Category: Educational

Beaver Roulette

heidi08 Educational, Environmental, In the News, kits, Who's saving beavers now? August 13, 2015

Someone notified us about another dead beaver yesterday morning. It was floating by the creek monkey and it was not a kit. Jon haled it out and thought it was Junior or the smaller two year old. I talked to Jennifer from the Bay Area News group while we were getting ready to drive to UCD. But when KGO wanted an interview but I told them things were too hectic. Fortunately the very responsive veterinarian at CDFW worked over time to talk to the media, and print me out the paperwork so we could bring the beaver straight to Davis.

Beloved Martinez beaver babies turning up dead

Heidi Perryman, executive director of the group Worth a Dam, said the California Department of Fish and Game is examining a dead kit euthanized last month at the Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital in Walnut Creek. State officials have also analyzed a water sample but not yet determined a cause of death.

“We didn’t find anything abnormal when looking at the carcass,” said Deana Clifford, a research scientist and wildlife veterinarian with the Department of Fish and Game.

Perryman said the carcass of yesterdays beaver appears to be that of either a 35-pound yearling born last year or a 2-year-old. She had hoped the dead animal photographed by Martinez resident Brendon Chapman on Tuesday was the missing fourth kit and not one of the five older beavers who call the creek home. They include an adult male and female, two 2-year olds and the yearling.

The first dead kit was found July 7. Guthrum Purdin, director of veterinary services at the Lindsay hospital, examined a different beaver kit brought in July 8.

The beaver he saw was practically comatose and taking only occasional gasps of air when it arrived. The veterinarian initially suspected contact with a poisonous substance and euthanized it to shorten its suffering. While kits can be less hardy than adults, young beavers are “pretty durable” animals, Purdin said.

“The deaths were fairly acute and happened quickly and made me suspicious of a toxin exposure,” he said.

State veterinarians have ruled out drought and algae-related toxins, including anatoxin-a, in both the beaver and the creek water, and did not find rabies. Researchers also tested the kit’s brain for high sodium levels after finding a bacteria normally in seawater during a toxicology test. They didn’t find any abnormalities.

Officials have also ruled out tularemia, an infectious disease commonly found in rodents. The disease can cause small die-offs such as the one in Alhambra Creek. It killed a few beavers near Lake Tahoe a few years ago. No other beaver die-offs have been reported in the state so far this year.

“It’s not clear what caused the death of that kit at this point in time,” Clifford said.

In addition to reducing Martinez’s small but beloved beaver population, the die-off holds possibly larger implications.

“(The beavers are) right in our water source, so they tend to be a good marker species,” Purdin said. “If there’s a problem, they can point the way where to look.”

Given how distressing the whole thing is the article came out pretty accurate and informative. I’m so glad Guthrum and Deana were willing to talk to Jennifer too. I was pretty upset but I tried not to babble. (Not to mention that it was one of the worst possible birthday’s ever for poor Jon.) As it is, the article reads as a nice reminder that beavers are in OUR watershed and if something happens to them it might happen to us next.

We went down last night and saw two (mom and dad?) near the footbridge. The dam needed repairs and the level was down a bit. They looked fine, but we are learning that sometimes everything is not the way it appears. I’ll keep you posted on anything we learn. In the meantime I’m hopeful they’ll be more concerned about this recent death and press on with a little more energy so we can get answers.

In the mean time we all need cheering up so here’s a fun article from Oregon.

The Beaver Man

We started talking. Five minutes into our conversation, I knew I had met the world’s most passionate spiritual advocate for beavers and walked into one of the best Oregon stories of my life.

His name was James Murphy and he owned a romping tan lab named Marley. He had a house in outer southeast Portland but hated Portland now and rarely went back. He was a wandering man of the North Oregon Coast now, evangelizing for the protection of beavers.

James riffed with the most interesting and unconventional grammar, and I thought it the most beautiful stream-of-conscious speechifying I’d heard in years. Who cares if it was almost impossible to quote him properly? Beavers don’t care about conventional grammar or proper quoting! They just want to be left alone, eat wood, build dams, create marshes and salmon rearing habitat, and play their antediluvian role in the ecology of healthy watersheds. James understood this perfectly and wanted to educate others about the benefits of this maligned animal that was once nearly hunted to extinction because of a fashion trend.

This crusade began a year ago after angels told him to take care of animals. “I’ve known for years about beavers,” said James, “and it was time to start doing something for them. I had to.”

James scouts the local creeks, wetlands and rivers for signs of beaver activity and also imagines their return to places where they are needed to restore damaged watersheds. He’s documenting beavers and beaver dams in some way that doesn’t involve conventional scientific documentation. He’s seeking, finding, observing, and rhapsodizing. James is a “naturalist” of the very old school.

At one point in our conversation, James broke out a little book with a cork-like cover. “It’s my Beaver Book,” he said, handing it to me. He told me he’s collecting names, telephone numbers and email addresses of people who will go to Washington D.C. and lobby for the protection of beavers. I happily signed it and provided my contact information. I was surprised by how many names were in there. He’s been, well, busy as a beaver, and people are responding.

I’m not sure what I love most about this article: James unbridled and infectious enthusiasm for beavers, the authors puzzled fascination with him, the fact that we never met and I don’t know anyone who knows him, or the painted truck. This is the kind of wildcard that makes any beaver hand more fun to play. I love the idea that he is out looking for local beavers in creeks and spreading the gospel. I love his book with the names of people who are willing to go to Washington.

(But honestly, if the author thinks James is the world’s most “Passionate beaver advocate” – we should really talk.)

Higher latitudes and better attitudes

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, What's killing beavers now?, Who's blaming beavers now? August 11, 2015

Yesterday’s labor of love. I wanted to send this to our UK beaver friends. Simon Jones of the Scottish beaver trial wrote back this morning that it was such fun he was sending it to their educational department because he thought it would be a great idea for a classroom activity!

Just imagine, the children of Scotland learning about beavers while doing an art project from Martinez!

In the meantime there’s lots to catch up on, as this article from Prince Edward Island shows us that opinions can thaw even in the coldest of climes.

Beaver killed on Brownsmill Road

Debbie Miller is furious to learn that a beaver on Brownsmill Road near her Merigomish home was killed as a result of a permit given to the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.

The beaver was one of two that had a dam in the area, but a little over week ago on Aug. 2 she found it dead. She called to report it to Department of Natural Resources and was told it had been shot. She said the beaver’s dam had actually been destroyed the week of July 20. The following week she saw someone throwing something into the water.

Keith MacDonald , who is acting area manager for the Department of Transportation confirmed that his department had applied for a permit from the DNR and then hired someone to get rid of the beavers because they had blocked off a double culvert in the area. He said the DOT often have to deal with beavers because of their tendency to cause destruction to infrastructure. He said all the proper procedures of going through DNR were followed and the trapper chosen from an approved list.

Miller does not believe that the deaths were truly necessary, however.

“If anyone states that killing the beavers had to be done because they were being destructive, well they did not do any proper assessment of the area,” said Miller.

She said eroded banks in the area were from streams of water coming down the road due to lack of ditching, not because of the beavers. She said the beavers had developed a nice little wetland that was used by other animals, including ducks.

Beaver advocacy is in SUCH early days in this region that there is no mention of a flow device to protect the culvert instead. She even concedes that it would be okay to kill large populations but notes that in this case it was unnecessary because “There were only two!” Never mind, PEI is a tough area for beavers. The island insisted for years that they weren’t present historically and forced our own Rickipedia to do a little research and prove them wrong. They still regularly kill beavers to protect fish and this practice inspired one of my all-time favorite graphics, which I’m still delighted with.

I’m happy that Debbie is starting the conversation and upset about trapping. Maybe she will even find out that the culvert can be easily protected without dead beavers! Once she believes it she can make others believe it. All advocacy starts with compassion, remember.

Brock Dolman of OAEC sent this yesterday, and I thought you’d want to see it too.

Celebrate Beaver Day

heidi08 Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Educational, Environmental, Festival, Who's saving beavers now? July 30, 2015

Is this what it looks like when you dominate the news cycle?

Nature photographer chronicles Martinez’s urban beavers

MARTINEZ — The city’s renowned downtown family of beavers has caught the rapt eye of a nationally acclaimed wildlife photographer, who has been capturing their comings and goings for several weeks.

Suzi Eszterhas, who has followed elephants in the African wild and penguins in Antarctica, has turned her lens to the lodge the beavers have built in Alhambra Creek — her first time photographing wild animals in an urban setting.

Capturing the Martinez colony’s quirky behaviors, distinct personalities and ingenuity has been a creative cornerstone for Eszterhas.

“It’s a lot easier to photograph lions in Kenya,” she said, referring to the beavers’ inherent illusiveness and shyness.

Yet they performing their nocturnal activities next to a busy bar and eatery, with motorcycles vrooming by, and the public viewing them from several bridges over the creek.

“These beavers are coming back to their home and tolerating us being here,” said Eszterhas, a Petaluma resident. “We have this unique window to see into the lives of these creatures … There’s this oasis of peace in the midst of chaos. Not all species can do that.”

Eszterhas, whose images of the Martinez beavers will be published in an upcoming issue of Ranger Rick, a children’s nature magazine, has donated one of her wildlife photographs to this year’s silent auction at the eighth annual Worth a Dam Beaver Festival on Saturday, Aug. 1.

The annual festival — started as a way to “throw a party for (local beavers) to make it harder to kill them,” says Worth a Dam’s executive director Heidi Perryman — has become a nexus for wildlife advocates and artists to congregate and network.

Thanks Jennifer Shaw! The article shied away from using these excellent photos, but did talk to artist Mark Poulin and promote the festival nicely. All in all we can’t complain about media coverage this year. I’m hoping that will translate into abundant attendance potential. And that folks will think of beavers differently for a while.

Here’s a wonderful story about a smart man whose mind doesn’t NEED changing one bit.

Beaver tales: Alberta homeowner enlists local wildlife to engineer a dam

Pierre Bolduc’s background as an aeronautical engineer and Hercules C-130 pilot wasn’t enough of a resume to prepare him for the task of constructing a pond next to his Alberta property.

He’d made a few attempts to build a dam over several years, but after a downpour washed out his latest earthen structure he turned to nature’s expert dam builders, a family of local beavers, to do the job right.

“There were beavers living further down the valley that had been building dams at a culvert running underneath a dirt road,” says Bolduc, who lives on an expansive property near Bragg Creek, about 50 kilometres southwest of Calgary.

Bolduc reckoned that the gentle lilt of running water played from an outdoor sound system placed above the intended site would attract the animals to the location where he wanted to build the dam. His neighbour, a sound engineer, offered to mix a CD featuring an appropriate aquatic aria.

“I don’t know what the sound of rushing water does to the psyche of a beaver, but based on the results I witnessed, I think it could inspire them to build a dam right in the middle of a sandbox,” he says.

“They went straight to work.”

How much do we love this story! And Pierre for that matter? I’m not as convinced that the sound brought beavers (otherwise every waterfall would be cluttered with failed dams) so much as his own failed dam gave them a good base to work from. But, never mind, I am crazy about this way of thinking and it provides a nice way to show what beavers are good for.

Since labour was being provided at no cost, Bolduc provided them with plenty of free food and construction material. He cleared poplars located on his property that might eventually grow to interfere with power lines. He then placed the cut logs to float in the rising water around the dam construction site.

“I gave them so much wood that they soon developed a 20-beaver condo,” he says. “They built an absolutely huge mansion and a powerful dam.”

The dam was completed in the summer of 2014 and Bolduc’s pond slowly expanded to a body of water measuring about 175 metres by 200 metres. The pond has since become home to numerous trout and the water has attracted muskrats, nesting loons and moose to the property.

This article makes me insanely happy. I already heard from several beaver folk that are deeply jealous they can’t let beavers build a pond where they live. Let’s hope Pierre starts a fad among land-owning engineers. He might, just look at his next goals:

While he’s satisfied with the pond, Bolduc is breaking out his rushing water CD and outdoor speakers for another construction project, courtesy of Castor Canadensis (the North American beaver).

“There are new neighbours along the valley and when I want to visit them, I pretty much have to drive the distance to their place,” he says. “If I place those speakers just right, by next year I should be able to canoe to the neighbour’s house.”

And then there were two

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver News, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, kits, Who's saving beavers now? July 24, 2015

Footage of second Scots beaver kit revealed

Footage of a second beaver kit in the Knapdale Forest in Argyll has been released by the Scottish Beaver Trial. It comes a week after a first young beaver was spotted at the trial site. Scottish Beaver Trial (SBT) said it suspected further breeding had occurred, but had now managed to capture evidence on camera.

The trial is the first licensed reintroduction of a mammal to the UK and has brought the beaver back to Scotland after a 400-year absence.

Roisin Campbell Palmer, field operations manager for the Scottish Beaver Trial, said: “We had suspected further breeding had occurred at the site but had not managed to capture it on camera.

“We can now confirm two kits present at this lodge.

“These kits are around three months old. Having spent the first couple of months within the lodge, they are now starting to leaving the lodge and explore their surroundings.”

Further breeding?

I would blame the crazy framing on the reporter but this quote came from field manager Roisin Palmer in the flesh. ‘More kits obviously means further breeding’, right? No, honestly. This kit is from the same lodge and the same parents. It was the same breeding that did the trick. It took place about 107 days before the kits were born and won’t take place again until next year. See beavers are like dogs and cats and have what’s known as a “litter”. It just takes a while to see them all because they don’t all mature at the same rate. Keep watching. There might be three in the camera next time!

Still Same Breeding. (Wow, you really haven’t had beavers for 400 years have you?)

I’m totally loving that little hippity hop hop at the end. It starts at 35 seconds. You can tell it looks unusual because mom reacts with surprise. What is that child of mine doing NOW? It immediately reminded me of rabbits, which oddly made me think of a Pablo Neruda poem.

EL pie del niño aún no sabe que es pie,

y quiere ser mariposa o manzana.

Which basically translates to “The foot of a child, doesn’t yet know it’s a foot, and wants to be a butterfly or an apple.” Which is perdy. Now because it’s Neruda it goes on to talk about the worker’s boot that a capitalist society will force that little foot into eventually, but the first two lines are the most famous.

After seeing that video, I’m sure the castor version goes something like “the foot of the beaver doesn’t yet know it’s kit, and wants to be a rabbit or a bird.”

Reminiscing beavers

heidi08 Beavers, Educational, Environmental July 23, 2015

I had fun with the new toy yesterday. Apparently 62 percent of voters never miss a beaver festival! There is NO beaver news in the world today, and I am too cluttered with details to have anything interesting to say. A couple readers wrote brilliant letters about the Alyth stupidity, and that of course makes me very happy.

Let’s try this again shall we?

http://www.wedgies.com/question/55b0f3ebf63f453300001200
Here’s a history lesson with music. I made and uploaded this video May 2007, more than eight years ago. Before the flow device, before Worth A Dam, before the festival. Before Jon even started watching. You can tell it is such a long time ago I made it even BEFORE I was friends with Cheryl. (Because I use no beautiful photographs of hers.)

One part I especially like is the very blurry photo of an otter actually sitting on top of the old beaver lodge. I snapped that soooooo long ago. It was so early and I was just barely awake. I wasn’t even sure what it was! I remember a youngish beaver came and tail slap alarmed him away. I counted and he slapped 19 times. Of which I managed to film the very last one.

Honestly, I was such a newbie I included a stolen nutria photo by mistake, can you spot it? I was just starting to get intrigued by this new species in my midst. And having fun using iMovie. If I had taken the poll back then I would have answered number two.

We were all new to this once.