Category: Festival

Welcome to the ‘Hood

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Festival, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's saving beavers now? July 17, 2014

I give up. It’s impossible to prioritize or organize today’s beaver news into one well-rounded serving. I’m just going to have to lump them together like a very disorganized (but tasty) potluck. Enjoy. Of course I’ll start with what’s most important:

City installs pond system to offset beaver activity

So as part of the city’s Beaver Management Program, two pond leveling devices were installed on July 9 in two beaver dams located near the Augustana Campus by 48th St.

Two 20 feet long High Density Polyethylene, or HDPE, pipes were installed through the dams to allow water to flow through the ponds. The pipes are placed at a level that will allow water to balance out between the ponds. Each end of the pipe has a cage made from hog fencing to ensure blockage will not occur.

The devices are the first of their kind to be installed in Camrose.

“Essentially, it is a piping system that acts like a syphon,” said Glynnis Hood, associate professor in environmental science at the University of Alberta – Augustana Campus, who is spearheading the project.

“Anytime the water gets above the level of where the pipe is placed in the dam, the syphon system starts to work and keeps the water at a consistent level rather than having the pond flood above its banks,” Hood said.

Hurray for Glynnis and her merry band of [burly] students! Hurray for Camrose and flow devices in Alberta! And Hurray for beavers who will stabilize that stream and improve conditions for fish and birds.

Hood added that her research shows the leveling system will result in significant time and monetary savings because there is less need for ongoing maintenance compared to traditional methods such as a dam removal or beaver trapping.

Each pond levelling system cost approximately $600 in materials and about $200 for labor.

Hood said, “It seems like a large initial cost but what we’ve found is that very low maintenance is required thereafter and it makes up for the rental of a backhoe which is about $200 to $300 an hour, not to mention the staffing that goes into it.”

The new pond leveling system will also allow the ecosystem to thrive as there will be fewer interruptions to the area in the form of dam removals.

Hood said, “The beavers can stay. They tend to just pack more material on top of the pipe and that actually helps our installation because it protects the pipe even more. These devices are designed to keep the pond intact, albeit at a lower level than beavers probably want them to be.”

Dr. Hood is one of the brightest stars in the beaver firmament. Every time I read about her successful persuasions with science I get a glorious feeling that one day we might actually cross the finish line. In the meantime, we still have some laps to do in our Martinez relay. Audubon enjoyed a very successful field trip last night and we have a festival to plan.

The brochure is finished (Thanks Amelia!) and the charms are done (Thanks Mike!). I had a great interview with the CC Times tuesday and we are in Patch today.

Beaver Festival VII Coming Soon to Martinez

The Seventh Annual Beaver Festival in historic downtown Martinez is set for August 2, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Beaver Park, at the corner of Marina Vista and Castro Streets.

Bring the family to this free, unique Bay Area landmark event.

The Beaver Festival features live music, wildlife exhibits from seven counties, children’s activities and beaver tours.

Learn how and why every city should co-exist with beavers. The first 100 children earn a Wildbryde charm necklace.

Everyone will find something special at this one-of-a-kind celebration of local nature and its most famous grassroots civic success story! To learn more about Worth A Dam (MartinezBeavers.org), follow this link.

Thanks Patch! Oh and just in case you wondered about DEFRA, England is still woefully stupid, but their feet are getting closer to the fire. The story was on British TV last night and in Indian newspapers this morning.

But, don’t worry, the English aren’t always foolish. This, for example, was a brilliant decision.

London Celebrates The Monty Python Reunion By Putting A 50-Foot Dead Parrot In Potters Field Park

Go read the article, it’s that fun.

Oh and today just needs this, I can tell.

Bits and pieces

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Rehabilitation, Beavers elsewhere, Festival July 7, 2014

Good job team beaver, the Beaver Believers project is now fully funded, which means we can all look forward to a fantastic beaver-lovin film in the near future. In the mean time I read that the Taipei zoo is celebrating its first beaver kit birth ever, and you can just imagine the rich concrete life this little guy is going to have!

Young beaver

A North American beaver pup, born at Taipei Zoo on June 19, plays in water in this undated photo. It was the first reproduction of the species at the zoo. Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo July 7, 2014

We just finished reading a detailed response from expert beaver rehabber Cher Button-Dobmeier to the Alberta Wildlife Rescue about how kits need to have water they can fully immerse in to drink and urinate – and that if they don’t they will hold it in and get UTI’s which are a one way ticket to worse infections and possible death.

(And I for one, know that to be factually true!)

The map for this year’s festival is done and it took three days to finish with a million changes and details during which I greatly hated everyone in the world including beavers. So if you happen to notice that I spelled your name wrong or you can’t possibly be next to those people, I would think very carefully about drawing it to my attention.

And something for beaver cheer this morning we look to the brits, who are so delightful when it comes to loving wildlife. Even if DEFRA is evil.

“Tussocky and Clumpy!” – imagine that on an american program!

Behind the scenes…

heidi08 Beaver Art, Festival, Friends of Martinez Beavers June 28, 2014

Do you happen to remember a post I wrote about the old woman getting her pig over the stile? I drew a parallel between the elaborate manipulations she had to go through make it happen and the dramatic conundrum of putting together a beaver festival. You probably thought I exaggerated?

I had a dream this year of amplified sound that could be heard all over the park just like a real event. Wouldn’t it add cohesion and joy to the event? I asked the city for electricity and was told that whatever power lurked in the park to control sprinklers and operate night lights was not for us to use.

Never mind, undaunted I found portable solar generated power that we could rent and talked them into making an affordable contract with us. Then, feeling excited and proud of myself, I went looking for someone to handle the audio. My first choice was obviously the talented John Koss who had donated the audio service for Earth Day for more years than either of us can count. But he’s a richly talented man who does theaters and events all over the south bay and I wasn’t holding my breath.

To my delight John said YES and agreed to add the Martinez Beaver Festival to his long list of events. GREAT! I introduced John to our rep at the solar company to figure out exactly what they needed. Then I told all our musicians the good news. I was so excited!

Not so fast, little girl.

The whole thing ran into danger when the solar company suddenly said our event insurance needed a special rider to protect their property and the company handling our insurance said such a rider would cost us an extra 1000 dollars!
Fortunately, the head of ISI stepped in (Dr. Loren Cole) and gallantly said that in 37 years of organizing events he’s never heard of a rider being required. After that challenge the insurance and solar company were able to sit down and work out some mollifying language in our existing (250.00$) event policy that the city requires us to hold. And it’s official. We will have amplified sound this year at the cost of s 200.00 rented solar truck.

Whew!

Then our talented charm designer Mike Warner of Wildbryde gave me a scare. He’s a very busy man and his ouzel tags are getting more popular every day. When he finally had time to work on our designs and pricing, I was alarmed to se the figures were twice what we paid last year! When I asked about the cost jump he said that a lot of his labor had been donated before and he was now too busy to give us the same deal. Ack!

To make matters worse the charms used to be totally paid for by a grant from Kiwanis, but Kiwanis’ new rules meant we got a smattering of donation from them this year. We brainstormed about pricing and he was eventually able to cut some corners and offer us slightly fewer charms for about the same price. Since this year we’re doing silver tone I spent yesterday counting up our old silver charms which should be able to round things out a get complete sets for 120 kids, 25 adults and all of Worth A Dam.

Whew again!There were sadly many more of these but their resolution was too pedestrian and tedious for even me to write about here. Suffice it to say that when I wasn’t at my real job or solving a crise du jour I was watching this several times during the week.

Surprised, she reaches in her apron pockets and finds a tiny crust of bread which she lays in front of the mouse. He nibbles appreciatively, then agrees. And after all that asking the mouse begins to gnaw the rope. and the rope begins to hang the butcher, and the butcher begins to kill the ox, and the ox begins to drink the water, and the water begins to put out the fire, and the fire begins to burn the stick, and the stick begins to beat the dog, and the dog begins to bite the pig, and the pig decides to finally go over the stile…

And that little old woman really does make it home that night!

Unexpected Allies

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, Festival, Who's saving beavers now? June 23, 2014

Today’s Beaver Benefits Report comes from Alabama (no, seriously). I could have predicted it’s cons list, but I was surprised by the pros. I don’t know why, Alabama is the state where fish and wildlife heavily fined the city for destroying a beaver dam and ruining the home of the rare watercress darter!

Outdoors notebook: Beaver — friend or foe?

Beaver ponds range in size from less than 1 acre to more than 100 acres, depending on topography and the availability of food sources. Beavers will use and expand a pond area until the food supplies are exhausted. Once constructed, the benefits provided by the pond are numerous and include the following:

• Furnishing snags for cavity-nesting wildlife species.

• Supplying fallen logs, which provide cover for reptiles and amphibians.

• Providing essential edges and forest openings.

• Supplying diverse moist-soil habitats within bottomland forests.

• Benefiting productive bottomland forests.

• Improving downstream water quality.

• Providing watering holes for agricultural and wildlife needs.

• Supplying important breeding areas for amphibians and fish.

• Providing diverse wetland habitats.

• Furnishing feeding, brood-rearing and resting areas for waterfowl.

How awesome is that? Of course it goes on to describe why you might still need to kill them but remember it’s ALABAMA and we’re grading on a curve!

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Beaver Evenings at Martin Mere

Also Friday was the first of summer Beaver Evenings in Martin Mere, which is a wetland trust with beavers in Lancashire England.

Later this month (20 June) is the first of the special beaver evenings at Martin Mere where you will get the chance to spot the beavers and find out more about Twiggy and Woody.

The event is £15 per person, including refreshments and starts at 7.30pm. As you have to remain quiet and still in the hide it is not suitable for young children.

If that doesn’t sound classy enough, check out the ‘blind’ from where you observe the wetlands without letting your presence be known:

**Friends of WWT Martin Mere Harrier Hide**
This Hide provides a good view over the new Woodend Wetlands. These wetlands, formerly Woodend Farm, were used for intensive crop cultivation, this has been turned into a wetland area.

Is it just me? Or are you imagining a huge beaver structure replacing the footbridge for us to watch everything undetected?

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Last night there was a planning meeting for the festival. I can’t tell you how surprising it was to see so many new faces volunteer for so many varied jobs and create a community. Jeanette made the trek from Auburn because she wanted to help at the festival after seeing the beaver documentary! Our new manager of financial at ISI came down from Santa Rosa, and the folks watching the beavers in Napa came down as well to lend their considerable enthusiasm to the task. Bob Rust and his wife was there with creative good ideas of a giant ‘tail slapper’ that could splash in a pool and cool the children while educating about beavers. Deidre came from San Francisco and talked about putting together the guided train journey from Oakland. And Lory, Jon and Cheryl were there doing the valiant dependable work we could not survive without.

Afterwards there was dinner and jubilant conversation and a trip down to see the beavers in person. Where they were treated to 3 yearlings and mom but no baby sighting. It was an unexpectedly cohesive night, that felt like the perfect launch to our 7th ever beaver festival. I couldn’t help but think of a scene like this, except with people jumping up from the crowd saying “I’ll make the costumes” and “I’ll make the popcorn” and “I’ll ask my father if we can use his old barn!”

(Note: With this clip you have to substitute the word ‘folks’ for the word ‘beavers’, and the word ‘welfare’ for ‘fish and game’ and your almost there!)

The Gem State’s real gem

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, Festival, Who's saving beavers now? June 18, 2014

The next big beaver struggle won’t happen in Whistler or the Adirondacks – it is starting right now in Idaho. The issue is trapping on public land, and the playing field is constantly growing. Monday I chatted with Mike Settel in Pocatello who is planning the first ever Idaho beaver festival to teach folk about how and why to live with beavers!

He’s working for a 2-day event in September on USFS land that is focused around music. A beaver dam jam! It will have exhibits and booths and hikes to various beaver sites. Of course the location used to be the site of actual beavers, but they were killed by trapping. I told him he needs signs saying “this is where the beavers aren’t.” and “this is where there are no big fish because the beavers aren’t here to maintain their dams anymore.” You get the idea. He is planning to have folks take a pledge not to harm the beavers if they go on a hike to an active lodge.

We talked about sponsors and crowds and restrooms and event insuranc; about art projects, jam contests, adult quizzes, raffles and maps. We talked about allies and helpers and I made sure to give him the most valuable tool of all that has sustained me lo, these many years.

Remember that Mike isn’t a lone voice in the wilderness. He got a 5000 dollar grant last year from Audubon for doing a beaver cont, and found 75 volunteers to help him make it happen. There’s the Lorax and his merry men, Ralph Maughan who wrote about how the Idaho fires would have been lessened if there were enough beavers on the land. And don’t forget this columnist from the Idaho Statesman:

Ask Zimo: Beavers are common in Idaho, but seeing them is rare

Q: My mom and I were at the family cabin in Garden Valley this weekend when she noticed an unusual rock that turned out to be a beaver. We were very surprised by the sighting and wanted to share the photos. Wondering if this is a rare sighting; we’ve never seen wild beavers anywhere.

TAYLOR TODD, via-email

A: Beavers are not rare in Idaho, but seeing them is rare. That’s because they are nocturnal. Consider yourself lucky to get photos of one during the day. That’s great.

What a critter. Beavers are considered one of the most important animals for the ecosystem.

The neat thing about this busy animal is its work in rehabilitating streams, the brushy areas along waterways and for creating wetlands that are important for fish, waterfowl, reptiles and other wildlife. Their work in building dams helps slow down runoff and preventing erosion.

I love fishing a creek where there are beaver dams and pools hiding brook trout. That’s some of the best fishing around.

Good point! I can’t think of many better selling points in trap-happy Idaho than mentioning that living beavers make conditions that sustain more fish, duck, otter, mink and moose. I’m not a fan of trapping because I generally think it’s easier to take a life than to make one, but if folks will respect the voice of a trapper who became a dedicated beaver believer, I suggest they read this:

He started with two beavers, a dry, over-trapped landscape, and a whispered directive from a crazy native grandma. If you never read this book, you really should. Buy a used copy or read it online here.