DYKE DIGGERS? SERIOUSLY?

heidi08 Beavers January 17, 2018

Maybe it’s just me. But if I lived in a very low-lying area that required extensive levees to even make living there even possible, and I had to make the levees out of soil because it was what I had the most of, I sure would cover that earth wall with fencing or rip-rap or something that burrowing animals couldn’t dig through. At least below the water line where I couldn’t see it. An ounce of prevention, you know, is worth a pound of cure. Or any amount of GPS.

Doesn’t that seem relatively straight forward?

Study of behaviour muskrats, coypus and beavers kicks off

In a new study just launched by a number of Dutch district water boards and knowledge institutions, a team of scientists including statistical ecologist Emiel van Loon of the UvA Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics will be researching the behaviour of muskrats, coypus and beavers. The two-year project is titled ‘Dyke Diggers in Focus’.

standing of beavers’ behavioural patterns and territorial use, meanwhile, would make it easier to detect beaver damage and perhaps even ‘steer’ them away from burrowing in dykes.

To gain a clearer picture of these ‘dyke diggers’, the research will use transmitters equipped with GPS location and activity sensors. The project’s strength lies in pairing of science with practical techniques, with a hands-

Digging in banksides and dykes by muskrats, coypus and increasingly also beavers is causing significant safety risks, economic damage and structural maintenance expenditures in the Netherlands, where flood control is a constant concern. While capturing muskrats and coypus remains as important as ever, better insight into these rodents’ habits may enable faster and more targeted detection and ultimately allow a reduction in not only the number traps that are deployed, but also unintended by-catch and the needless killing of animals. Improved underon component for students, too. Use of this new technology will enable district water boards to answer the pressing question of how to prevent waterside damage through practical insight into the behaviours and territorial use of muskrats, coypus and beavers in the Netherlands. In future, the new technology will also be available to track and study other animals.

Emiel van Loon has been engaged to advise on the design of the experimental transmission component and will focus on questions such as how many animals should be tagged with trackers and where they should be captured. Additionally, Van Loon will be responsible for interpreting the tracking data and creating and validating the movement models to for example predict the use of space for the whole animal populations.

Nothing gives the whiff of modern science that air of prestige like saying it has GPS tracking. Science nerds just go crazy for that, (it’s like labeling anything retail with the words “bluetooth enabled”). People will be more likely to buy it whether it’s useful or not. Far be it from me to make fun of the vividly named Dr. Van Loon or question usefulness of putting a chip inside beaver heads to “STEER THEM AWAY” from burrowing into a wall, but tell me this. If they don’t burrow into your dykes, where are these creatures going to sleep instead?

Maybe creating a floating safe zones that would appeal to these animals would be more useful than this GPS thing? You know, some where to hole up and escape too or for a family to raise its young. Oh and use a couple of those graduate students to find out why no one can tell these species apart will you? Just sayin’.

**Left:** (Nutria) *Castor Impostor* ——- **Right:** Beaver (*Castor Canadensis*!)

I just got word from Carol Evans of a wonderful presentation she will be doing with rancher Jon Greggs to talk about their awesome work with restoring sage lands with beaver January 30th, 2018. The conference is mostly about ranching, but their part will be in the morning starting at nine. I have such respect for this work. Carol goes right into the lion’s den to deliver her message. You can sign up here.

This is an FYI as some of you have expressed an interest in hearing about the material Jon Griggs and I will be sharing at the National Society for Range Management meeting in Sparks, NV. I’ll be talking a lot about the effects of managed grazing and beaver colonization on valley re-hydration in the Susie and Maggie Basins. Jon will also be sharing his perspectives on all of this.

Restoring and Managing the “Emerald Islands” of the Sagebrush Sea: New Science, Sticks and Stones, and the Eager Beaver

SRM+2018+emerald+island+symposium_Final_1-12-18

WHERE BEAVERS ARE, WATER & WILDLIFE WILL BE

heidi08 Beavers January 16, 2018

Well, even though Wisconsin eliminated ALL air quality regulations Friday, there are things to enjoy about the return of beaver in the state. Starting with this article.

Something to chew on: Beavers regain toehold as popularity of the Milwaukee River grows

The American beaver is discovering that the lower Milwaukee River is once again becoming desirable real estate.

There are increasing signs of the beaver’s presence: Gnawed trees for miles up and down the shoreline; a ramshackle dam that sticks out of the ice in Lincoln Park; and the most tale-tell sign of all — a beaver lodge near W. Hampton Ave.

The inroads by the largest rodent in North America have been unmistakable, says Cheryl Nenn of Milwaukee Riverkeeper, who has worked for the advocacy organization for 15 years.

“They’re definitely becoming more prevalent,” Nenn said.

Beavers were a fixture in the lower Milwaukee in presettlement times. They are still common in the far upper reaches. But they are making a return to the river on the city’s east side.

“The corridor has become a better place,” Nenn said. “There is improving tree diversity — that’s important — and the water is improving. It’s all of those factors.”

Isn’t that a wonderful temporary house they built Chip? So smart. I’m glad Milwaukee is being visited by more beavers. and that there are new cleaner rivers for them to inhabit. They can help maintain those streams, you know. If folks stop being so trap-happy and let them do their job.

A nice look at the job they can do comes from this month’s permaculture magazine, which is available online now. You will recognize some of the names in it and I dare say ALL of the photos. (Because apparently everyone wants to borrow from us). The article starts with a short piece I wrote with Mike Callahan years ago, and then goes into a nicely detailed description of flow devices, beaver management, and why beavers matter. When author Timothy Sexauer contacted us in the summer, Cheryl agreed that this was exactly the kind of article where her photos belonged.

Go read the whole thing, it’s worth your time.

Beavers: The Ecological Restoration Agents

For many millions of years, in what we now call the Applegate watershed of southern Oregon, beaver have been the senior landscape engineers. At least 12,000 years ago, humans arrived and established permanent culture alongside the beaver. In the language of the Takelma, the Applegate is called “sbink,” meaning Beaver Place.

By the time the Takelma were violently displaced by the gold rush settlers, fur trappers had already nearly exterminated the beaver. As a result, rivers and creeks flowed faster and wetlands had become meadows, drastically changing the landscape and ecosystems.

That’s a pretty nice way to start an article. It goes on to talk about how when the beaver population recovered they found that the land had been settled, culverted and laid with concrete. Conflict often arise. But there are MANY ways to solve them. The author talks about working with Jakob Shockley to keep a basement from flooding. And the story ends by thanking Mike Callahan for his work and celebrating the launch of the Beaver Institute.

Jakob Shockey says the key is mitigating human-beaver conflicts so we can retain beaver where they choose to reside. When they are secure in their chosen spot they will naturally disperse their children further up tributaries where we most need to restore water retention. It is up to us to educate ourselves and others about the many benefits of beaver to the land and, importantly, the ways that we can non-lethally deal with these conflicts.

It is an honor to announce that Mike Callahan recently launched The Beaver InstituteTM as a means to catalyze public awareness at a continent-wide scale. The Institute’s mission is “to be a catalyst for advancing beaver management by providing technical and financial assistance to public and private landowners experiencing beaver conflicts, supporting scientific research, training mitigation professionals, and increasing public appreciation of the beaver’s critical role in creating wetland ecosystems.” The vision is to have “all beaver-human conflicts resolved in a science-based manner to maximize the many benefits that beavers contribute to the environment.”

LISTEN UP, KITS!

heidi08 kits January 15, 2018

This was recently shared by beaver-friend Bob Armstrong (Mendenhall Glacier beavers) on his Nature Alaska website. Which is very nice because I needed my kit-fix this morning. Trust me, you do too.

WILD PROGRESS COMES IN INCREMENTS

heidi08 Beavers and Scotland January 15, 2018

This morning’s Sunday times, which is the widest-read paper in the UK, invites us all to pity the poor, frightened farmer whose very livelihood is hanging in the balance as we consider those horrible beavers.

Gnawing fears over beavers

The Scottish government’s plans to introduce legal protection for beavers while sanctioning lethal culls to protect the environment has prompted concern from wildlife campaigners. Beavers, which were hunted to extinction in Scotland during the 16th century, are due to get legal protection for the first time this year under plans to allow the species to expand naturally.

However, farmers and landowners will be allowed to shoot the animals under special licences issued by Scottish National Heritage to prevent flooding and protect trees from the expert dam-builders.

The approach has attracted criticism from animal rights campaigners who warn that “unofficial persecution” is being replaced by licensed killing.

Farmers and landowners have opposed the project amid reports that persecution of beavers, including pregnant females, has escalated during the run-up to plans to award the species legal protection.

The Scottish government is expected to place a statutory instrument before the Scottish parliament this year, granting the animals European protected species status.

“Where farmers are concerned about beaver activity on their land, we hope to see a well-funded support programme to resolve conflicts without resorting to lethal control,” said Harry Huyton, the charity’s director. “There are many non-lethal ways of managing the impact of beavers. Above all, we must ensure that the unofficial persecution they have suffered until now isn’t simply replaced by licensed lethal control.”

Mark Ruskell, a Scottish Green MSP, said: “The legislation to protect beavers has faced unacceptable delay and as a result there is a still a free-for-all whereby farmers and land managers can kill pregnant and nursing beavers this year with impunity.

“It’s important that whatever management regime is put in place is not based on the gun.”

I know that the big issue facing folks advocating for the Tay beavers was always permission to kill. People were willing to tolerate beavers IF there was an easy way out. I’ve come to understand that some trap door has to be built into their protection, but it would be nice if it wasn’t just a bullet from some resistant farmer without any oversight at all.

“Specifically, where less drastic mitigation measures — such as use of deterrent fencing and translocation — cannot be implemented, and in addition where a clear public interest in culling has been demonstrated.”

A spokeswoman for the Scottish government said licences to control beavers will be carefully managed by Scottish National Heritage, in accordance with the law related to European protected species.

“But in certain locations, the species can create serious difficulties for farmers and other land managers. That’s why the Scottish government has been clear that beavers have to be actively managed, in line with the practice elsewhere in Europe.”

Andrew Bauer, deputy director of policy at NFU Scotland, welcomed “broad agreement” between the Scottish government, farming and conservation groups that appropriate “lethal and non-lethal management of beavers is essential”.

Alright. Beavers can come back after 500 years and we’ll grant them a thin sliver of protection BUT the moment they cause problems and a flow device doesn’t work or costs too much, we still get to kill them, right?

Maybe the concerned countryside can take a page from this story, which I’m told got its inspiration from the Martinez Beavers. Cindy Margolis of Golden Gate Audubon sent it my way this morning saying

“Your example of translating a wildlife conflict into an opportunity to do something much better for wildlife AND the community has always been an inspiration, Heidi. So, we’re trying to ensure a safe future for Oakland’s herons and it might actually be on the verge of happening….”

The Great Heron Project

If kids ruled Oakland, black-crowned night herons would already be the city’s official bird. As it is, a group of Park Day School students is planning to relaunch a petition to help protect these night birds that go kwok in the dark—as an ambitious project to relocate the herons’ downtown rookery moves forward.

As third-grade Park Day teacher Devin Homme explained, last year, a group of his students launched a petition to make the night heron Oakland’s official bird, after learning that the largest night-heron rookery in the Bay Area is in downtown Oakland—a less than ideal location, thanks to the fact that heron chicks tend to shove their weaker siblings out of the nest.

“The idea was, if the herons become the official bird of Oakland, then no one will say ‘no’ to them,” Homme said of the petition, which described the herons as being “cool and funky just like Oakland,” and warned that, “their babies are falling out of their trees.”

And now those relocation plans are moving forward: In November, biologists retrieved 130 night-heron and 20 snowy-egret nests from ficus trees on Harrison and 12th streets, and then contractors drastically pruned the trees to prevent more nesting. The next day, crews removed 13 ficus trees around a parking lot that covered the city block between 13th, 14th, Alice, and Jackson streets. No one knows what the herons thought, since they don’t start nesting until February. But passersby expressed concern about the future of the birds as workers cut down the trees.

Margulis said she was glad everyone cares about the herons, but it’s not against the law to remove trees or a night-heron rookery—once nesting season is over. “So, I commend the city and the project developer for taking the relocation project seriously,” she said.

As for the Park Day students, last year they met with Councilmember Dan Kalb, papered Oakland with heron art, and even secured Mayor Libby Schaaf’s verbal support for their petition, which garnered about 1,440 signatures. And you can bet your night-heron breeding feathers that the students are preparing to relaunch their petition, this time with the support of Oakland Zoo, as they track the rookery relocation project

Well I personally would have been happier if they moved the post office and the developers rather than the nests, but still. Investing city monies to protect urban wildlife and getting the community involved is a very positive thing. I am sure it happened because of those kids and their ability to make everyone want to do the right thing. Congratulations Cindy!

Oakland Herons should have a table at the beaver festival!

LOVE THE DAM – HATE THE BEAVER?

heidi08 BDA's January 13, 2018

Today I have a pair of schizophrenic beaver news stories to ‘catch up on’. So we will go from the sublime to the ridiculous really fast,. Let’s start with north central Washington where beaver dams are considered SO helpful, a bunch of people are building them.

Human-built ‘beaver dams’ restore streams

Beavers are a critical asset in Washington, assuring that healthy riparian zones are maintained, especially in the dry climate east of the Cascades. Beaver dams and ponds support native vegetation and wetlands along streams, trap sediment, recharge groundwater, and improve water quality. Over the last two centuries, these benefits have been lost in many watersheds, following human development, beaver removal, channel deepening, and other impacts.

n 2015, the Okanogan Highland Alliance (OHA) was awarded a grant to restore a reach of Myers Creek, through Ecology’s Water Quality Financial Assistance Program. In the 1990s, Myers Creek was damaged in a major rain-on-snow event, which caused unusually high stream flows, deepening the creek, leaving vertical cut banks, and draining nearby wetlands.

Where beaver ponds had once provided grade control and covered large areas of the floodplain, the now-drier soils began to favor invasive plant species. The understory is now dominated by reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea) and Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), further suppressing growth of native sedge and forb species. The only remaining native riparian species still easily found in the project area is gray alder (Alnus incana), with a few isolated willow (Salix spp.) plants.

Developed by Michael Pollock (NOAA) and colleagues, BDAs offer a low-cost, simple, and easily scalable technique for mimicking beaver dams. They reduce stream velocity, induce lateral channel migration, and cause rapid aggradation of the streambed, which reconnects the floodplain so it can once again support riparian vegetation.

The long-term vision for BDA projects is that beaver will once again maintain dams to provide local grade control, floodplain connection, and wetland habitats to support a diverse flora and fauna. Sometimes partners like the Okanogan Highlands Alliance, the Washington Department of Ecology, along with many others, just have to help give them the boost they need.

And if you try real hard the good fairy will make you a REAL beaver dam and you will get real beavers to take care of you with no grant funding needed at all! Amazing huh? Maybe these stories DO go together after all. Maybe it’s a reverse case of “Love the sinner hate the sin” kinda thing. Only what gets loved is the dams, and what gets hated is the hero that makes them.

Contrast this story with Martin county in Minnesota where they hate beavers SO much they are raising the bounty on their heads from 20 per trapped beaver to FIFTY,

County tackles gnawing problem

FAIRMONT — The beaver population in Martin County has been on the rise, causing no end of trouble for area farmers.

In December, Martin County commissioners increased the county’s beaver bounty from $20 to $50 per beaver, in an effort to alleviate the issue. According to drainage administrator Michael Forstner, this was necessary because of the low value currently in the market for the pelt.

Paul Grussing, a local trapper utilized by the county, explained the issue and was able to share some insight into the trapping process.

“The previous bounty was $20 for each beaver; at that amount it costs trappers money to trap them,” he said. “Trappers refused to trap them, resulting in a large increase in the population of beavers in Martin County. Traps and lures for beaver trapping are expensive, plus it is hard work.

“The population is quite high in our county, and beavers tend to build their dams in hard to reach areas. Most of my calls begin in September when farmers start their harvest. They see damage to their crops and dams being built.

You poor little snowflake, trapper Paul. Killing beavers is SO hard (and damp) and it’s winter ya know? Good thing you have the county supervisors by the short and curlies and can pry 50 bucks out of their palms for each beaver you take. That means you get several hundred per family. You’re RICH! Hmmm, come to think of it, maybe the bounty doesn’t count sub adults so you just leave the kits to die.

I really, really hate Martin County.

As far as Martin County is concerned, only beavers trapped within a drainage system or within one-quarter mile of a drainage system outlet will be accepted for the bounty,

And tell me, wise ones of Martin county, how, exactly, will you know?