Category: kits

Adoption

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, kits December 7, 2019

Last night we went anxiously to see what happened with our newly “orphaned” kits. The day’s loss was heavy on our hearts but we were worried that our kits could face a tough road ahead. I had a long conversation with Sharon Brown of Beavers: Wetlands and Wildlife about whether our kits were old enough to stop nursing. She assured me they were. And then we watched and waited.

The biyearling (one of our three kits from 2008) has been hanging around the pond more than usual. S/he used to head downstream for long forages on his own. The last few days s/he has been much closer to home and there have been several protective tail slaps seen. This is a sleek, handsome, nearly adult beaver. Last night they approached the area where the kit was feeding and we were hopeful for a full on acceptance of him or her as parent. It didn’t happen at first.

The biyearling brought branches from the dam into the lodge. Then went up on his own and gathered some from the area of the felled tree and brought those in as well, like a suitor bearing daisies to win the girl. He or she swam around protectively and made their presence known. Then we saw this. I’m leaving the audio in on purpose so you can hear the kit whining for care and attention. I wish the sounds of human weeping weren’t also audible, but it was a long day and the whole scene was heart-wrenching.

I realized at this moment that our kits have been “acting older” than they are because of mom’s health. Their foraging and being out on their own was merely an attempt to get food that they couldn’t receive with her. With mom there, even sick, the yearling felt less responsibility to step up and take care of them. Now that mom was gone, our babies were acting like babies again. And our yearling was becoming a parent.

We haven’t heart adult-directed whining for a week or more. Or seen a beaver back-ride since that first film of baby and mom. It’s as if our kits were given a fresh start last night. They get to be cared for and babied. And their dependency activated remarkable parenting in the yearling. It was truly lovely to see.

The light was fading fast, but in the above you should dimly be able to see two kits perched on the biyearlings back and carried into the lodge. Our babies can be babies again, and in the span of 24 hours our biyearling has become a remarkable parent. Surely some of this process is instinctual, activated by the need of the kits and the corresponding need to nurture. But some of this parenting must be learned, because our biyearling had the very best possible teacher on how to be a mom.

The teacher herself would be so proud.

Kits on parade

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, kits June 22, 2010

We are definitely learning about the unique personalities of our three new beavers. (It is of course possible that they all act every way at different times), but, subject to some frequent revisions, we are beginning to spot some patterns.

One is tenacious in his/her pursuit of delicious treats, especially if mom is eating it. The Veruca Salt of beavers, he/she is more likely to snatch the food from mom’s paws that to go find their own. Mom completely ignores these demands and turns her back or stands up to get her breakfast out of reach. She parents these demands without any sentimentality whatsoever, but also without aggression. We kept expecting a big blowup after the millionth attempt to steal her food, but it never came. When junior’s on the warpath she will just go to another place to eat, although she never goes over the dam, where they aren’t allowed yet.

There’s definitely a smaller, more snuggly kit, who sometimes just wants to be close to mom or to nuzzle. That kit seem to enjoy “the company of beavers” and wants to be near the others no matter what they’re doing. This is the adorable star of the footage I shot on June 13th, hitching a ride on mom’s back. She parents this kit with gentleness and nurturing and will stay near while she eats or grooms. Get your cameras out when this kit approaches because it encourages adorable behavior in everyone.

Photo: FROgard Butler

I am less familiar with our third hero, but I believe this is the adventuresome “national geographic” explorer who climbs bravely out of the water onto the dam in search of food. The kit is never worried by being alone, and not after mom’s food either. S/he has places to go, things to see, crannies to overturn. This kit swam the course of the pond underwater with narry a glitch, quite an accomplishment for a 5-6 week old floating cork. S/he takes spectacular risks, and runs back to the lodge in terror when they go spectacularly wrong. Which they do regularly. His or her tumble is featured in the June 17th footage.

It is tempting to ascribe gender traits to these beavers, and say the sweet one is a girl or the brave one is a boy, but I am purposely avoiding it. Beavers are monomorphs that have no external sex characteristics whatsoever. The matriarchal structure of beaver life means that females need to be just as competent and just as skilled as their male counterparts. They disperse for greater distances and do equal ‘heavy lifting’. Several times in her careful chronicle famous beaver writer Hope Ryden ascribed gender to her subjects only to be proven wrong when visible teats were seen during nursing season. These kits won’t be here when they raise their own familes, so we will likely never know the gender of these beavers.

And that’s just fine with me. I think Brat, Baby and Explorer will serve excellently as gender ambiguous heroes.

Dinner for Two and Mum

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Friends of Martinez Beavers, kits June 18, 2010

How long has it been since you’ve had a side-splitting, tear-streaming, about-to-wet-your-pants laugh? Our two newbies kept us in stitches last night with their artless antics. They definitely had designs on mom’s dinner and wrestled her to get it until she had to swim out of reach. They had designs on each other’s dinner and did lots of whining to indicate their dissatisfaction with their own. They did unplanned back flips and front flips when their unsteady balance found them head over heels, as in the above video. Watch all the way to the end. You won’t regret it.

But the show stealing climax was when the kits decided to try to try and eat a buoyant food in the water. Since it was just floating on the surface, and they were just floating themselves, they had no purchase to get their teeth sunk in. This meant that they swiped at the food, fell nose over tail, and splashed hopelessly in the water. The kit would bravely right himself, shake the water out of his nose, and try again, with the same or worse results. No lion in the serengeti could have pursued his prey more diligently. Except for the fact that the prey in this case was not alive and couldn’t actually swim away. It was twenty minutes of epic national geographic footage. By the end of the tussle we were in hysterics and begging for it to stop because it hurt to laugh so hard.

Which is, just to say, I’m sure the show will repeat tonight. Plan on nine and bring a sweater. Oh, and check out our new map from beaver supporter and graphic designer Libby Corliss. Thanks Libby!

Narrow Escape at Beaver Dam

heidi08 City Reports, kits June 16, 2010

Last night Cheryl stopped down at the dam for her usual visit and found a family of five humans sprawled across the dam surface. Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and two Children were fishing. They seemed surprised at the company and when Cheryl told them about the new baby beaver replied that they already knew about it and hoped they would see it. Clearly the notion of our lovely kit injured with fishing tackle had never entered their foggy minds, but they sheepishly left the dam and went to fish on the bridge. Their family was having an enjoyable outing, why think about the beaver family? Why think about the mountains of fishing tackle we remove every year from the banks?

Every summer I worry about fishing. People get excited about the idea of catching one of the carp at the beaver dam. They plan on releasing their catch so they feel they aren’t “impacting” the wildlife in any way. They don’t think about what happens when their hook or line snags on one of the million twigs or branches in the water. They don’t think about what happens when they cut the snag and leave the tangle of fishing wire for birds of beavers.

Fishing gear–related injuries in pinnipeds most commonly occurred in summer. Derelict fishing gear—lost, abandoned or discarded sport and commercial line, nets, traps, etc.—in the marine environment is a significant cause of injury in California coastal marine wildlife.

Brynie Kaplan Dau, Kirsten V. K. Gilardi, Frances M. Gulland, Ali Higgins,
Jay B. Holcomb, Judy St. Leger, and Michael H. Ziccardi

Fishing at the beaver pond is like trawling in an aquarium, playing soccer in the nursery or darts in an aviary. It’s like having target practice on the schoolyard. It’s very, very, very dangerous and something is certain to get hurt. It may not be the intention of anyone of these fishermen to harm wildlife, but the area is so small, so packed with birds, and so heavily trafficked there is no way it won’t. I have implored the city to do something about it, but the mayor only rubbed his hands together somewhat gleefully and answered that “Maybe the beavers will be victims of their own popularity”.

There is no city response to “shooting our fish” in this particular barrel. There is just us. There is only beaver people, the compassionate “minutemen” of Alhambra Creek. Worth A Dam needs your help to keep our adorable baby beaver safe. Explain the risks to anyone you see fishing, and tell folk to keep off the dams. Let us know when ever you see something worrisome and remember that your concern makes an enormous difference.

267 marine species have been reported to be affected by fishing gear entanglement and ingestion injuries.

Don’t let our beavers become 268.

Cute enough for you?

heidi08 Festival, kits February 3, 2025

Photo: Cheryl Reynolds

Our own Cheryl Reynolds snapped this picture last night. Clearly our little Raja was waiting until I was trapped at work and couldn’t get away before s/he decided to display the cutest expression yet known to beaver. The little stinker. Good work, Cheryl, savoring the moment for us.

Clearly those big eyes mean mom’s condition, whatever it is, isn’t contagious. The kit was very cuddly with mom last night and appeared to approach her for nursing on at least one occasion. It makes me wonder about the possibility that we’re actually seeing two kits, not one. Saturday’s baby was snuggly and infantile. Sunday’s baby was independent and a strong swimmer. Monday’s baby again very cuddly and close to mum. Who knows what will see tonight?

Surely beavers have different facets to their personality, just like people do. And all babies are sometimes cuddly and sometimes independent….but….this seems like a pretty solid trend. We’ll keep watching.

In the mean time we received the loveliest donation from Castoro Cellars yesterday for the silent auction. BRING YOUR CHECKBOOKS, you don’t want to miss this! I also had a very positive conversation with Safari West who will donate again this year. It gave me such confidence that I wrote the SF and Oakland zoo, the academy of science, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and 6 flags just to see what might be possible. Fingers crossed. The beaver watching-children of today will be the biologists and researchers of tomorrow, I always say.

Also I noticed this on the CA Revels page. Looks like we get Morris dancers!

If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose,” the Walrus said,
“That they could get it clear?”
“I doubt it,” said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

Lewis Carrol

Of course the gulf-update today has to mention that the president is speaking tonight about his plans. The Christian Science Monitor tells me the speech is a “take charge moment”. Maybe. I’m thinking that the take charge moment happened about 54 days ago — or more accurately, 20 days before that when he gave his speech authorizing more drilling and saying that it was much safer now.

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