Category: City Reports

Sawdust everywhere…

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Who's Killing Beavers Now? November 1, 2012

Well something like beaver-scat appears to be hitting the proverbial fan. I got a call yesterday from Donna Dubreuille of Ottawa-Carlton wildlife centre in Canada who said she had just issued a press release about the shadowy fate of Lily and her two kits, the beavers living in Paul Lindsay pond in Stittsville, just outside of Ottawa. You will remember that they were slated to be killed, then saved by very heroic and loud protests for a summer, only to find their lodge ripped out by city staff on the national holiday weekend. Staff later assured local advocates that there were no beavers living there, and no beavers using that lodge, and the media was mostly convinced until Anita posted footage of the most adorable (and tiny) beaver kits that I have ever seen, and then photographed them nursing during the day with mom under a bush because they had no shelter.

You might remember that the mayor agreed to form a wildlife task force to find new ways of dealing with animals in the city and Donna and others were invited to be involved. Meanwhile myself and Mike Callahan exchanged countless emails with staff about flow devices and how they could work in storm water ponds. The city even hired flow device founding father Michel Leclare to build some much-proclaimed flow devices in experimental places where it turned out no beavers were actually living.

All of which is to say that the strategy of Ottawa under the leadership of Mayor Watson is a bifurcated path of transparency and deceit, where they ostentatiously appear to be doing the right thing, and the simultaneously continue merrily on their destructive course doing what they wanted all along. Apparently they have changed their weighty motto from Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (loyal, she remains) to the more stream-lined Mirus Illuc! (“Look! Over there!”).

Well, it’s not working too well with the locals. Donna and her wildlife counterparts resigned from the ‘pretend wildlife council’ and released a press release yesterday about the video passed off to Anita as the release of Lily and her kits.

Wildlife group accuses Ottawa of releasing fake beaver video

Not since accusations that the moon landing was faked has a video caused such controversy.

A local wildlife group accused the city Wednesday of duping them with footage said to show the relocation and release of three beavers that became the cause celebre of a Stittsville community this summer.

“We’re saying this video proves nothing, but raises more concerns about what happened to the beavers,” said Donna DuBreuil, President of the Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre, of footage released by the city to the group in early October. “This is not a video of an adult and a kit. These are not the Paul Lindsay Park beavers.”

So what did Mayor Watson & the City of Ottawa do with Lily theBeaver & Her Babies? November 1, 2012

CFN -Community members and wildlife organizations that opposed the relocation of a family of beavers, Lily and her two kits, from a Stittsville stormwater pond by the city of Ottawa in early September are up in arms.

Although Mayor Jim Watson and Deputy City Manager, Steve Kanellakos, attempted to portray the relocation at the time as a good thing for the beavers, no members of the media or the public were allowed to witness it.

Now, after much pressure, the city finally released a video last week that was supposed to reassure residents that the beavers had actually been released. Instead, it has fuelled concern and cynicism that the beavers may have in fact met a very different end.

The city’s video is purported to show the mother beaver with one of her kits in the water following release, indicating the other kit had dived under water.

OTTAWA BEAVER UPDATE

Is it a lie?

In a press release issued today community members who have championed the protection of a beaver family in the Stittsville (Ottawa, Ontario) region are condemning the government for what they perceive to be a deliberate attempt to hide the truth. The story is now gaining international attention as a popular California advocacy group has joined the ranks against the local government in Ottawa.

This scathing release comes only weeks after multiple conservation, wildlife and environmental groups walked away from the table with city planners when it was made clear – through inaction – that the groups were merely table settings and not part of the discussion.

Below is the release issued, along with links to the videos which purportedly show the beavers finding their new home.

Mind you all of these reports mention the ‘wildlife group from California” and the video they released arguing that beavers couldn’t possibly grown so big in such a short time. Gulp. One thing’s for sure, the city’s beaver smarts are definately not Worth A Dam.

I’m thinking it hath made a few people mad. I guess it’s safe to say I’m not going to receive an invitation from the mayor to visit Ottawa any time soon.

Tree Time

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions October 24, 2012

This just in! Beavers fell trees! And late October is rife with reports of tree damage. Let me remind you why. See in lots of parts of the world it freezes in the winter and that means that beavers won’t be able to break through the ice and find supper whenever they feel like it. So having learned to plan ahead from their mothers and fathers, they cut down a mess of trees in October and stick them under the water where they can get to them even when the pond freezes. Just like when you put steaks in the freezer or lettuce in the vegetable drawer. Pretty smart huh?

I thought today I’d offer a selection of stories, from the sublime to the ridiculous and everything in between. Just a reminder, all of these reports are made possible because people haven’t yet committed the massive effort to read that pamphlet at the local hardware store or fish and game or on this and many websites that describes protecting trees with wire wrapping or abrasive painting. Apparently we have relied on ignorance for so long we are afraid to try this suspicious-looking new fruit of information.

Busy beaver fells tree, closes major road for 90 minutes

ETNA, Maine — At least one sharp-toothed beaver chewed through a tree, causing it to fall across Route 143 near its intersection with Burke Lane, blocking the busy road entirely to traffic for 90 minutes Monday afternoon.

“A beaver had cut a white birch that was about a foot-and-a-half in diameter and about 25 feet tall,” said Etna Fire Chief Shawn Ryder. “The whole road was blocked at the corner of 143 and Burke.”

The timing couldn’t have been much worse as it occurred about a half-hour before the school day ended at the nearby Etna-Dixmont School.

“The call came in at 2:34 p.m., and we were on scene within a few minutes,” said Ryder.

The nerve of that beaver! Selfishly thinking about his family’s survival and not paying attention at all to the demanding commute! Imagine all those poor children, late for school, and forced to learn about nature against their will! I’m not exactly sure why it took 90 minutes to move a felled tree, but I’m guessing that city staff came in with their chainsaws and hauled it painstakingly away- after bringing a back hoe to remove the stump of course. Coppicing? What’s that?

If you thought that was bad, get ready for this story of Sasquatch Beaver from Austin Texas where the good folks at ABC News apparently can’t tell a beaver apart from –what? Something else dead and inelegantly stuffed. Woodchuck? Big foot? Not really sure, I just know for sure that whatever this photo is it didn’t eat those trees.

“Their teeth continually grow, so they just need to chew on something to keep their teeth worn down,” Dolphin explained.

And the recent increase in beaver-damaged trees could be the animals’ way of getting ready for cold weather.

“Typically this time of year you’ll see a food cache where they will be storing up trees for the winter,” naturalist Larry Dolphin told us.

But regardless of why the trees are being taken down…

“We can’t leave those trees there in the condition the beaver leaves them in. We have to remove them,” said Park and Rec Director Kim Underwood. “We don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

Or the trees to grow back. And sprout new trees! We wouldn’t want that! For incomprehensible reasons I can’t embed the news clip in the story, but you really should go see it yourself. Being as it’s Austin this is probably the best reception beavers are likely to get in Texas, but a little information would go a long way!

More tree cutting drama from Massachusetts, but this time with the addition of energy and information! A whole new result!

Eagle Scout project at wildlife sanctuary protects trees from beaver damage

Eagle Scout Daniel Zeheb, at left, wraps chicken wire around a tree in the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield.

Daniel Zeheb, 16, spent a week last July at the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary in Topsfield working to protect more than 60 trees from damage by beavers. The project was the final step in attaining his Eagle Scout ranking. He earned the rank and badge in September during his Court of Honor ceremony at Trinitarian Congregational Church in North Andover.

Go Daniel go! We love it when people use their healthy minds and bodies to solve problems without trapping! Good work all! You might want to check this sooner than 10 years though because that wire looks a little snug and when the tree grows it could be a problem. Why not experiment with abrasive painting on some of the trees? It will look better and cost less, and you could get some cub scouts involved.

Now I’d love to stay and gossip about beavers chewing trees in Virginia or Oregon, but I have to write a woman in Idaho about whose trees are being nibbled and wonders if they can be relocated? I will end this post with some links to tree protection information, so that people can look at it easier.

Protecting trees: Worth A Dam

Tree Protection: Beaver Solutions

Protecting Trees and More: Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife

Challenges: The Lands Council

Working with Beaver: Sherri Tippie and the Grand Canyon Trust

That should get everyone started. If you need more google “Beavers Tree Protection” and scan through your options!

Croatia: New Spies

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental October 22, 2012

A long time ago the international beaver symposium took place in Lithuania and we sent beaver friend AH over from Germany to take notes and ask questions. Remember Skip was at that one? And we were particularly interested because the issue of beavers had just sprung to the forefront in Riga?

Haven’t heard from AH in a while (sigh!) but no matter, this year we had NEW spies to attend the beaver symposium in Croatia!

Representatives from Scottish Wild Beaver Group travel to Bavaria and Croatia on information gathering trips

Members of the Scottish Wild Beaver Group (SWBG) and other interested parties are in Bavaria this week for a study trip organised by the group.

The trip is funded by the European Archnetwork and the six people going represent woodland, fisheries, non-governmental organisations and legal interests, and include the author of a recent Scottish Natural Heritage report on the use of derogations in management of protected species.Paul and Louise Ramsay have also been invited to talk about the Tayside Beavers at an event in Oregon next year.

And in addition to good press they even wrote a blow by blow account of the conference and everyone they met there.

“The International Beaver Symposium would not be the same without Gerhard Schwab from Bavaria, extraduction expert of beavers to the world, including Mongolia. Here he is at a thoughtful moment during dinner on the first evening of the symposium.’

“At the next table were Gerhard and, next to him, Hugh Dignon, the Scottish Government’s Head of Wildlife. It was a credit to Hugh that he took the trouble to come. On the right of the photograph is Karen Taylor, who works for Scottish Natural Heritage in Lochgilphead. I wonder what she is thinking as she looks at Hugh Dignon.”

Since there were some SNH folks there, there was a bit of a stir when Paul talked about the first ‘feral beaver’ who was captured and died in the zoo. I’ll let him tell it since years of upperclass breeding and attending Eaton probably give him the diplomacy advantage. Suffice it to say, fee-fees were hurt, and feathers ruffled, and Paul and Louise scurried about and made their amends on behalf of the free tayside beavers.

All in all it looks like a splendid event, and one that’s growing up, since the inclusion of the Ramsays is the first time it moved out of the ‘science-y’ realm and into the real-world challenges of living with beavers. Maybe someday you’ll be ready for the exciting story of Martinez! Let us know!

Wildlife Fail

heidi08 Beavers, City Reports, Educational, Environmental October 15, 2012

Did you watch PBS Nature program on Skunks last night? It had some great information and introduced some quirky folk who passed their time studying or rescuing the fragrant animal. I sympathized with how life could thrust you with no warning at all into a single species that became your fate but my jaw dropped when they talked about Marysville CA.

Marysville has a lot of skunks. Using the crosswalk, meandering through town, everywhere you look skunks. And it also has many miles of Levy protecting it. So when the skunks need a cozy burrow for the night they dig a hole in it and Marysville gets very, very nervous. They showed workers filling the burrows with cement and then setting the entire levy on fire to discourage skunks.

(God knows what they do to beavers.)

And then, well almost as an afterthought, the narrator mentioned that there were a lot of feral cats too in Marysville. And that, wait for it, folk who fed feral cats in Marysville. And- wait for it– SKUNKS SEEMED TO BE EATING CATFOOD and maybe that was affecting population.

Really? Ya’ think?

They all got letters this morning. Sheeshsheeshsheesh. It’s PBS not Animal Planet or Billybob’s webcam!! I was expecting some dynamic explanation like the 15 year reproductive life cycle of the cicada. Nope. Cat food. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that as a GENERAL RULE whenever you have a wildlife problem with bears, or foxes, or skunks, or coyotes. The very FIRST thing you should do is assess the pet food situation. Can we all just agree on that?

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Jr last night, looking beaver-ish. He came out of the bank by the footbridge at 6:15 and brought his branch back there to dine. Things are looking very Autumnal at the dam, and it gets dark so early photography is nearly a thing of the past:

Audubon tonight! Wish me luck!

Seeing the beaver in lights…

heidi08 Beavers, City Reports October 9, 2012

Hey! Midddletown Ohio has just announced its festival of lights for the holidays which includes a representation of a beaver trying to chop down a tree! The article says this is in honor of the actual beaver that tried to chop down their trees earlier in the year and had to be “encouraged to move elsewhere”.

Um, the afterlife?

Since this is the same state that allowed wild animals to be wrestled for sport on a private zoo and then shot 18 tigers when the obviously insane owner let them out and then killed himself, and the same state where a trapper was invited to tell rousing ‘beaver tales’ at a nature center, and the speaker’s aunt offered to make a coat from me when I protested, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that beaver relocation means beaver trapping in Ohio.

A beaver cutting down a tree and a herd of elegant deer will join the many other displays in Light Up Middletown this year. The addition of the beaver display is particularly ironic since several years ago, a real live beaver chewed through the mooring lines for displays floating in the pond and cut down several trees. (The beaver was encouraged to find another home.)

In addition to the beaver and the ubiquitous reindeer, the flashy display menagerie also includes whales and a giraffe. I dunno… Have you considered the addition of some electric bengal tigers in the manger? That would be truly memorable. I guess they were “relocated” too right?

In a manner of speaking.

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Now, enough complaint and skepticism, because I’m about to show you the very best beaver footage I have shot in 6 years – no its not the most technically crisp or skillful, but its the most magical beaver moment yet caught on film by me. Turn your sound UP to hear jr vocalize when his mom approaches, and watch how he nuzzles her and them begins some self grooming when she doesn’t want to cuddle. This is a study in attachment, and I was blessed to see it last night with just enough light left to capture on film. Enjoy!