Remember the barren ol’ beaver reporting days, when there were no news stories to catch up with and one reporter a month wrote about the crazy idea of beaver benefits? I would have to wrack my brain thinking of things to scribble about here, ask a question or describe the behavior of our ACTUAL beavers.

Sigh. We used to have actual beavers!

Well. nowadays, waking up to three beaver stories is a slow day.  Seems everyone is hopping on the beaver bandwagon. So I thought I’d share the cream of the crop with you this morning.

City of Mill Creek to implement innovative approach to preserve beaver habitat while reducing flooding

The City of Mill Creek WA will install new tools to help preserve beaver habitat while reducing 35th Avenue SE flooding on Friday, May 5, 2017.

Beavers are to blame for many of the woes of travelers on the Mill Creek portion of 35th Avenue SE. Beaver dams, which appear very quickly, hold back the flow of water under the bridge at 144th Street SE as it curves into 30th Avenue SE. The wetlands at the mouth of Penny Creek then flood across 35th Avenue SE by Thomas Lake, which results in road closures.

In the past, the City has removed beaver dams as they appear. From spring through fall, this is almost a weekly occurrence.

Now, thanks to a Hydraulic Project Approval permit from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, the City will install two flexible levelers to allow the beavers to build a dam across Penny Creek at 144th Street SE to the north of the bridge in the City’s Highland Trails neighborhood. The flexible levelers will allow water to flow through the beaver dam and not disturb the dam.

“One of the goals of the City’s Surface Water Utility program is to rehabilitate stream and drainage corridors to benefit wildlife habitat,” said Marci Chew, Mill Creek surface water specialist. “This solution will enable us to prevent flooding while preserving the beaver habitat.”

Designed by beaver specialists, the flexible leveler is a system made from double-walled corrugated plastic pipe, which extends 20 feet from the wetland area and under the beaver dam. The pipe mouth is protected by cattle fencing, which prevents beavers from entering it or blocking it. The pipe is also anchored in place and staked every six feet to prevent movement. Water is then able to exit the wetlands without an impact to the beavers.

Wow. Just Wow. Do you ever have those moments when you feel like the world has moved forward so gosh darned much you aren’t sure you even recognize it? I went looking for “Beavers Northwest” who is installing this and found the slick glossy website of our friend Ben Dittbrenner and his merry band of beaver brothers. One of whom is our VERY long-time friend Jake Jacobsen who was kind enough to give advice way back in the dawning days of our beaver problems. Go check it out because the site has grown up a lot since I introduced it to you a few years ago. And while you’re there take a moment to notice the sites they recommend visiting, because it ain’t us. 🙁

There are a couple puzzling things in this very expository-rich  article. First of all it says the pipe goes under the dam, which I’m sure is just a simple misunderstanding, it goes over the dam except for in the Clemson design which is why their such a pain to install. Second of all it says the leveler uses double walled pipe which I’m sure Mike Callahan’s design doesn’t. Skip’s Castor Master design does. We just spoke about it the other day and Mike said,

“Yes, but I use them sparingly, rarely more than a 10 foot section and almost always joined to some single wall pipe. In my experience, double wall pipes have the issue of being difficult to keep submerged. The can pop up at any time for no apparent reason.  I had that issue too with 40 foot double wall pipes, but not when I use only a 10 foot double wall section connected to a single wall pipe. Then it almost always stays submerged indefinitely.”

Combined with this is the fact that Mike doesn’t really  use the term “Flexible Leveler” anymore, but says pond leveler instead. So it’s funny to see this device described with the wrong name bearing the wrong pipe is described as ‘invented’ by unnamed beaver specialists?

What’s not strange at all is having beaver specialists now in EVERY pacific state. Jacob Shockley in Oregon, Ben and his crew in Washington and Kevin Swift in California. (Along with Ted and Sherry Guzzi of course). The world is certainly a very different place than it was a decade ago.

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Meanwhile, this article from Pennsylvania reminds us that just because you call something a ‘beaver deceiver’ doesn’t mean it is one.

Beavers outwitting ‘deceivers’ on Milford Twp. property

MILFORD TWP., Pa. – The old adage “busy as a beaver” is definitely holding true on the two-acre property of a Milford Township woman.

Linda Weikert, who lives in the 1600 block of Fennel Road, came before the Milford Township Board of Supervisors Monday night looking for answers on how to avoid the probable flooding of her basement due to beavers in the area; the animals are building and maintaining — sometimes overnight — more than 100 feet of dams, now resulting in the formation of lakes and ponds on her property.

The resident said the beavers even have discovered a way around the “beaver deceiver” metal apparatus installed by the township and designed to stop dam-building in specific areas. 

She said she has gone out with tools to loosen parts of the dam, however, she said the beavers work overnight rebuilding what has been disabled the preceding day.

“Should I now get flood insurance for my house?” Weikert asked the supervisors.

Township Manager Jeff Vey said a meeting on the matter needs to be called, including representatives from the government agencies.

Weikert said there is an upside from the damming: wildlife has increased, including minks, blue heron, ducks, kingfishers and various turtle breeds previously placed on the state’s endangered species list.

Okay, hurray that they used any technique at all to stop beaver damming in Pennsylvania besides trapping. But I’m going to go out on a limb and predict with absolutely certainty that whatever they installed wasn’t a ‘beaver deceiver’. Which is a specific term for a specific design invented by Skip Lisle. Even what we had in Martinez wasn’t a beaver deceiver. Although people say it was all the time.

The problem with using these names casually is that when the city installs their ridiculous metal T pipe and call it a ‘beaver deceiver’ then predictaly find out it doesn’t work, articles like this tell people that BEAVER DECEIVERS DON’T WORK. And folks think its true. Remember it’s not just a name. It’s a specific tool used skillfully with technique involved.

If I gave you heart surgery in my living room with my knitting needles and it failed it wouldn’t mean heart surgery doesn’t work.

Last night Amelia Hunter sent her final design for this year’s festival. She’s off now to Indonesia for a long trip so we’re grateful she squeezed us in before boarding! I think this will be an excellent 10th anniversary announcement, and I’m sure it will do a great job in linking Martinez to Beavers forever. I also think it looks kind of like a ‘help wanted’ ad for the next beavers that might come up the strait.