc on local infrastructure, Cannon meets with the landowners to try to find a solution. That may mean wrapping fencing around certain trees or running pipes through the beaver dam in order to shift the flow of a river.

About a third of the time, when beavers are too much of a nuisance, he traps them, brings them home and keeps them in his backyard, until he can trap the rest of the family. Then he and other volunteers transfer the whole beaver clan up to the Colville National Forest.

Ideally, though, his advocacy pays off. He’s able to convince the farmers and homeowners that beavers play a starring role in the local ecology. “These conversations are really important to have when someone is losing thousands of dollars in property,” Cannon says.

Joe Cannon of the Lands Council has earned this lovely article which emphasizes solutions, beaver benefits, and nature being natural. The Lands Council has been a beacon on the hill to beavers supporters for more years than I can count. Joe started out as an intern through Americorp for them, and it transitioned into a career. With them he has helped make national news, creative legislation, and ground-breaking policy with neighbor-to-neighbor level interventions. And they made this, which remains one of the most awesome things you’ll ever see.

Joe and Amanda came to Martinez to see our beavers in 2011. We had dinner, talked beavers and did a post mortem on that year’s festival. Then we went down and watched the beavers in person. They were both amazed at how closely and easily they could be observed. The next week there was a huge article about their work in the Wall Street Journal!

Yes, the beaver is disruptive. But that’s why it’s valuable. It dams rivers, redirects streams, digs side channels, fells old trees. A little gnawing, and — timber! — it has altered nature’s rhythm.

“They add fish habitat, they add fish streams, cover for fish and perches for birds to hunt,” Cannon says. “When they’re taking down cottonwoods and aspens, a small forest comes up from the roots.” As beavers paw at the sediment that collects at the back of their dams, they’re spreading seeds.

Great work Joe! If you’re hungry for more here’s the interview I did with him back in 2012.

Deadly Counsel

heidi08 Beavers, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's Killing Beavers Now? July 1, 2014

First wild beavers in England for 800 years to be caught and sent to live in a ZOO after ministers decided they are a danger

Beavers living in the Devon countryside are to be rounded up by minsters and sent to live in a zoo, it can be revealed.

Instead of ordering them to be killed, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is trying to find a home for them in captivity, to the anger of wildlife campaigners.

Does this song sound familiar? It’s the same dirge they sang in Scotland when the free beavers of the River Tay came to the attention of the authorities. The first beaver they captured (remember Eric? Who upon examination became Erica?) died quietly in the zoo. And once they realized there were more free beavers than there were zoos/graveyards, they abandoned the idea.

I think I am as mad about this as I am about the Supreme Court’s indefensible decision to allow employers to deny birth control coverage because it’s ‘icky’. Maybe even madder. After the enormous gala all of England (and the world) threw for these plucky beaver volunteers the notion that they’d conclude that welcome home theme with incarceration makes me want to throw plates at parlimaent.

Or at least write letters to Parliament.

House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA

Tel: 020 7219 7032

george.eustice.mp@parliament.uk

You should too.

Wild beavers spotted in Devon to be ‘rehomed’

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said they could be carrying a disease “not currently present in the UK”.

Environment Minister George Eustice said the government was considering “the best way” of rehoming the animals.

I’m serious. Go write the Honorable Eustice and remind him the voters are very good at RE-HOMMING politicians out of office when they implement stupid plans. Let’s make them require an intern to handle all the mail they’re getting over this egregious decision. It’s the least we can do to respond to this traitorous crime.

george.eustice.mp@parliament.uk

You need something good to wash out that very bitter taste. So celebrate Canada Day with Fur Bearer Defender’s program on beavers. (Everyone else is great, but I sound exhausted so I can only assume I must have been doing something very important.)

Oh and Cheryl saw the elusive little peanut last night and snapped a photo which I ruthlessly brightened. Isn’t he adorable?

Everything old is new again…

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Who's Killing Beavers Now? June 17, 2014

Beaver Attack pulls man off kayak

Click to watch news clip of beaver attack in NY that put one man in the hospital.

Rochester, N.Y. – A beaver jumped out of Irondequoit Creek and attacked a man in a kayak, knocking him into the water last Tuesday. The victim, Michael Cavanaugh of Lima, N.Y. is recovering after being treated in the hospital for bite wounds on his back and deep puncture wounds on his arm. He is also being treated for rabies as a precaution. BayCreek Paddling Center trainer Nate Reynolds saw part of the attack.

And it starts…

I saw this last night and it was picked up by UPI this morning, so we should all get ready for another Belarussian run as every news outlet from Concord California to Caribou Maine covering the excitement. Brace yourself for comments like this,

Beaver are not friendly critters and there have been a few people killed by them. I forget if the Beaver got lucky by biting an artery or if I read that they GO for arteries but people have been attacked and bled to death.

Hahahaha! I know its sick and wrong but the idea of beavers going for arteries makes me laugh very much indeed. Do they keep a copy of Grey’s anatomy in their lodge? I couldn’t help thinking of this famous Monty Python sketch. The lumberjack at the end adds that special touch.

Well beavers ARE protecting their young at the moment. (So much so that in Martinez we weren’t even granted a glimpse of the little bugger last night, I didn’t realize they were actually letting us off easy.) We were lucky. Apparently in New Jersey they’re lunging onto the shores.

Couple says they were attacked by beaver in Watchung

Beware the mad beaver of Lake Surprise.

Karen and Barry Rubinstein were enjoying a stroll by the picturesque lake, nestled in Union County’s Watchung Reservation, last Tuesday when they noticed a head popping out of the water.

The creature spotted the Rubinsteins and set its sights on the shoreline.

“It’s bee-lining, I mean, this thing is swimming right at us,” Karen Rubinstein said.

The animal, which she estimated weighed as much as 40 pounds, came flopping out of the water, its teeth bared and its webbed feet moving as fast as they could manage.

The couple, who live in Summit, started running toward their car when a jogger warned them the animal could get hurt if it chased them into the road.

lake-surprise.jpgThe boat launch at Lake Surprise, which was the scene of last week’s animal attack.Tom Wright-Piersanti/The Star-Ledger

Karen Rubinstein jumped onto a nearby bench and saw her husband cut back toward the lake when the animal suddenly lunged, missing him by inches. After almost chomping Barry’s leg, it scurried back into the water.

If it’s true (and I’m not saying it is) it’s fairly remarkable that they listened to the jogger’s advice. I mean if a terrifying animal was lunging at ME I sure wouldn’t be overly worried about it getting hit by a car. Would you? And how long does it take for a jogger to size up the situation, see the attacker and the victims and guess their destination, and say “Don’t lure him out to the road or he might get hit.” (Was the jogger the president of PETA?) “Make sure he attacks you someplace safe, or he could get hurt!”

Anyway all that must take a pretty long time which means a pretty slow lunge even for a beaver.

Clearly the jogger was not as alarmed as these people were. Are there illegal substances that make you irrationally paranoid of rodents? Will there possibly be blood or urine tests involved?

The park manager explained there were no beavers in the lake nor sign of trees chewed. Otters, however, had been spotted recently.

Still, Karen Rubinstein, who studied forestry at Rutgers University for several years, insisted the creature she saw was a beaver based on its feet, its tail and its size.

“There’s no other animal it could be, unless it was an alien invasion,” she said.

I’m going with that explanation, Karen. Makes the most sense to me. _________________________________________________

More envy-producing adorableness from Rusty in Napa. Turn your volume UP. How’s this for a mother and child reunion?