it’s been a busy weekend with lots beaver troubles from other lands and website distractions.The upgrade was almost entirely a success mostly because it doesn’t look much different…sort of like how putting a new engine in your car doesn’t change the color. Speaking of which we will probably change the color and trim in the next few days, but the most difficult job is done and I’m sooooo grateful.
It was great to spend familiar time last night with our three kits who put on a grand show which included the usual swimming, chewing, and exploring along with some very cute pausing. I’ve never seen anything ‘pause’ with as much regard and determination as a beaver. It’s as if you can see their minds at work but you have no idea what they’re thinking. In my day, the moments where I pause are the moments when I forgot what I was going to do, or why I came into that room in the first place. People pause when their minds are in neutral. I think beavers pause when they’re firmly in gear.
There were a host of new visitors to the dam last night, from as far away as Oakland and San Francisco. They came for the first time because of the Bay Nature issue. The beavers did not disappoint and I’m sure Martinez has more friends today than it did yesterday. There has been a slimy green pollen in the water in the beaver pond for the past week, which leaves a trail where the beavers have passed. It is starting to clear a little, the turtles can poke their noses through, and that is a welcome sight.
Have you made your reservation for the Santa Clara Creeks Conference? I know you’re thinking, what on earth does that have to do with beavers? But I can assure you that this year’s topic will be the first ever in California to contrast the benefits of beaver dams and the hardships of concrete dams. If the topic gets the traction it deserves there will be twenty more next year and beavers will be welcomed in cities all over California. Check out the speakers list and you’ll see why I’m already starting to get nervous.
And just in case you need more joy to your Monday, I saw this and had to share. What I love about is that you see the wild foxes ‘discover’ that the ground feels different, and experiment with it. Which means, when you think about it, that foxes know about gravity and how the ground is ‘supposed’ to feel. Who knew?
