Category: Video

Beaver Beatitudes

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Environmental, kits, Video, Who's saving beavers now? July 21, 2014

Let’s start Monday right with some good news for a change. How about this story from Oregon of a culvert repaired to allow salmon passage. Don’t worry, it gets more interesting.

Easier migration for salmon in east Multnomah County’s Beaver Creek: $500,000 fix for troublesome culverts

A coho salmon nears the end of its life’s journey in the spawning gravel of Eagle Creek, a tributary of the Columbia River in Oregon. Salmon and steelhead trout have trouble reaching their historic spawning grounds in Beaver Creek because of a culvert that makes it difficult for fish to swim or jump upstream. (The Oregonian file photo)

Culverts are box- or pipe-shaped openings that roadbuilders install to allow streams to pass underneath, but often their configuration makes it difficult for fish to swim or jump upstream. Fish ladders built into culverts to help can break over the years.

Metro awarded the county a $579,500 Nature in Neighborhoods grant July 10 to replace a culvert under Cochran Road with a bridge, allowing fish to more easily reach areas upstream from Mt. Hood Community College’s Gresham campus.

Roy Iwai, the county’s water quality manager, said a variety of local government and nonprofit groups are working together to make the creek more hospitable to its 13 species of native fish.

The water upstream from the culverts also includes plenty of natural dams from the creek’s namesake beavers, but those are passable for fish and beaver ponds provide ideal rearing habitat for young coho salmon, Iwai said.

Ohhh Oregon! You are so much smarter than most. We are all inspired to see Mr. Iwai understanding the importance of beavers to salmon. From scientist to city worker, you know that beavers are Worth A Dam. It’s so impressive. California can only hope to get there one day. Well done Beaver State!

Now we’re moving East towards Montana where they are getting a bit smarter as well.

Animal Wonders is a fully licensed and insured educational outreach organization. We provide educational presentations with live exotic animals for schools, summer camps, community events, birthday parties, and other special occasions. We travel to your location with some of our very special animal ambassadors to teach about wildlife, conservation, and a love of nature.

As you may have guessed, I am not a huge fan of slick operations that bring live animals to elementary school auditoriums to teach them an “appreciation of Nature”. I think children (and animals) are better served when we open our front doors and let them go see for themselves – say by standing on the footbridge and watching the Martinez Beavers. (Of course it helps if folks don’t kill everything that wanders into their town so there’s things to see.) But this video, SciShow made by Animal Wonders (because the young people like those abbrevs). isn’t bad. In fact it doesn’t have one fact I disagree with.

Just two photos. (See if you can play “Spot the Nutria”.)

Well? Did you find them? I can only hope they bring the right animal for their costly presentations! I wrote them about the mistake and said if they re-edit to include how important beavers are to fish, water and birds, we will give them amazing photos of actual beavers for free! (If you’re still puzzled, look for stiff white whiskers and narrow eyes.)

Last night our kit was up early, and out at the secondary on his own for a while doing very beavery things. Several people got to see him, including visitors from Golden Gate Audubon that missed the Wednesday walk but wanted to see for themselves. Dad beaver even showed up to take the little one past the secondary and down to where he was chewing willow. He swam along side adorably and even rode on his back for moments. Then let Dad go on his own and came back upstream to forage.

We thought how heartening it is to see Dad be so nurturing after at least seven years of kits. Apparently he still feels paternal even after all these years and 20 youngsters.

Oh we also thought it was great to see the new kit embracing prohibition and rejecting the wicked influences of alcohol.

Beaver Reunion

heidi08 Beavers, kits, Video September 2, 2013

Last night there was a fortuitous reunion of Worth A Dam members and beavers aplenty. The dam was looking restored and without right angles, freshly mudded and the tide was nice and low. Some folks had come all the way from Novato to do a little beaver watching and were well-rewarded for their efforts.There was ample time for closeups and lovely glimpses of kit activity.

And if that makes you wish you were there, this might help. Never mind the train noises, I’m betting you will feel peaceful when you watch this:

Cheryl was avidly hoping for her first photo of the three kits together. It has been hard getting them to all be doing the same thing at the same time close enough to fit into a single camera frame. Last night she was not disappointed.

three together — 2013 Kits- Photo Cheryl Reynolds

Pretty soon an older beaver came out to see what they were up to. Junior and Mom made an appearance. Then a beaver we weren’t sure was around any more. This is one of our 2010 kits all grown up. When mom died she left one that was smaller (Reed) and two that were the same size (The Bookends). We unkindly used to call this particular beaver the “Useless Bookend” because he never ever helped with the dam in any way. I had wondered whether she/he was still around, but I’m starting to think this beavers will never disperse. He or she’s obviously tolerated though, and this year I did see him actually work on the dam a couple times.

When he made his unexpected appearance last night there were FOUR beavers on the dam at once.

Call me a traditionalist but when “Uncle U” showed up I couldn’t help thinking of this from the “Loyalist Cemetary” in New Brunswick.

As its centerpiece, the fountain features four bronze beavers building their lodge. The beavers are the work of world-renowned British sculptor Michael Rizzello, O.B.E. (Order of the British Empire).In 1785 a coat of arms was chosen for the new City of Saint John. One of the symbols chosen for the newly created crest was the beaver. The beaver has come to symbolize the spirit of hard work and innovation and has been used as a recurring theme in the renovated Old Burial Ground.

Nice fountain! Think they might have room for an American at this cemetery? Just curious.

Oh and since the Novato people got their wish and Cheryl got her wish and several families with small children got their wish, the beavers decided to give Heidi her wish too. Turn your sound UP to here these two kits greet mom, who’s off camera to the left.

It’s beaver magic in the late summer. Maybe you should stop by tonight and catch some of your own.

pulling kits — Kits in tow: Photo Cheryl Reynolds

Threesome

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Environmental, featured, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Video July 15, 2013

A new beaver blog has appeared from our friend Duane Nash in Southern California. He got inspired by Wikipedia Rick and the salmon gang, and sent me the interview questions a while ago. He will be in town next week to visit so if you see him introduce yourself! If there is any possible thing about how this happened you haven’t heard 8 million times already, you might appreciate the interview. Cheryl’s photos look great on another website!

Looking forward to beaver advocacy from our SoCal friends! Welcome to the beaver’hood, Duane!

In the mean time the update from the Utah beavers isn’t great news, but at least they succeeded in getting their voice to the media. Get ready for more beavers in towels.

Beavers injured by fuel spill face new obstacle to release

If they can continue to get the story out about they’re not being ready, those young beavers will have hope of a timely release. Speaking of young beavers…

Excellent beaver watching last night, with lots of kits self-directing and reaching for blackberry vines. We saw both kits and Junior toodling up and down between the dams. I was thinking that the “kit reach” seemed very July and was happy to see the date on this movie, which puts our kits four days later than their predecessors for the same exact behavior in 2007. Nice!

High Hopes from Heidi Perryman on Vimeo.

Otterly Ruined

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Video, Who's Killing Beavers Now? June 11, 2013

Worth A Dam was at the ready with lenses poised for Kitwatch 2013, but an unexpected visitor changed the entire night.

Otter Pipe-1 — Otter on flow device: Photo Ron Bruno

Last night the otter wasn’t ON the pipe, but IN the pipe using it as a tunnel to get over the dam and eat all the fish in the pond. Mom and Dad weren’t happy about this carnivore in their midst and there was a round of tail slapping and water charging. Now a lot of beaver advocates will defend staunchly that otters don’t eat beaver and that the literature on this is ‘controversial’. But the beavers don’t appear to think so. They react with what appears to be very stern alarm when the otters show up in June. The otters might be there for a fish run and have no interests in kits at all, but the beavers don’t care. They don’t ask questions. They just defend. The little otter suddenly remember something he had to do very far away and hightailed it away from the pond. But the beavers remained jumpy and no kits were allowed to emerge and even Jr tried his hand at a very novice tail slap.

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Enough cheer and kitcentrism, we have important beaver jobs to do out here in Castorfornia. Take for example this depressing revisit. I say revisit because we talked about this story back in November, when I took six hours to find the addresses and personally write everyone involved and told tell them how to solve their problem.

Eagle Ranch on beaver watch

EAGLE – High water flows in Brush Creek from spring runoff might take care of the beaver problem that flared up in Eagle Ranch last fall. A rapidly expanding population of beavers was building dams in the residential area, killing trees and clogging storm ponds that are part of a pollution-control system. “With the high water, the beavers likely went up or downstream,” said Eagle Open Space Director John Staight.

Stacy Chase of Chase Wildlife LLC in Gypsum — the company Eagle hired to monitor and mitigate the beaver problem — said she is waiting to see how many beavers move back to the area after runoff. “There’s one dam we’re actively monitoring and at least one beaver that we know of in the area,” she said. “Otherwise it appears the population has scattered.” Chase said she broke up a large dam that was near the bike path.

“We’ll see how quickly the dam is rebuilt and that will give us an indication of how many beavers are working on it,” she said.

Interesting population estimation tool. I wonder if the WHO has tried it? Destroy their economy and see how long it takes to rebuild? Well if the population is our Dad beaver it would take a night, but if the population is some of our yearlings it could take a bit longer. Hmm I may have spied a flaw in your fool-proof plan. The beavers are scattered you say? You killed a few but the rest have escaped. You know, scattering, the way beavers always do. What an interesting expert they’ve chosen to solve this problem! Considering Sherri Tippie is 90 minutes away. Who is this expert ‘mitigator’. I must know more about her.

Oh.

Staight said the town has the option to trap and euthanize the beavers but that is the last thing anyone wants to do. Instead, trapped beavers will be relocated. The town started trapping and relocating the beavers last fall, but was told to wait until the summer to do any relocating.

“The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department said relocating the beavers so late in the season before winter would likely cause the beavers to starve to death,” Staight said. “They told us if we were going to trap them in the fall we should euthanize them.”

Yes we wouldn’t want to kill the beavers. We just want to move them and scatter them and ruin their families and separate the children from their parents in the middle of winter.

Chase said if the dam problem persists, there are water-flow control devices that can be installed in the dams. “It tricks the beavers and they can keep building the dam without effects,” she said. “We’re always going to have issues because of the way the waterway is and we will need population-control measures,” she said.

Well look at that. After we wrap the trees with fairy dust and kill some family members and rip out some dams, we can try installing a flow device or two if we need to.

Oh goody.

Surrounded by beavers

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, kits, Video, Why We Care June 10, 2013

Yesterday was weirdly windy as the weather transitioned from hot to cold in a decidedly unsummerlike fashion. I know our windows were rattling and debris was rolling down the streets. When we went down to see the beavers that night we discovered they had had their own little “windfall”. At first we thought a beaver had probably chewed it, but as you can see from the trunk there are no gnaw marks. This particular tree always leaned out over the water so far no beaver without a ladder could sink their teeth into it. So it did something even better. It decided to kindly fall over directly parallel to the dam. Last night I saw ducks, birds, herons, and beavers celebrate its good fortune. It would be nice if the city cleaned up every other fallen tree in Martinez before they got to this one so the beavers could make their job easier. But last night I am sure they lived like kings!

We waited happily by the primary, disturbing a great egret, a California towhee, and several green herons. This was my favorite moment from the first half of the night. Doesn’t it make you think of the story of narcissus?

quod petis, est nusquam; quod amas, avertere, perdes!

ista repercussae, quam cernis, imaginis umbra est:

nil habet ista sui;

(What you perceive is the shadow of reflected form: nothing of you is in it.)

We were greeted with a few beaver visits as various members swam out to investigate the fallen tree and whether we were friend or foe. It was almost impossible to tell who was who but I’m sure we had a cast of characters.

And then we were treated to a full “caution float” which if you are ever lucky enough to see, even though you feel like jumping up and down with glee you must be enormously patient and quiet because something truly wonderful is about to happen. Here’s what the caution float looks like.

Okay, no dangers on the bank, no drunks shouting over the fence looking for monkeys, no sharks or alligators. Dad gives the all clear. And then the wonderful thing happens, and my camera which has been pointed in the right direction since we saw the sentry, does the right thing. I know the video is too dark, (and it will get worse) but trust me it’s worth it.

Mom and baby! Ohh but this is wonderful! Not only is it still light enough to film it, and are they healthy and happy looking, but it means I don’t have to get up at 4:30 ever again until next summer! Thank the gods. But wait – why is there still only one. We haven’t seen two kits in four days. What if something happened to the other one? In 2009 all our kits died. What if…

Two kits and mom. Whoohoo! And not just two little quiet helpless kits either. But two boisterous rascals that were up on the pipe, up on the dam, over the pipe, over the dam, eating branches off the tree. And that’s when I notice that caution float beaver has moved onto our left and has come to eat branches off the generosity tree, and is sparing a little time to glare at us and remind us that no harm should befall his offspring. (“Ever hear of a country called bellarus?”)And for a moment I am surrounded by beavers. Two kits and mom tusseling in front, Dad protectively on my left (that snipping sound you hear is him cutting branches!), and Jr somewhere in the mix. Jon thinks he’s the one doing the wrestling because when he reached up later Jon didn’t see teats. That makes sense, we know yearlings parent and they definitely play.

So all is right in beaver world. The parents are really protective. Mom is very doting. Uncles are extremely indulgent, and kits look healthy and happy. I’m sure they’ll start coming out a little earlier so it won’t be quite so dark in future video, but I’m really happy that things are going so well.