Category: Educational

This just in – beavers save water!

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Educational, Environmental October 20, 2015

Alastair Bland’s fact-filled article on Water Deeply obviously struck a chord. It was picked up by Gizmodo and Take Part, along with other sites. It’s now appearing in the Daily Mail in the UK, which would be a pretty good run, but it gets even better and you’ll hear about that soon.
Despite recent rainfall and even flash floods, California’s four-year-long drought is predicted to continue. But ecologists believe beavers could play a part in ending one the most severe droughts on record. The industrious rodents could help slow the flow of water heading to the sea by building dams, to create extra reserves of water and benefit other struggling species, they claim.

They have hatched a controversial plan to repopulate central coastal parts of California with large beavers – Castor Canadensis – that once lived in large numbers.

Ooh! A plot! and my favorite kind, A beaver plot! I guess the article liked the spicy idea of beaver underground that took matters into their own -er- paws (as it were). I would chalk it up to fanciful English whimsy that produced the likes of Paddington Bear and Peter Rabbit if it weren’t for this article appearing this morning on WSAV channel 3 news in (brace yourselves) GEORGIA! (Our librarian friend BK and his wife must be doing a fantastic job preaching the beaver gospel out there!)

Experts say the industrious rodents could help slow the flow of water heading out to sea by building dams. This will create water reserves and help other species too.

Sounds easy right? Well, the plan is actually a controversial one.

Ecologists want to repopulate the central coastal parts of California with large beavers – Castor Canadensis – that once lived in large numbers. This is a group that caused problems with logging and fishing industries. So back in the 19th century, this large beaver was almost completely removed.

But some say it’s a chance the state needs to take.

Well it’s cheap and easy and people like that idea. And it doesn’t cost industry money or drain tax dollars, so I guess that makes it a little popular. Hey, maybe we should hit the almond growers up for a donation to the campaign. (Have you heard their desperate sponsor statements on KQED? “Almond growers use no more water than other trees and don’t blame us for the drought WAA!”) Something tells me they’d be VERY motivated to contribute to a bring back beaver movement.

To top it all off, I heard from the president of Trout Unlimited today in Coloma that the Conservation Chair of the El Dorado chapter put it up on their face book page and reached about 500 people. They both are shaking their heads and saying there’s obviously a real interest in this topic.

I’m not holding my breath. Here in Marmeanest we were busily ripping out more creek on the weekend, in the little soil patch by Starbucks where our original mom did her swan song. Supposedly they had a fish and game warden to pull out turtles, but I’ll believe that when I see the photos. Lory took this yesterday.

How nice to sit beside the creek with your morning latte and watch it be destroyed. At least that big pile of silt they’re removing can’t be blamed on the beavers, since it is no where near where they dammed or denned.

To further remind me that Marmeenest definitely is no Napatopia, I receiver an email out of the blue yesterday from someone I’d never met or heard of asking me how to save the Napa beavers, because they were building a dam right next to a hotel.

I tried to be very enthusiastic about her support and introduce her to the local players earnestly. But honestly what I wanted to say was,

“Trust me. They’re the safest beavers on the planet.”

Utah has a deep bench

heidi08 Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? October 16, 2015

Now this has got to be the icing on the cake. I don’t remember phys.org ever writing about Martinez. Notice there’s hardly a name in this story that we recognize even though I wrote about this three times. That’s what I mean by a deep bench. They have many important beaver advocates that they can endlessly trot out.

Ecologists enlist beavers, walmart in wetlands conservation effort

The big-toothed rodents were nearly hunted to extinction during the 19th century in the mountain-encircled community, along with other areas of North America. But Utah State University scientists say the furry mammals are emerging as a valuable resource in restoring ecosystems imperiled by land use practices, drought and a changing climate.

“Beavers play a critical role in maintaining healthy aquatic and riparian habitat, which we desperately need in arid Utah,” says USU researcher Elijah Portugal. “Beaver dams store water in springtime, slow down the release of snowpack and prevent water from moving too quickly and evaporating, which benefits wildlife and all downstream users. Their dams also capture sediment, which improves water quality,”

“Beavers are brilliant engineers, providing multiple benefits that are difficult and expensive for humans to accomplish,” says Nick Bouwes, adjunct faculty member in USU’s Department of Watershed Sciences and owner of Eco Logical Research. “We believe there are ways to co-exist with beavers, while mitigating their harmful habits.”

To this end, Bouwes, Portugal, their students, Utah Conservation Corps members and community volunteers gathered at the Logan Walmart Oct. 12, 2015, to install two pond levelers, crafted in the USU lab, to the store’s surrounding waters. The cage-like levelers, made from wire, are connected to large plastic tubes that allow water to pass, while catching debris, and prevent beavers from building dams to flood-inducing heights. The researchers installed a leveler on each of two beaver dams on the south side of Walmart’s property.

“The levelers will maintain the height of the ponds at a safe, desired level, without disturbing the beavers and their efforts,” Bouwes says. “It’s a winning solution for Walmart, the beavers and the surrounding community.”

This article is surprising in so many ways, not only does it prove that Utah believes in beavers. It proves that they believe in Climate Change! I love how we now suddenly read Elijah Portugals name even through it never crossed our path before. Because in Utah, there are so many people who understand beavers we have advocates to spare.

Imagine: Extra advocates!

This kind of abundance doesn’t just happen. Its fiercely cultivated at the local, organizational and institutional level. It’s what made Utah the first state in the nation to develop a beaver management plan for the forestry service. It’s what allowed Utah to pull off successful beaver festivals using the work of mostly students and government agencies. It’s why I get happy every time I see them in a headline because I know the end result is going to be awesome.

And you should never, never under estimate how much of that is ultimately due to the work of this remarkable woman.

Mary O'brien — Mary Obrien: Grand Canyon Trust

Forestry Beavers

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, kits, Who's saving beavers now? October 11, 2015

Our Georgia-based beaver friend BK sends this 1906 forestry text on beavers. He is looking for reference on the amount of water stored by beaver ponds, so send anything you have my way. I love reading this lost wisdom. It has so much hope for the future and a mistaken faith in our recognition of doing the right thing. Here’s the awesome conclusion:

How touching the author wants a closed season for beaver. Ahem. Let me be the first to tell you that’s never going to happen. Actually, I don’t worry about beaver trappers. I worry about depredation. At least recreational trappers have to COUNT the number of beaver they kill. Property owners and cities don’t.

All I want is for the number of inconvenient beavers killed every year to be COUNTED. Is that so much to ask?

In honor of the flow device removal and our 3000th post, I finally got around to making a video about this year’s kits. It was hard work editing through all that weeping. But I’m glad the monument to their brief lives is done. A few folks sent comments and were willing to share them, so I thought I’d pass them along. If you want to add some email me or post them directly to the website. I guess the lesson of all this is that loving anything means you let yourself risk the pain of losing it. I’m sure there’s wisdom to be gleaned from that somewhere.

At the moment I pretty much just think it sucks.

Oohh, just beautiful, Heidi. Can’t speak, can’t type. Wishing you lots of pennies from heaven. Oooh those sweet babies…If I could wave a magic wand and bring them back, I would. I don’t know how you have made it through, Heidi, but that is the sweetest little film ever. RE of Napa

Thank you so much for making this for all of us. Many tears fell but I agree it needed to be done. LB Martinez

Yes, thank you, too ….you do such great work for both man & animals! Tears tears tears. CB Martinez

That was very beautiful, Heidi. Thank you. Please, let’s hope Alhambra Creek becomes home to more beaver families in the near future. Once this drought is over and the creek flows normally again, the willows grow, and the tullies flourish, and the homeless have homes, we will sit together again at the creek side and marvel at how magnificent the beavers are. I know this isn’t the end, even though it feels like it might be for awhile. Because of your initial interest and attention those many years ago on our wonderful Martinez beaver family; and subsequently, your stewardship and your educating the world about them, more beavers everywhere are being appreciated and saved. I’m so sad as I know you and Jon are too. But what a beautiful tribute you made to them, and for us all. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Know I love and appreciate you and Jon, and all your hard work for our Martinez beavers, and beavers everywhere. I will educate anyone, anywhere about the beaver, and their incredible engineering for the environment. Yes, they are definitely Worth A Dam, and much much more.
JO Martinez

Giant post-apocalytic beaver consumes entire news cycle!

heidi08 Beaver Anatomy, Beaver Chewing, Beavers, Educational, Environmental, History October 6, 2015

That exciting beaver news must have excited EVERYONE EVERYWHERE because today it’s on the BBC, the Washington Post and National Geographic. Sadly, this means it has completely squeezed all other beaver stories out of the news, because no self-respecting paper can run TWO beaver stories on the same day, (heaven forbid).

That’s okay though because the Smithsonian one has nice details that are worth sharing.

Ancient Toothy Mammal Survived Dino Apocalypse

Though small, the mammal is an exciting find, the researchers said. It belongs to a group of rodentlike mammals called multituberculates, named for the numerous cusps, or tubercles, found on their teeth. Multituberculates lived alongside dinosaurs, but managed to survive the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period. They lived for another 30 million years before they, too, went extinct, the researchers said.

So THAT”S what multituberculates means, many cusps! I don’t think any other source explained that fact, This is the part I especially loved.

Spectacular teeth
Researchers named the newfound species Kimbetopsalis simmonsae, in honor of the area in which they found it, Kimbeto Wash, New Mexico. The Greek word “psalis” means “cutting shears,” a reference to the creature’s magnificent teeth, and the species name, “simmonsae,” is a nod to Nancy Simmons, a researcher at the American Museum of Natural History renowned for her work on multituberculates.

Magnificent Sheers! That sure sounds like a beaver to me. I had to go look up Nancy Simmons and her famous work on the cuspadors. She’s home grown and graduated from UCB. Here’s what else I found:

Faculty and researcher at the American Museum of Natural history, Dr. Simmons specializes in the morphology and evolutionary biology of bats (Chiroptera). She works with both living and fossil species, and is interested in patterns of speciesdiversification, biogeography, the evolution of dietary habits, higher-level bat relationships, early Tertiary fossil bats, and the evolution of flight and echolocation. A morphologist by training, she works with data gained from museum specimens and high-resolution CT scans, combining these with DNA sequence data generated by collaborators to build and test phylogenetic and evolutionary hypotheses. In addition to her work on bats, Dr. Simmons is part of team working on further development of tools for managing large-scale morphological projects (e.g., build the Tree of Life).

bat

Another example of what bats and beavers have in common! Corky would be so proud.

Imagine getting a species of beaver named after you…I admit, I’m kind of jealous. Do you think they’ll ever be a city dwelling beaver named after us?

Civicus-painintheassus?

The truth about the tooth

heidi08 Educational, Environmental October 4, 2015

Speaking of people drawing beaver teeth inaccurately – guess what I just noticed! The amazing see it and draw it in nature John Muir Laws, who sketched our beavers lo these many years ago, did a portrait last month on how to tell beavers and otters apart. This was in the July – September issue. And it took me a while to even recognize what I was seeing.

Can you say chip monk? Or bear with beaver teeth? How could such a talented man forget everything he learned here in Martinez? He needs a dose of beaver watching STAT! I’m writing a letter. You see for yourself whether this portrait he did in person isn’t more accurate.