Relocation: Not A Happy Ending?

Dammit!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, kits, Video May 14, 2011

This morning one of our just-barely-yearlings came back with the typical branch at 6:00. I expected him to toss it hap-hazzardly in the direction of what was once a dam as he’s been doing, but them I noticed there was an actual DAM at the secondary and I started to pay closer attention. I didn’t know if an adult had done this during the night after despairing of JR’s abilities but I didn’t expect much from the little one. They haven’t show many ‘busy as a beaver’ qualities just yet. I have an unproven theory that GQ is near by but not residing with our three, and every now and then he dumps off a bundle of willow and does some real building in the hopes that he’ll inspire some action. Looks like he succeeded.

Bob Arnebeck told me once that beavers find work ‘irresistible’, and that when one’s doing it the others are compelled to join in. I think that it might be true that another beaver working is irresistible, but also that a single beaver can find his OWN work irresisitible! So that once a beaver does it once, mudding or carrying or pulling, they are likely to do it again. That was certainly true this morning, as this pattern happened several more times with blackberries, willow, reeds and mud before he finally picked his way back up to the primary dam to sleep for the day.

With all the new willow around I figured something must have been taken during the night. A homeless man pointed me in the direction of the nearest target, one of the willow we planted behind Bulldogs BBQ. I had thought they were all gone already but the cut trees are all coppicing like crazy and there is tons of new growth. I know our three are old enough but I can’t help but wonder proudly whether one of our ‘babies’ took this down? Sniff. They grow up so fast.

It’s supposed to rain this weekend. I swear if it floods out this little dam I will personally march down there with a sump pump, an umbrella and sandbags. I guess that’s pretty extreme. They’re beavers after all. Okay, maybe not the umbrella.

High Tide

heidi08 kits, Video May 9, 2011

This morning’s high tide made the creek look like old times. it was 50 degrees at 5:45 and less in the wind. I watched silently as this furry sea monster floated out from under the bridge. You can actually see his feet under the water. I was hoping for a long languid beaver watch but someone crossed the bridge at JUST that moment and made him swim away. Grr. Some times I wonder if our kits aren’t confused by the tides. One morning the creek is full, and they are comfortable in watery luxury, the next it’s empty and they need to build a dam ASAP, then its luxurious again .

Cheryl was able to get this picture last week, look at his beautiful beaver body under the water! I have often said that our kits get ‘wide’ before they get ‘long’. The 2010 batch is clearly no exception.

Just in case you’re still confused about telling muskrats and beavers apart, here’s a lovely comparison. This little fellow is even carrying a reed like a beaver! But look at all that tail action:

We also saw a very stealthy beaver (adult?) carrying a big branch who dove like a navy seal and wouldn’t let us watch him much. I got some video I’ll try to enlarge and see if it’s worth posting. Hmmmm…..

Let’s end with a hearty CONGRATULATIONS to some COURAGEOUS BEAVER FRIENDS who will be installing their first ever flow device today. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!

Loose Ends

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, In the News, kits, Who's Killing Beavers Now? February 13, 2011

Damlet 2/12/11: Cheryl Reynolds Cheryl stopped by to take some pictures before the flyway festival so you could see the work in progress. Isn’t it a beauty? You can see it’s mostly made of reeds and mud, which is a great way to start a dam! Our wikipedia friend has just posted this update on the Owen’s Beavers bruhaha in LA. As usual, its some nicely referenced writing. Hopefully it will get the attention of some one in the media! Ecology The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) haOurs recently decided to trap beaver (Castor canadensis) out of the Owens Valley, claiming that beaver are damming flows into their diversions of water to Los Angeles.¹This decision runs counter to an independent assessment commissioned by LADWP and the Inyo County Water Department in 1997, where it was recommended that beaver be maintained in reasonable populations and their dams left in place because “Although beaver activity has resulted in the removal of much willow and other shrub and woody vegetation and the dams create favorable tule conditions and reduce fish spawning habitat, they also provide important fish rearing habitat, mesic meadows, and promote the growth of other riparian species. It is most likely that the physical removal of beaver dams will result in more adverse environmental impacts than environmental benefits.”²Beaver were re-introduced to the Owens Valley by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1948 in Baker Creek, and have since spread throughout the Owens Valley.³ Although it is controversial whether beaver were once native to the Owens Valley, there is growing evidence that they were native to the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. In particular, the northern Paiuteof Walker Lake, Honey Lake and Pyramid Lake have a word for beaver su-i’-tu-ti-kut’-teh ⁴. When Stephen Powers visited the northern Paiute to collect Indian materials for the Smithsonian Institution in preparation for the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, he reported that the northern Paiute wrapped their hair in strips of beaver fur, made medicine from parts of beaver and that their creation legend included beaver.⁵ In addition, fur trapper Stephen Hall Meek “set his traps on the Truckee River in 1833”, which strongly suggests that he saw beaver or beaver sign.6 Supporting this line of evidence, Tappe records in 1941 an eyewitness who said beaver were plentiful on the upper part of the Carson River and its tributaries in Alpine County until 1892 when they fell victim to heavy trapping.⁷ ^ “LA to hire beaver trappers for Owens Valley”. 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2011-02-12. ^ (1997) Technical Memorandum #3 Distribution and Abundance of Beaver in the Lower Owens River. Ecosystem Sciences. (Report). Retrieved 2011-02-12. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Baker Creek ^ Richard E. Warner, Kathleen M. Hendrix (1984). California riparian systems: ecology, conservation, and productive management. University of California Press. p. 80.ISBN 9780520050358. Retrieved 2011-02-12. ^ ^a ^b Don D. Fowler, Catherine S. Fowler, Stephen Powers (Summer-Autumn, 1970).“Stephen Powers’ “The Life and Culture of the Washo and Paiutes””. Ethnohistory, Vol. 17, No. 3/4: 117–149. Retrieved 2011-02-12. ^ Jesse D. Mason (1881). History of Amador County. Oakland, California: Thompson & West. Retrieved 2011-02-12. ^ Tappe, Donald T. (1942). “The Status of Beavers in California”. Game Bulletin No. 3(California Department of Fish & Game): 14. Retrieved 2011-02-12. Gosh wikipedia beaver editor. You’re the BEST! A final note, just got word from Stan (The president of SURCP) that he received the copy of my presentation and his VERY OWN KEYSTONE SPECIES charm bracelet! He says thank you very much!

Beaver News Round-up

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Friends of Martinez Beavers, kits October 8, 2010

Looks like the LA Times just realized baby beavers are adorable. They ran this video on Wednesday and wrote the following:

We’ve never before heard a baby beaver complain.

Now we can say we’ve had that strange and distinct pleasure, thanks to the good folks at Nebraska Wildlife Rehab Inc. The Omaha-based center for the care of orphaned and injured wild animals took in these two cute but noisy little guys after their parents were killed in 2005.

The babies were cared for at the facility until they were old enough to be released into the wild.

We bet their caretakers missed them after their release — who wouldn’t grow attached to two adorable beaver babies? — but we suspect they didn’t miss their “ehn! ehn! ehn!” noises too much.

— Lindsay Barnett

Video: Nebraska Wildlife via YouTube

Hey I know where you can get some other adorable footage! Check out Bigonegeorgegrace and mtzbeavers on youtube! Speaking of which, I had the weird honor of being contacted by public access channel in Fort Brag this week. Turns out they wanted to run some of my video of canoeing the area in from the Mybluehouse account. I tried to sell them on beaver footage and talked about how badly the Noyo needs beavers, but they were committed to only using local footage. Well, otters will get fame, anyway. Can beavers be far behind?

In other news, our friend Mike Callahan has worked out a deal with AWI to sell his beaver management DVD for less, which I’m happy about. They want it as accessible to the public as possible and don’t want price to be prohibitive. I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that. He also mentioned he was approached by Fur-bearer Defenders in British Columbia to do several consults, but its a bad time of year for him to get away and he didn’t think he could manage it. Hopefully they’ll get somone else.

Don’t forget there will be web changes this weekend. Fingers crossed it will all be for the good!

Beavers D’Urberville

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, kits, Who's Killing Beavers Now? September 10, 2010

Like a beaver adaption of a Thomas Hardy novel the beavers were seduced by mountains of fresh strawberries last night which were dumped by an unknown source at the dam. Although Worth A Dam generally supports supplemental feeding with only natural food, this misadventure created a unique photo opportunity for our starlets, and they weren’t about to miss out. Earlier in the evening, Jon spied a pond turtle attempting to sample the strawberries but unable to get a hold of one. The beavers had no such difficulties, and even developed a skill for holding one in their mouth while eating a second. See for yourself. Photos by Cheryl Reynolds.