Thinking your love should be true to you forever? Beavers agree. They take a single mate and stay faithful for the duration of their lives. Although after a mate dies they may seek another, they are not tempted nor do they wander during the 5-10 years they stay together. Beavers have such demanding lives (raising kits, building and maintaining dams) that they don’t have time to squander on recurrent courtship. They make a choice and stick with it, and they are understandably careful about that choice. Sharon Brown of Beavers Wetlands and Wildlife, writes that rejecting a “unsuitable” suitor is definately part of a beavers life experience. They pick carefully and then honor their decision with a lifetime of hard work.
Why am I telling you this with a large 75 in the corner?
You may have heard about it being the 75th anniversary of our East Bay Regional Parks. Think about that for a moment. In 1934 while Hitler was sending out the long knives and American was terrified about the great depression and the huddled masses were hoping the recently elected FDR could bring them out of it, public lands were being set aside for our use today. (It’s no secret that public land is often most easily purchased during a tanking economy, and all the wild creatures that depend on EBRP may thank you very much for your recession if the trend holds). Still, the ability to see down the road to a time when there would be few farms and wild spaces in Contra Costa, required real vision. What will Californians need 75 years from now? What will be in short supply, besides clean water and moderate temperatures?
So on Valentines Day, EBRP will be celebrating at the Martinez-Contra Costa Museum, (the one on Main Street, not Escobar) with our own ward 7 member of the Board of Directors, Ted Radke. Ted will say a few words, thank some friends and then lead a walk from the museum, through the beavers and down to Grangers Wharf. He invited myself and Igor Skaredoff to come along and talk beavers and watershed.
You can bet I’ll be mentioning monogamy.
Ted has high regard in my book, as he was one of the first “big names” to show support for the beavers. I read in an EBRP newsletter nearly two years ago that he had shown my beaver videos to the board, and quickly wrote him in appreciation. I got back a lovely handwritten card, thanking me for my work and saying that he and his wife, Kathy enjoyed visiting the beavers from time to time. I was so tickled the card went straight into the scrapbook. One farmer’s market Sunday he strolled by and flipped through the book appreciatively, and was startled to find his own handwriting.
(It had to go in the book, was all I could say. Honestly his support was the first indication I got that we might prevail.)
So if you’re around Saturday, and looking to encourage a little monogamy in your loved one, you might drop by. I think the walk will begin around three, and the presence of many beaver supporters can only a good thing. Remember that our two yearlings will soon become “Dispersers” and the odds of their ending up in EBRP lands are pretty high.
Always make nice with your potential landlords, is my motto.
