Raising beaver awareness is hard. Sometimes people have good design ideas and excellent graphic abilities but depend entirely on stealing other peoples photos and then sticking their own watermark on them. Sheesh. Nice company in Illinois though with some fantastic ready for sale interpretive sighs. Boy I would love to see what they do with our Ecosystem poster.
And Building a strong family home
Other organizations have original and EXCELLENT ideas but are not so hot on the design side. Never mind. That will come as you get inundated with excellent beaver photos. They are off to a great start. Check out this excellent plan and program from Beaver Works in Eastern Oregon.
Beaver Works Oregon, a program of Think Wild, invites people who live and play along the Deschutes River to get to know beavers as shapers of wildlife habitat and protectors of precious water in a dry land. To launch its River Neighbors initiative, the group will offer a trail camera loan program, a wildlife photo contest and guided river walks at the Old Mill District of Bend.
“Living on one river, we are linked to one another,” said Reese Mercer, program director of Beaver Works Oregon. “Our new River Neighbors initiative invites people to share perspectives, find common currents and learn about the ecology of the Deschutes River.”
Getting people to think about their wild neighbors is a great goal. And our friends at Beaver Works have some fantastic ideas about how to go about it. The image doesn’t do much for me. But just look at this:
River Wildlife Photo Contest: Charge up your digital cameras, smartphones or auto trail cameras to enter and share your best photo or short video recording taken from your property if you are a river neighbor resident, or along the public lands by the Deschutes. The contest runs through October 15. Prizes awarded via a raffle include a gift certificate to WinterCreek Restoration and Nursery and one of our favorite trail cameras.
EXCELLENT! Get people to see the nature all around them by luring them into photographing it. It’s how I started caring about beavers. And how Rusty started.
Trail Camera Loan Program: Residents along the Deschutes River can reserve infrared trail cameras to enjoy riverine wildlife activity, from beavers to otters and mink. The video cameras record what animals are doing while people are away or sleeping. They provide vital insights to animal patterns and behaviors that in turn can inform ways people and wildlife can live harmoniously on the river.
Good. Sometimes people aren’t up for 4:30 alarm clocks or braving mosquitoes. Let technology show them what they’re missing. People are more likely to care about it if they see it. We learned that in spades.
Guided River Walks: Join a small group for socially distanced walks along the Deschutes River to learn of the wildlife along this riverscape and the benefits of beaver in our riparian ecosystems. The first monthly hour-long walk will be held Sunday, September 22 at 8am. Registration, which is free, at the Beaver Works website is required.
Outstanding. Get people out and seeing it in person. People care about what they’ve seen. Teach them how to watch and what they’re seeing means. Let them bring their children and their questions. This is a great way to get folks to care.
