A Little Smackerel of Something….

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Video May 23, 2012

Sometimes I post videos and I know people don’t watch them. Time is pressing, the phone just rang or you’re just not that interested. I understand. But no matter what the harrowing conditions of your schedule this morning you will NOT want to miss these. I pinky promise. The first is from our friend Jeremy Christiansen at the Grand Canyon Land Trust in Utah where they just committed to beaver relocation as a state mandate to assist with water storage and all the rest. You won’t want to miss this amazing look at what it means to take beaver from the flatlands up to the mountains. The music is perfect too.

Nice work Jeremy! Don’t you just love how that last little beaver who had just been through such a scary thing, locked in a cage, dragged driven and rattled for miles, and his first decision upon being free was to nibble what winnie the pooh would call “a little smackerel of something“?

Okay this next video should make you all want to travel to Scotland right away. It’s from our friend Paul Ramsay on his estate in Bamff. It isn’t as slickly edited as Jeremy’s but its some of the best wildlife you are likely to see in four minutes. I’m starting it at two minutes so you get the otters running across the path and the four beavers doing each other’s hair, but if you have more time go back and watch the whole thing. It’s worth it.

Friends & Foes

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Video May 4, 2012

Do you remember the condominium group in New Hampshire that worked to solve their culvert problems without killing beavers? They had at least one retired engineer on board who was fascinated by the puzzle. He worked with Mike Callahan to chisel out solutions, and recently brought him a donation of Beaver Beer as compensation. Well, encouraged by his success he has now started a beaver blog! It’s called “Sherwood Beavers“. Here’s the story and the first blog entry.

It’s May, so I can’t think of a better time to start a beaver blog. The story is about to get very, very interesting! Art’s profile says he recently retired from teaching schools how to better teach technology. Lets hope he is inspired to keep teaching how to live with beavers! Welcome aboard Art. Great first act! Here’s a sample of what you’ll see soon.

Now for the ‘foe’ part of the title there’s this headline from the BBC:

‘Secret Tay beaver cull plan’ claim denied

Wildlife campaigners have said they fear landowners may be planning a secret cull of beavers living in the wild on the Tay, with the approval of the authorities. The Scottish government insisted the claims are untrue, but said the animals do not have full legal protection.

Ugh. So our hard working champions in Scotland are worried that even though the government has said ‘lets not kill them and study them for now’ they’ve had secret contact with worried farmers and given consent to kill them anyway. Let the farmers take the heat and get the government outta the crosshairs to put the beaver firmly back in the crosshairs where it belongs.

Louise Ramsay of the Scottish Wild Beaver Group said: “The Scottish government’s official position is that it doesn’t consider the beavers to be protected, although it wants landowners and farmers only to use lethal control as a last resort.

“But we have had two separate reports that the Scottish government wants the beavers dead and would like landowners’ support in conducting a cull, but keeping it quiet.”

First horror and then praise! GO LOUISE!!! She is doing such a remarkable job! They’ve been worrying about the protection issue for a while. See native wildlife is protected in Scotland, but evil criminally released beavers are NOT. That’s why I’ve been worried about the meme that the they know the beavers were deliberately released (not escaped) which suspiciously appeared at the very same time the ‘beavers have been spared’ announcement came.

So the original beavers were the result of a criminal act and all the subsequent generations of beavers are therefore not subject to the same protections as innocent wildlife. The sins of the father shall be visited on the sons.

To say this article has created a stir is an understatement. But the Ramsays are being so clever here I honestly can’t tell if they’re terrified or getting ready to say ‘check mate’. I know I’d feel very threatened if I were in their situation, but I’m not from a 1000+ year old prominent family descended from the physician to the king. With the recent panic in Devon when they learned that the discovered beaver wasn’t the LOST beaver, I would expect this to get more complicated before it gets less. We’d better all stay tuned!

How does your wildlife grow?

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Video January 12, 2012

Isn’t that a beautiful front page? Chris Mclaughlin is a gardener-extraordinaire and the author of the Savvy plant, she used to be in charge of the wildlife blog for the examiner too and we became beaver buddies back in the Martinez drama days. Now she’s working with a team of others on an exciting new website called “Wildlife garden” which advocates redefining what makes a beautiful garden to include more natural appreciations.

Guess who wins recommendation in the new year?

Beavers as Master Builders of Wildlife Habitats

Turns out that North America’s largest rodent is extremely important for wildlife habitat restoration, as well as increasing bird populations. Beavers end up reviving natural stream function, repairing degraded streams, recharging local water tables, and creating wetlands that encourage the survival of numerous plant and bird species.

Chris! Welcome to the beaver-believer club! That’s beautiful, and am I blushing or beaming (or both!) when she advises readers at the end to learn more about beavers by visiting the WORTH A DAM website. She’s in the Sierras where beavers desperately need a few more well-placed friends, so I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Go read the whole beautiful article and see some adorable photos. But the money part?? Check out the comment from a reader three down.

Town Mouse says: January 2, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Great post! And let’s not forget that beavers do live in CA, even in large and busy towns! Have a look at the story of the Martinez beavers https://www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress/ (now buried under other beaver-related news, but they really do have beavers, which you can watch while having supper downtown in summer.

Ahh TM! What a gallant comment! We so appreciate being remembered. Never mind that our story is “buried” under the tab on the menu bar reading “STORY” or that Chris herself linked to us in the article. But still, its dam sweet to read your remarks.

Speaking of our beavers, they have been doing some serious tree-targetting, finishing off the shining (rough barked) willow at Starbucks and another smooth barked morsel behind ward street, rounding the meal off with a hardy harvest of coppicing near the old lodge. January is tree month. It always has been. Maybe the tulle roots get bitter, or they need something harder to chew. Maybe they’re having a growth spurt?

Oh and if you haven’t seen this you really should. This preview of this charming National Geographic special is not to be missed – but after you watch it, beaver-savvy readers, see if you can spot the error.

I already wrote a host of suits about the mistake. Let’s see if we can get them to change the title!

Bronx Update

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Video December 30, 2011

Do you remember the story of the Bronx River and how excited they were to find a beaver living outside the zoo there after a 15,000,000 dollar restoration? We first read about it in Audobon, and then in National Geographic. Well, the education director of the Bronx River Alliance eventually connected with us, and we exchange beaver news now and then. This is what Damian Griffen sent over Christmas.

The river had been rest On an unusually warm December late afternoon, my son and I paddled out on the Bronx River in search of signs of the Bronx River beavers. After checking out some signs and recent activity, we headed slowly back downstream. Staying quiet, even though the traffic was quite loud. I saw a head coming at us near the bank. A beaver as long as our canoe was wide passed directly under us, then immediately turned and slapped its tail. Down stream we saw another head start moving back and forth across the river. After several slaps in a span of about five minutes, we headed off, at once amazed at witnessing this Bronx spectacle, and a little invasive. Damian

Bronx River Beaver 12.22.11 from DGriffin on Vimeo.

Ian Timothy on TV this morning in preparation for the Wild and Scenic Film Festival. Don’t Miss his praise of beavers at the end of the interview!!!

Open Range and Slocan Lake, BC

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Environmental, Video October 21, 2011

Remember Susan Allen’s lovely beaver beatitudes last month on her program Open Range? Well I wrote her full of appreciation and she wanted to do a short interview for a future program. Here it is in all its brief beaver glory! Click to play.

I found this lovely footage of beaver grooming, eating, swimming and vocalizing from Sue McMurtrie on Youtube. Slocan lake is just north of Washington over the border, and is a beautifully natural spot. Enjoy!