Category: City Reports

Blame the Rodent[icide]

heidi08 Beavers, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental May 13, 2012

Silent spring for Bay Area’s raptors?

Rodenticide-related wildlife mortality may seem an abstract issue until your child finds two dead hawks in the backyard wading pool. That happened to Berkeley resident Dan Rubino on the Fourth of July in 2007. Rubino sought out his neighbor Lisa Owens Viani, who has a background in wildlife rehabilitation. She identified the birds as juvenile Cooper’s hawks, the offspring of one of 13 local pairs.

Owens Viani suspected rodenticide poisoning: “When Dan told me they were going to the pool, I knew right away what it was. I knew they would be bleeding internally and looking for water.”

Joe Eaton & Ron Sullivan

Thus begins part one of the two part series describing the danger that second generation anti-coagulate rodenticides (SGAR) pose to birds of prey. See, folks use the poisons to kill rats, but the rats take a while to die. Raptors eat the toxic rats and get killed themselves. In 2003 the EPA responded to growing concern and litigation by requiring that SGARs would stop being sold to the public in 2011. They wanted them marketed only to wildlife control specialists, but that hasn’t exactly happened. In the mean time, children are finding cooper’s hawks in their wading pools.

So long-time beaver friend Lisa Owens Viani (formerly of SFEP and now of Golden Gate Audubon) has taken up the gauntlet and is marching city by city getting them to agree not to use or sell SGARs. She has started the aptly named organization Raptors Are The Solution (RATS) and is working hard to raise awareness. Go read the entire article and give RATS a thumbs up on facebook. This is just another example of narrow thinking having very broad consequences that cause unanticipated results. More vicious poisons to kill more rats leads to more raptors dying leading ironically to more rats because there are no more predators and the demand for even more vicious poisons to control a booming population. Repeat as necessary.

The article is written by Joe Eaton and Ron Sullivan. Joe wrote my favorite article about mother beaver’s death and is a long time beaver supporter. In March, we attended a St. Patrick’s Day Dinner with them at Lisa and Riley’s home in Berkeley, it was a wonderful evening with stories about bird watching, wildlife rescue, and city council struggles of epic proportions. Riley (author of the most famous creek restoration book and working on her second) is top tier of the water boards where people send really thorny problems. She told very amusing stories of a certain Hollywood royalty mogul in the Bay Area once asking for permission to fill in the creek behind his house with cement so his children could cross it easily to get to school!

Bridges are SO passe.

The second installation of the article comes next week and will talk about what citizens groups can do and are doing. Don’t miss it. I keep telling Lisa that RATS needs a booth at the Beaver Festival to raise awareness and connect with folks out here, but does she listen?

The Horse Race is On!

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Creative Solutions May 11, 2012

Beavers have new forest digs in first test of new Utah plan

Revised management plan lets rodents be relocated.

By Mark Havnes | The Salt Lake Tribune

Cedar City • The first relocation of beavers under a revised state management plan went swimmingly, according to state wildlife officials.

Since Friday, nine of the rodents have been released in a southern Utah stream in the Dixie National Forest under terms of a plan that allows biologists to trap and transplant beavers to sites where they can help restore watershed and landscapes.

This relocation was set in motion by Merril Evans, who owns irrigated pasture land in Panguitch where six of the beavers were trapped. Evans said he called the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and asked what he could do when he noticed beavers were cutting down trees on his property. He gave permission for the animals to be trapped.

“They were really great guys,” he said of a biologist and a volunteer from the Grand Canyon Trust. They not only trapped the rodents but protected still standing trees with wire fencing to prevent future problems from other beavers.

Utah has released a shiny new beaver management plan that allows beavers from problem areas to be moved to areas where beavers are needed. Check out the whole thing here and pause to appreciate the rolling mountains of hard work by Mary Obrien in bringing this about – she has literally been at this since long, long before I even found out that beavers don’t eat fish. If you never listened to her interview, you might enjoy it now, and get her introduction to the remarkable up-and-commer Jeremy Christiansen who is featured in the article.

The new management plan reflects the current thinking that beavers can improve landscapes. Jeremy Christensen, a biologist with the Grand Canyon Trust, which played an active role in revising the management plan, said the transplant should provide a prime example of how relocation can be used as a management tool.

Beaver dams are a natural way to regulate stream flows, especially in areas of heavy runoff where the animals have been eradicated. The dams create ponds that slowly let out water as needed. Once a pond is created, it can spur development of meadows and habitat for other species, including the boreal toad, listed as a sensitive species in Utah that survives best in conditions created by beavers,

Is it just me? Or in the back of your mind do you hear an old time radio announcer at the race track, broadcasting:

Washington is firmly in the lead, with only Oregon trailing at her heels. Idaho is cresting at the bend and around the stretch comes Utah! She’s gaining, look at that stride as she passes the others on the rail! Now its Utah and Washington neck and neck! Where did she come from? Washington is starting to look nervous as its first real competitor comes into her own! And in the lead by just a nose as they finish —–

Great work Utah! Finally a real horse race in the west! (Obviously California is still having some trouble trying to get out of the gates.)

Oh and after all that excitement some relaxing Castor Fiber filmed was last night at Paul and Louise Ramsay’s beaver haven in Scotland. It was done by the creator of this remarkable blog which we should probably all be checking every morning (right after this one – of course!)

Late-Breaking Update: Beavers Still Chew Trees

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions May 9, 2012

0508-beaver-1[1] — Press Photo by Betsy Simon Dickinson resident Bradley Robertson surveys a tree in Jaycee Park on Friday, where beavers are blamed for damage to some of the trees.

“I was walking along the river two weeks ago when I noticed the trees and reported it to the person at the front desk at parks and recreation,” said Dickinson resident Bradley Robertson. “They said someone else had called before and that fencing would go up, but fencing isn’t going to be enough. They need to trap the beavers and set them loose somewhere else.

Clearly one of the limiting factors of maintaining a beaver website is plot variation. There isn’t any. Beavers build dams and cities get upset. Let’s call that Example A. Beavers block culverts and cities get upset. Let’s call that Example B. Beavers Chew trees and cities get upset.

Let’s call that example ‘C‘ – for CHEW.

Residents and users of the area along Heart River near Jaycee Park are concerned that beavers may chew down all of the park’s trees if the Dickinson Parks and Recreation doesn’t step in.

“There’s not much I can do about it. They won’t let me shoot in the city limits,” he said. “And that it’s not my responsibility anyway. It’s the park board’s responsibility.”

“I’ve reported it to our staff operation manager, who will check it out and wrap with chain link, and we’ll contact the city forester to see if they will be salvageable,” he said.

Chain link? To give it that prison-yard look? I don’t suppose you’ll leave any space for the tree to grow? With their chain link tourniquets those trees should all be dead in NO time!

Maybe I should keep form letters for the three predictable solutions. I’ve been writing them all individually but why bother? They all require exactly the same advice. Get that man who wants to help but can’t “use his gun in the city” and put a paintbrush in his hand. Take some latex paint that matches the color of the bark and toss in some mason sand – (about 5 oz per quart of paint). Stir it up right before painting about three feet up the trunk on all sides. Voila! The gritty texture will discourage chewing and your trees will be safe. You’ll need to repeat it in about two years but visually it will look much less ‘penal’ than chain link.

If the trees are not salvageable, Kramer said they would be taken down but didn’t know how soon the issue would be resolved. He said it has been two or three years since a trapper was called to the area around Jaycee’s Park and the baseball field.

“The thing is we can’t chain link or wire mesh around every tree,” he said. “Obviously, one of these trees is probably past the point of being salvageable, but we have some years where we go without any issues. It’s not like it is a problem we see coming. Typically, we don’t see activity until after the damage is done.”

Sigh. Example C – corollary 1. Don’t rush to take the trees out that the beavers cut down. The roots will still prevent erosion for a good long time – and depending on the species they’ll provide energy for the tree to recover its ‘root/shoot ratio’ by stimulating a natural coppicing effect when shoots grow back. Maybe you could put a little park sign to explain it to visitors. I know you’re in North Dakota but look what your next door neighbor is teaching today in Montana:

Home / News / Montana & Regional / Montana & Regional Montana tribes hold annual honoring of Flathead River Story Discussion Video Image (3) By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian | Posted: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 9:30 pm | No Comments Posted Font Size: Default font size Larger font size buy this photo TOM BAUER/Missoulian Tim Ryan explains to fifth-graders from Ronan Middle School how a fish trap was made and used at the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ annual River Honoring on Tuesday. The event brings hundreds of fourth- and fifth-graders to the lower Flathead River for two days of education.

When beavers take down willow trees to construct their dams and lodges, Ryan said, what is left eventually sprouts the fairly thin shoots that are the perfect material for fish traps.

Longer shoots were used to make the cone-like enclosure, while short ones were shaved into sharp points on one end and bound to the opening at an angle. Fish could enter unscathed, but would run into the sharp points if they tried to exit.

“Every time I do one, I thank the beaver for helping make my ribs for the fish trap,” Ryan said.

Well, I’m glad we had this little chat. Just remember example C – corollary 2: beaver chewed trees create ideal nesting habitat for migratory and songbirds. You like those things, right?

That’s why Kramer looks to users of and residents around the city’s parks to be additional eyes and ears for him and his staff.

Fair enough. Can we be the brains too?

Snips and Tails

heidi08 Beaver News, Beavers, City Reports, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, kits May 7, 2012

Now before we get started today I have some housekeeping to attend to. Yesterday I received an email from Joe Eaton, a fast friend of the Martinez Beavers and the author of my favorite article ever on the death of the mother beaver for the Berkeley Daily Planet. He said he stopped by to see the dams and thought they were abandoned (very high tide) and when he checked the website didn’t see any discussion of the Martinez Beavers since March! Were they okay?

I though that since a friendly faced didn’t know, you might not know either! You can always check for new sightings under the “sightings” tab on the menu bar on the top of the page. It will tell you what was seen, where, what time, and by whom. Just in case Joe is not the only one who doesn’t know! The sightings page is managed by Worth A Dam champion Lory Bruno whose friendly face you will see at the silent auction booth this summer. Here’s today’s update

May 7th – 6:15am – One beaver was seen above the primary dam and possibly a sighting of another beaver. Not sure if the same one came out but the second one was a bit smaller it seemed.. It came up to the lodge area and went underwater. Seems like there is something going on at the old lodge and there looked like new branches were on the lodge site, which was heavily mudded Saturday morning.CR

Next, our Kentucky Derby watching friends might find it interesting to know that the logo for the Derby was created by none other that the mother of our beloved Ian Timothy (creator of the beaver creek series).His father of course wrote and performed the music for the series. Here’s photographic proof of a very talented family!

You may remember that last week I wrote about the beavers at Silver Lake in CT which Councilman Thorpe described as “wreaking havoc” on the ecosystem. Of course I wrote him about the good that beaver do for the birds and fish and wildlife and he wrote back (in a manner I can only describe as ‘clipped‘) and said he knew all that but that this area was special because of a sewer line. Which, if true, you might have thought he’d mention to the media. Anyway, there’s a nice rebuttal to his alarms this morning

As the Record-Journal’s Richie Rathsack reported, there’s also evidence that the pond, larger now thanks to the beaver work, is more attractive to other wildlife. He also described dozens of trees along the shore with signs of beaver gnawing, as well as small trails left by beavers dragging trees through the woods to the water’s edge.

My strong suspicion is also that the proprietors of this so-called beaver hut are not paying their proper share of property taxes, and the beavers should probably be told that if there’s any vehicle involved that in Connecticut we tax you when you buy one, while you own one and once again when you sell one. Those trails the beavers are building should also be candidates for some sort of review and taxation, I’d wager.

It’s a clever bit of writing. Go read the whole thing.

Now let’s head even farther East for our final update. With beaver advocates chipping away at the resistance in the United Kingdom, check out this mornings BBC report on beavers in Wales!

It is thought that beavers, while common in medieval Wales, became extinct by the 16th Century. But Ms Girardi said she believed the beavers remained “keystone species,” whose re-introduction would increase biodiversity.

On a final note it’s Monday so if you’re very, very good you can watch this video from Peter Smith at the Wildwood Trust in England. A very stalwart, enthusiastic member of the Save the Free Beavers of the River Tay died two weeks ago, Mike Johnston. So Peter very nobly made sure that one of these kits was named after him. I guess its theoretically possibly you might see something cuter in your entire lifetime, but it surely isn’t likely! Enjoy!

This Just in: Beaver Chew Trees!

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Environmental April 29, 2012

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/meriden/article_d454d384-8fe8-11e1-8fbf-0019bb2963f4.html — A beaver swims in a pond between Beaver Pond in Meriden and Silver Lake in Berlin Wednesday afternoon, Aporil 25, 2012. Beavers have built dams in the area and caused flooding into surrounding woodland areas. The pond has risen nearly five feet. (Christopher Zajac / Record-Journal)

Beavers fell trees, ‘raise havoc’ near Meriden’s Silver Lake

The beavers are back — with a vengeance. They’ve expanded Little Silver Lake — which is on the Meriden-Berlin line, across the train tracks from Silver Lake — to about four times its previous size, and not everybody is happy about it.

City Councilor Trevor Thorpe. “Quite honestly, (beavers) are not the cuddly, nice creatures cartoons make them out to be,” Thorpe said. “They are actually quite destructive. They’ve raised havoc down here. They have been down here for well over a year now.”

Listen to Trevor! Beavers aren’t cuddly. They’re destructive. They’re like furry organic bulldozers – well not like bulldozers because bulldozers mean development and parking lots and money for the city – and beavers don’t bring money. They’re WORSE than bulldozers. They’re like wrecking balls! Forest fires! Tornadoes!

Got that?

After a walk across a large field and down a trail scarred with ATV tracks, Thorpe pointed out the beaver den, a large hut offshore made of wood and mud. A great blue heron perched atop the hut for a few minutes before flying off in the direction of Silver Lake.

Nearby, a beaver swam in and out of the small trees where the shore used to be. It slapped its tail on the water a couple of times before retreating back to the hut.

From where the train tracks split Silver Lake and Little Silver Lake, the small side appears to have a higher water level, which Thorpe said is unusual. It is unclear if beavers are clogging the culvert or if debris is in the way.

While beavers may be causing headaches for some humans, wildlife is taking full advantage of the larger pond.

A swan sat on a nest at what used to be the edge of the swamp. Huge trees near the edge of the trail stand dying, their bases completely under water.

Gosh that sounds destructive! Swans and blue herons and beavers! I bet there’s otters and turtles and frogs too! Those rotten beavers and their wicked wetland ways! Thank goodness Trevor came on the scene just in time! No telling what kind of wildlife riffraff might have moved in!

Is it me or do you get the feeling this reporter was touring the area, struggling to keep a straight face, and all the while thinking: are you insane? Destructive? Look at everything the beavers created! This pond is a Connecticut Oasis!

It’s a nice article and given last Saturdays reminder from Massachusetts that flooded trees in beaver bonds create great blue heron rookeries, it couldn’t be better timed. I think some folks get letters.

Oh and here’s a video of the not-at- all-cuddly-villain in question in case you’re looking for them on the post office wall.

(I actually hate this video because these folks apparently found the orphan, took him for a photo shoot and then dumped him about a mile from where he got lost, but it IS remarkable footage. And the not-at-all-cuddly thing is SO cute that I apparently cannot watch more than 25 seconds without bursting into protective tears!
Good luck!