Uncategorized – Page 44

Breaches in Dams and Public Trust

admin Uncategorized September 18, 2008

Last night during the public comments portion of our first City Council meeting since their return from summer break, Julian asked council if they could comment on the nature of the closed door session prior to the meeting. After some wrangling (he is a horseman after all) our city attorney said the possible pending litigation the City Council was discussing had to do with the beavers in Alhambra Creek.

So here’s the situation as I understand it to be and why the rushed decision to lower the water level in the pond: the block wall below Bertola’s might be compromised due to beaver burrowing and the City is looking at the threat of a lawsuit. Never-mind that we’re talking about a block wall that is sunk well below the creek-bed’s surface, never-mind that the only time beavers tunnel underwater is to open up a safe entrance into their lodge or that they only hold their breath for up to fifteen minutes at a time (I’m guessing it would take a whole lot longer than that for our beavers to go submariner and dig down below the wall’s footing); Julian reassured the City Council and staff that the beavers weren’t cooking up pasta in Bertola’s kitchen after hours; after all, they’re strict vegetarians and only eat greens.

The continued harrassment by one group of people is becoming an embarassment. As I explained to a young woman at Carrows last night, this venom truly is disproportionate to the issue at hand. But up till now when these folks flexed their muscles people paid attention. The only response expected when they tell our City Council to jump, is a deferential “certainly sir – how high?”.

I don’t know about anyone else but I thought our city fathers were supposed to watch over us all – equally. Apparently the majority of Martinez can be viewed as the red-headed step children to the three “golden” children.

Oh I almost forgot, our city attorney did say that council was “reviewing many options”. After seeing the way in which the agreed upon compromise of a six-foot set back of vegetation along the creek bank was adhered to, I can’t wait to see what those options might be.

“A Boy and His Turtle”

heidi08 Friends of Martinez Beavers, New Species, Uncategorized September 10, 2008

The dramatic rescue of Hector and his siblings is a story for all ages. Steve Weir and his crack team of turtle-midwives braved the heat and the traffic (and a few uncharitable eyes) to keep these eggs safe. In the end though, it was Steve who took the final risk and dug the young free when they failed to emerge. I thought you’d want to read the account in his own words:

We opened the nest last Tuesday (it was covered with a thick, adobe clay brick type cap. I found an empty shell inside and thought the eggs had rotted. Then I noticed a dirt covered baby turtle, I thought it was dead. It moved when I touched it and so I took it to the creek and off it took! Of the 15 eggs laid, I released 11 that morning. Two more had just hatched, but had extensive egg pouches attached and so I took them to my office and placed them in a dish of creek water. Two more were left in the nest, covered up.

I released the two with the egg sacks because they had absorbed them by that afternoon. That evening, I removed the two remaining eggs so as to prevent them from falling victim to night time predators. One was ready for release the next morning, but the last was just coming out of his shell. I kept him all week (and cared for him over the weekend).. By Saturday, I was hooked and bought him/her a large tank. Today is the one week birthday and “Hector” is living well with filter, two types of lights, lounging rocks, cover, and food.

It was just dumb luck that I decided to check on the nest, I am convinced that they youngsters could not have dug themselves out.

Dumb Luck? I don’t know. I guess in the sense that the beavers were “lucky” not to be killed, and the city was “lucky” that people explained why they should be taken care of. Maybe whenever animals are saved by human compassion and stewardship it’s a kind of luck.

I would never call it “dumb” though. I’m pretty sure that taking care of the wild things near our tame spaces is one of the smartest things people can do.

Turns out Mr. Weir worked with the Lindsay museum in his younger days, was involved with the raptor release program and even played a grandparent role with Sioux, the mountain lion. I’m thinking that Mrs. Turtle couldn’t have picked a better place to lay her eggs, unless it was inside his office. Come to think of it, didn’t the PWA hydrology report on the dam mention a Weir? Hmm, must have known that the county recorder’s support of wildlife could represent an obstacle.

Sliders today, western pond turtles and salmon tomorrow!

Sunday Funnies

heidi08 Uncategorized August 31, 2008

New Visitor to the Dam

heidi08 New Species, Uncategorized, Video September 6, 2008

It’s official. Confirmed by the Lindsay museum and the Sierra club. This new visitor filmed the morning of the beaver festival by our own Moses Silva, isn’t an otter, as initially assumed. This is a mink. Number one on their diet is the Muskrat, number two is crayfish, we having been seeing alot of down at the dam. He was on the bank in the no trespassing zone. Apparently mink can’t read either. Sorry for the poor editing but I’m sure we’ll get a better look soon.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=-umJnw2G5CI]

Predictable

heidi08 Uncategorized August 13, 2008

Have you read anything of the recent flurry of beaver drama from our nearby Vacaville neighbors? Apparently their city staff routinely recommends extermination as fix for beaver-human conflicts. We even heard a rumor that Martinez staff consulted with Vacaville way back when and was advised to “just kill them.” Is this the story that Carolyn Jones of the Chronicle will be following? Rather than assuming beavers are “increasing”, it may be useful to determine how routinely they’ve been killed for the past 50 years. Is there even a form that had to be filled out to document the extermination? Was their any record of the execution at all?

Humans routinely attempt to exterminate animals they consider to be pests. In most cases, animals can adapt some sort of survival techniques. Smart mice walk around the traps and smart coyotes never approach them. Beavers are different. They are entirely predictable. They do roughly the same thing in about the same place at nearly the same time every day of their furry lives. They display their home and office clearly. There is no part of their existence which does not make a perfect target.

It’s difficult, then, to understand the sense of gleeful accomplishment that some claim for trapping beavers. It is nothing like hunting. It’s never the result of a skillful undercover stakeout: You don’t have to wait for hours in the cold behind a duck blind. It’s as simple as the horrific advice I read on a sport site recommending that you “blow up the dam” and then wait with your shotgun for the beavers to come and fix it.

Beaver behavior is entirely predictable.

It would be safer for them if they were more erratic — if they were more like us. If they started to try things and then gave up on them, forgot what they were working on, let commitments slide, or suddenly abandon their children and partners to seek greener pastures somewhere else. They would be safer if they cared less about their families and their homes. Their loyalty makes them easy marks.

Come to think of it, maybe that’s the sense of gleeful accomplishment that comes with killing beavers: a feeling of having escaped the hearth and plow, of successfully keeping a bit on the side, of dodging the chains of family life. Maybe when men kill beavers (and it’s usually men) they are claiming victory over the pressures that seek to make them domesticated and predictable. Maybe it’s the last gasp of a weakened independence, struggling to reassert itself like a flailing turtle on its back.

Maybe we should assume the decision to exterminate beavers is a sign that whoever is making that decision is deeply uncertain of his position and power in the world and needs the imagined victory to be reminded of it.

Maybe real men don’t kill beavers.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=wKdJ7cvCEGU]