Relocation: Not A Happy Ending?

What me, worry?

heidi08 Beavers, kits, pictures September 5, 2008

Photo: Cheryl Reynolds

One of our 2008 kits maintains his lustrous fur. Still waiting for the grooming claw picture. Fingers crossed.

Otter sightings

heidi08 Festival, kits, New Species August 12, 2008

Yesterday we learned that our resident videographer caught an otter sitting on the bank near the primary dam. Either he can’t read the sign or he has no fear of the MPD, but he climbed all the way up onto the bank to enjoy a nice meal. Some have suggested that this nice meal might have been a few members of the muskrat families that you no longer see at the dam. Otters are carnivores and they are known to eat the occasional muskrat, kit or baby duck. This was filmed around 6 in the morning over the weekend. Maybe its time to start early morning visits to the dam again.

What could possibly be more exciting than otter? Mutual grooming! We’ve been expecting to see this and never gotten the chance. It was filmed at the fallen tree recently. Grooming isn’t beaver vanity, its a matter of life and death. Their fur needs to be sealed with castor from their own glands, otherwise it isn’t waterproof. They even have a special split claw on their back foot to comb through their fine hairs. As much time as they must spend grooming, it is frustrating that we haven’t caught it yet on film. Hopefully we can get the images up soon. For a closer look at beaver fur, check out this video from our friends Sharon & Owen Brown of Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=XNFtlG6HsIE]

Worth A Dam had a meeting last night to plan our Art in the Park appearance and talk about the success of the festival. We had enthusiastic new attendees, including Kelly from Wells Fargo who was kind enough to hold the spot light for our videographer’s filming of mutual grooming, and Jean who has been a longtime supporter. Our beloved treasurer Donna will be resigning because of life complexities, and we agreed our new treasurer would be the tree-wrapping, kayak cleaning, tour-giving, Jon. Jon and I have been married 22 years now and he seems pretty trustworthy so far. Lets have a big welcome aboard for the new treasurer who is also a birthday boy today. New t-shirts were presented last night and if you are working on your Martinez Beaver collection you won’t want to miss the one we will offer Sunday. Come this weekend support the arts and the beavers!

Daily Dose of Cute

heidi08 Beavers, kits July 15, 2008

From the Pittsburg zoo.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=unTSwZzvKcw]

And when you have a moment check out the update on our beavers from Bay Nature, thanks author Jody Zaitlin and editor Dan Rademacher. By the way, if you don’t get this magazine you should, it has the best local wildlife information around.

Satisfied Sunday

heidi08 Friends of Martinez Beavers, kits July 13, 2008

Today was a full service beaver banquet. This morning we worked the farmers market and spread the Beaver Gospel. One highlight of the day was meeting Tillie from the Martinez History Museum on Main St. She would like to talk about a beaver display and we’re going down tuesday to think it over. Next came a nice chat with the city treasurer who pointed out that Worth A Dam was in the paper, which I didn’t know about. I will be presenting about beavers to the MUSD summer school on wednesday, and apparently the director mentioned something to the Gazette. I’m just about ready with the presentation: “The Incredible Adapting Beaver”. Here’s hoping 180 Martinez children now tell their parents to take them to the dam and practice their penmanship by writing the mayor.

Later came a very productive meeting of the Worth A Dam team to discuss our plans for a beaver festival. If things work out there should be some good downtown fun in the next few weeks. Think Beaver-Willows-Sacajawea connection. More to come.

Finally, this evening was remarkably rewarding in the beaver-viewing department. Every family member on display, four kits mewling loudly at the secondary dam, lots of clambering for a ride on mom’s back, and some truly appreciative new human faces on the bridges. Thanks Glen and Karen for Jon’s gift of a delightful trash-snatching arm. You have been beaver friends since the very beginning and your kind attention helps. Towards the end of the evening the tide was coming in so fast it was washing the mud off the secondary dam upstream. There will be lots of work to do tonight for the older ones. I saw activity in every corner, and was thrilled to hear the beaver serenade I had missed since last September. How much do you want to bet that no member of the city council has ever heard the sound a kit makes? It is the guardianship siren’s song: I’m fairly sure that once you hear it you are destined to be their advocate forever.

It was a summer evening to savor.

A year and a day…

heidi08 kits, Video July 7, 2008

Last night I wanted to check out some footage of when our 2007 model kits were little. I hit on this video taken back when we thought there were only two and it was still rare to see them both. They look exactly the same size as our current quartet. Now for the eerie coincidence of the week, check out the date. When I watched it last night I realized that this was shot and posted exactly one year ago.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=mH8H1EnZm_A]

I can’t tell you how inaccurate the calendar seems to me right now. A lifetime has passed since those days when I would walk down in the early morning with my labrador who would sleep on the bridge patiently while I photographed. Those were the early days when there was no beaver campaign, just me alone in the dawn watching wonders.