Jon saw three kits working on the secondary dam by the footbridge this morning around 5:15 am. Hopefully they’ll get an adult helper because its a big job! It’s what beavers do, so lets have faith that they are up for the task. In the meantime Lory sends this adorable photo she scanned from a greeting card.
I’m pretty sure this is where the saying “Riding on one’s coattails” actually comes from…
Persistent organic pollutants are also called “endocrine disrupters” and include compounds like DDT and PCBs. Although many of these compounds are now banned from production in the U.S., they are still detected in the environment because they degrade very slowly and they are still being used in other parts of the world and then transported through the atmosphere over long distances.
Persistent organic pollutants accumulate in seemingly pristine, high altitude environments and are concentrated in lipophilic or fat-containing substances like tree bark. We would like to see if beavers biomagnify or concentrate these toxins in their tissues and fat reserves because of their potential exposure through eating tree bark. We have collected beaver tissues samples and tree bark samples at different elevations from several watershed systems in the Coastal and Cascade Mountain Ranges, including the Luckimute River, Rickreall Creek, Siletz River, Calapooia River, Thomas Creek and North Santiam River.
Concentrations of persistent organic pollutants will be mapped for each collection site and will demonstrate whether or not these toxins are accumulating in these keystone species and watershed environments. $25,000 is currently needed to analyze all samples. Please contact Dr. Ursula Bechert (ursula.bechert@oregonstate.edu) if you have information on funding sources.
Ursula Bechert, DVM, PhD Director of Off-Campus Programs College of Science Oregon State University 2082 Cordley Hall- DBPP Corvallis, OR 97331 Tel: 541 737 5259 Fax: 541 737 3573 E-mail: ursula.bechert@oregonstate.eduPollutions affecting beavers! Let’s get on this right away! Incidentally, i hear those things aren’t good for people either. Pass this along to your grant- writing friend and lets find money for the project. In the meantime, thanks to Emily at the Sonoma IT who graciously made beavers nocturnal once again, and our Friends of Alhambra Creek who were very friendly to us last night. Hopefully there’s new trees a-coming!
So I’m off to Jack London country this week, apparently the Miwok and Pomo thought the moon (or moons) rose from this region. Makes sense to me. I spent yesterday coaxing my Martinez Beaver presentation from its whittled 40 minutes-slot in Oregon into the 90 minutes I’ll have in Sonoma. I hope to spread the beaver gospel to the curious and disbelieving in attendance. I hear it will be a challenge. A few years back some very California beavers ate the grapevines in the area and caused quite a stir among the community. The reporter from the tribune and Tom Rusert my host asked me specifically to address issue this so I spent some time on the conundrum and did some investigations while I had the chance!
At the conference Leonard Houston and the Oregon folk said exclusion fencing > Mike Callahan offered the idea of electric fencing installed at a 6 inch height> Skip Lisle by email suggested maybe having it on a solar panel>and Brock Dolman said that solar paneled livestock fencing was used all the time. He pointed out that electric wire comes in different thicknesses for the different livestock you’re trying to control, and recommended poultry wire for beavers. Everyone liked this idea provided that care was taken to watch that beavers, who do not climb, don’t dig under the fence!
So there you have it. The benefit of many experts in one room. Hopefully we can persuade a few brave and humane souls to try it out.
Speaking of experts at the conference, Dr. Ursula Bechert, DVM, Ph.D. from Oregon State University asked me to post the description of her upcoming study using beavers as an indicator species to measure Persistent Organic Pollutants at higher elevations, where they are observed to accumulate. Beavers are studied because they are exposed twice (land and water) and provide a useful read of the data available. Hmmm I knew beavers had a harder job than humans! On a related note I heard from Dr. Glynnis Hood yesterday that she was pleased with the article in the Globe and Mail but disappointed that the temperature in Alberta that day was -36C degrees. (!!!) I think I will stop complaining right away. Still I’m thinking she may have to add some seasonal soap-bubble experiments to her extensive beaver research.
