Blame the beaver – (Swedish version)

Swedish beaver knocks out power for thousands

A spokesman for Sweden’s state-owned energy provider has revealed the identity of the vandal behind a blackout which saw 15,000 Swedish homes left without power.

The households were without power for around an hour and 15 minutes on Monday evening after a beaver chewed through a tree which fell and took down an electricity wire in the Södertälje area – about 30 kilometres south-west of Stockholm.

“The little rascal. It is really something that should not be able to happen,” Peter Stedt, a spokesperson for Swedish energy giant Vattenfall, told The Local when the source of the problem was revealed on Wednesday.

“Yes, but he felled in the wrong direction, so we’re going to have to have a word with him,” joked Stedt.

Ahh the Swedes. Even their episode of ‘blame the beaver’ is smarter than ours. Very droll, Stedt. Good to know their media isn’t much smarter. It runs through the usual litany of beaver assaults on civilization, and mentions nothing about their importance to wetlands or wildlife. But still, fairly cute article on a ~~gnarly~~ gnawly topic!

Here’s some actual footage of an actual beaver chewing an actual tree in America, taken by our good friend Rusty Cohn in Napatopia recently. The beaver was determined and the photographer was patient.

Apparently I was on KGO this morning, just got the word from a friend. They called yesterday about the unexplained deaths and we did a phone interview. (A kind of strange phone interview when they asked questions and continued talking even while I was answering them?) But hopefully it wasn’t too confusing. Jon just did the morning sweep and no dead beavers today. A happy looking live beaver chewing on his supper at ward street with a green heron standing guard. Something like this.

Desperate times – Desperate Measures

heidi08 What's killing beavers now? August 18, 2015

No new deaths, but we continue to know nothing. All we know is what it isn’t. Not disease. Not Infection. Not toxoplasmosis. Not antifreeze. Not any toxic we have looked at, and we’re running our of beaver tissue to look at. I had a long conversation with the vet at CDFW yesterday and discussed the possibility of maybe doing a blood sample of one of the living beavers but she was very clear that this would only be useful if we knew what we were looking for.

And we don’t.

She said it was not worth traumatizing a beaver for very little information. And I was so relieved. Jon and I hated the thought anyway. One thing she did say is that the recently recovered beaver had apple in its stomach with a store bought label on it, and did we think anyone was feeding them? Or deliberately poisoning them?

Feeding, yes. Poisoning, who knows? So all we can do for now is keep a very close eye out and ask folks not to feed. The people who care about our beavers will stop, and the people who keep feeding will become suspects I guess.

Nuts for Scottish Beavers

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver News, Beavers elsewhere, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's saving beavers now? August 23, 2015

11913903_920262254682244_6973812627803513536_n — Rhona Forrester

So ITV is the Un-BBC in the UK with slightly more hip programming. “Nature nuts” stars a famous gay (they say ‘camp’) comedian traipsing about the country looking for and learning about wildlife. In the most recent episode he went to Scotland and visited Bob Smith of the Free Tay Beaver group. Bob brought him by canoe out to the beavers he’s been following, and the host brought along a camera man from David Attenborough to catch the first signs of the kits. Here they are discussing strategy. The host is on the stump throne, and Bob is seated with the canoe paddle.Of course I wanted to watch it right away, but the cruelty of nationality forbade me. It’s online there but it tells you you need to be in the UK to partake. Sigh. I knocked desperately on a few doors and begged as heartily as I could and was kindly sent a copy by a fairy godmother who warned me against sharing. I thanked my lucky stars and settled down for the treat. And what a treat! Beautiful photography, fun interactions and a beaver setting to envy. Of course the camerman captured the new kit and of COURSE I wept to see him swimming peacefully along in such pristine habitat. I assume this will be available outside the UK eventually and I will make sure to post it here, because you need to see it!

11903716_920261854682284_3042440587892140657_n — Rhona Forrester

Some of the folks from the free Tay beaver group turned out for the shoot, you can see Paul Ramsay in the middle there. Everyone was excited by the final episode, which you can see by looking at the Save the Free Beavers of the River Tay facebook page.

The habitat is so different from ours I was gripped with envy I can’t fully describe. A huge traditional lodge of sticks and a hanging forest to forage. No trash or homeless. And a beautiful pond to canoe across and see the beavers from their element.

11219724_920261531348983_4739336096757531898_n — Rhona Forrester

I’m so proud of what Scotland has accomplished this last decade. They overturned centuries of beaver ignorance and pushed their ecosystem value onto center stage. Both with the formal trial and the informal wild beavers. They generated interest and appreciation for a species that hadn’t been seen since the 1600’s. It has helped beavers not just in the UK but in every country by changing, informing and enriching the ecological conversation.

I’m especially honored to have met Paul and Louise and played a very small part in helping them coordinate support and generate media attention. I just read this morning that Paul is currently working on a book, which I, for one, cannot WAIT to read! Their beaver work is truly and EPIC TAIL.

11855681_1117893984905616_2249730862182012702_n — Mum & Kit on the Ericht: Bob Beaver-Boy Smith

Giving up on love…

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and water, Environmental, In the News August 16, 2015

We’ve all been there. That moment when waiting for Mr. or Mrs. Right just makes no sense and we decide to forage on our own anyway. Why wait for love to start our lives when we have our own ability to start things? Unfortunately for Beatrix it took her captors 31 days to decide that it wasn’t worth her waiting anymore. During which she lived in concrete blocks covered with plywood, tormented by the sound of rushing water she could never reach. Remember?

Now she’s finally free.

Dam floods area; beaver moved

TULALIP — Beavers are natural engineers, but can be a nuisance if they’re residing in residential or city areas.

This was the case for “Beatrix” a name given to a female North American beaver by the students at Brookeside Elementary, who was flooding the school’s play field with her dams.

But Beatrix was in luck because the “Beaver Bill” and the agreement of the Tulalip Tribes meant that there are government regulations on who can handle and relocate beavers.

“We thought this was a perfect time to relocate this animal and get her to a better place,” Dittbrenner said.

She was finally captured in July until Aug. 6 she was released into the Skyhomish River.

I guess they thought a month in concrete was long enough. Or that they were nearing the deadline of when a beaver would have enough time to create a food cache before winter. Remember how the last article talked about how important it was to find her a mate she liked and introduce the pair to their new home together? Well, the party line has changed now. (Of course the media didn’t glance at the other article and ask why the line changed. Why would they?)

Before Beatrix was captured, it was revealed that she was a single beaver through wildlife surveillance. Cameras were set up around her beaver lodge to monitor before capture.

Though Beatrix is without a mate, she is a highly social animal and should be able to pair with a beaver at her new location.

“They’re just so happy to see another beaver, and take to each other really well,” assistant wildlife supervisor Molly Alves said.

Just to refresh our memories, here’s what the last article said:

Now the rodent, named “Beatrix” by neighbors, waits for the nonprofit Beavers Northwest that captured her to find her a mate. Pairing up beavers makes it more likely they’ll stay at that spot.

Lucky Beatrix.

Remind me never to be that lucky, okay?

In the interest of fairness I will say that it’s way better to move beavers than to kill them. And that I know these folks want beavers to be living free doing what they do best. But honestly. If you’re going to release her anyway, just do it without the concrete motel 6 stay. Okay? I’m still having nightmares from this footage.

Now that we have THAT out of the way, here’s a fun photo shoot from the Napa beaver pond yesterday. Quite the wildlife corridor wouldn’t you say?

“And sore must be the storm”

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, What's killing beavers now? August 15, 2015