BEAVER FIREFIGHTERS ON THE RADIO

Time for another fun interview, this time from Emily Faifax at KCRW in Santa Monica. I knew the Doty story would get a bunch of eyes. With host Madeleine Brand.

Beavers to prevent wildfires? Conservationists are enlisting the help of these buck-toothed rodents

As California continues to grapple with a mega-drought and wildfires, we’re trying to do whatever we can to help our parched landscapes and abate that wildfire threat. But the process can be costly and time-consuming.

A few weeks ago, the Sacramento Bee reported on a floodplain in Placer County. During California’s last big drought in 2014, ecologists wanted to restore the dry, barren grassland. It would’ve taken 10 years and cost as much as $2 million. But there was another option: beavers.

Conservationists turned the buck-toothed, oversized rodents loose and got out of their way. And unlike every other contractor on the planet, they finished under budget and ahead of schedule.

2018 WAS A BANNER YEAR FOR BEAVERS

Rusty Cohn of Napa found this on Flickr. Isn’t it beautiful? What a great way to end one helluva year for beavers. The publication of Ben Goldfarb’s book has so far made a 6-month tail-slapping splash across the continent and I don’t EVER want it to end. If you’re having trouble believing how much things changed so quickly, take a wader back through the year with me this morning.

Here’s hoping 2019 is even better!

Jan – Stop in the name of salmon A threat to sue WS for trapping beavers.

– Port Moody B.C. joins the beaver bandwagon. New friends.

Feb – Thirsting for Beavers. Nevada talks Beavers with Carol Evans

– Ring the bells of Beaver Freedom. Students save Brooklyn Beavers

Mar – Baby Steps for Beavers. Urban Beaver Chapter Published in 2.0

– We are Eager For this Book. My Review of Ben’s Book

Apr – In Which an Entire Continent Saves Beavers Best Day Ever?

– Beaver Advocacy in Texas? It’s more common than you think.

May – What John Muir Wrote About Beavers. Finally we have the answers,

– Make Way for Beavers. The book we’ve all been waiting for beavers

– Leave it to Beavers Martinez Beavers in Ranger Rick

Jun – Eager Beavers All. The first reviews are in. And They’re Excellent!

– Martinez on the Big Screen. Just what it sounds like,

Jul – A Day for the Ages Festival Report

Martinez beavers go to Chicago Our story is told.

Science Magazine is Eager for Beavers

Aug – Beavers go National In National Geographic at last!

Terre Verde Castor Ben, Heidi & Beavers on the radio.

Sep – The sweetest thing The cutest kit ever.

Castor and Carbon Beaver benefits and Global Warming

On the Radio with BYU Beavers Ben and Heidi

Oct – Fire Prevention is the Hot New Beaver thing

– Beaver Mural in the News A new mural in town

Nov – Beavers go to Yale Ben reports on beavers for Yale 360.

Beaver trifecta in the North Oh Canada!

Dec – Yes you read that right. Praising Urban Beavers

– Non-consumptive use, Baby! CDFW Grant for beavers?
What a year! I could go on and on but that’s a start. I want to end with this lovely portrait by our friends at Beavers & Brush. It’s called ‘the beaver ecosystem’ and it so needs to be seen everywhere. Happy new year!

Beaver Auld Lang Syne! Here’s to another beaver year in 2019.

ALMOST ENTIRELY GOOD NEWS ABOUT BEAVERS

heidi08 Dispersal, Who's talking about beavers now? October 30, 2018

Here I am, scratching my head and wondering just what to start typing after listening to this podcast. It’s a beaver-friendly discussion from KFGO in North Dakota with northern naturalist Stan Takeila who says beavers are just about his favorite animal to watch.

Beaver Talk with Stan Tekeila

In This Podcast: Noted naturalist, author, photographer, public speaker, and keeper of www.naturesmart.com . Today’s Topic: Beavers.

There are so many things I share about his appreciation. I just love that he admires them. And as an avid reporter of National beaver news I know that the Dakotas in general are a strangely wonderful pocket of beaver wisdom,. He doesn’t perpetuate many of the erroneous beliefs beavers cause, He knows they eat bark and don’t pat mud with their tails, but why no discussion of their ecosystem services? And there are some serious holes in his knowledge. No mention of flow devices, a very dim understanding of tree protection, and, most seriously, the belief that kits only stay with their parents the first year before they are ‘kicked out’ to make way for the new children.

So in Stan’s world there are no yearlings? And he couldn’t ever explain this vision of brotherly beaver love because his idea of families never includes siblings.

Yearling gives back ride to kit: Cheryl Reynolds

Well, it’s a big world and we are definitely grading on a curve. If you want to see the column written by Stan here’s the way it starts.

Walking on gravel in the dark, I was doing my best to not make any noise. I could kind-of-see where I was going but when you are carrying heavy and expensive camera gear and tripod, you always want to be extra careful. Approaching the edge of the clear-water pond, I sat down and started to organize all of the camera gear.

Beavers are one of my favorite critters. The North American Beaver, usually just called Beaver, is only one of two beaver species in the world. It’s native to North America but has been introduced to South America and also parts of Europe. It is the official symbol of Canada and the official mammal of the state of Oregon.

I love his description of how to photograph beavers because it reminds me of going down to the beaver dam in the pre-dawn light and being as still as possible. Great images are his reward, and some wonderful moments of watching. I’ll do what I can to fill up his information bucket about yearlings and mention about beavers and saltwater.

You can’t complain about a few little inaccuracies when a man is talking to another man on the radio about liking beavers in North Dakota. Right?

BEAVERS GO TO IOWA! BEAVERS 2020?

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Who's talking about beavers now? August 24, 2018

Now this was fun! Ben Goldfarb was on IPR (Iowa public radio) yesterday talking about his book. Iowa. Can a beaver believer president be far behind?

The host Charity Nebbe was actually very informed and positive about the animals. There were the usual fish passage calls of course, but an elder gentleman actually called in to talk about how sad he was that the beavers on his farm had disappeared! Another favorite part was a nice discussion of the nature/nurture controversy around beaver dam building and I am certain Ben’s answer was influenced by the kit-with-mom-and-dad-working video I just posted.

Nice and full circle.

The Suprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter

If you look closely at the page linked there is no mention of beavers or ecology in the tagline, because let’s face it. It’s IOWA and they know their audience pretty well.

BTW this story broke the same day.

Beaver causes power outage affecting 595 Consumer Energy customers

A busy beaver chewed through a tree which fell on a Consumers Energy power line and disrupted electrical service to 595 customers early Thursday morning.

Company General Manager Jim Kidd said he was notified of the outage at 4 a.m. The line fell down along a roadway bordering the Iowa River.

Crews had to clear the roadway before beginning repairs.

“Not many can report a beaver caused an outage, but we can,” Kidd said.

Now that’s more like it! And you bet this article had ‘beaver’ or ‘beaver damage’ in its tagline.