You probably heard the joke about the very old man who started dating a young woman a third of his age. His friends were impressed but his physician was worried. “Walter,” he advised shaking his head. “You’re not a young man. At your age, sexual activity can kill!”

To which Walter replied glibly without missing a beat “Well, if she dies, she dies!”

I actually think of this joke every time I read a report about Emma Doden and  her extremely risky beaver relocation in Utah. This article doesn’t mention it but the success rate is less than 5o percent. There never seems to be any improvement in getting the beavers to live after they are moved. But the stories spin on as if there was a great accomplishment being hailed. I guess it’s slightly better than being crushed in a conibear, but for pete’s sake. The Methow project has been doing this work a long time and has some good advice about how to improve survival. Why aren’t you using their information?

Beavers Saved From Euthanasia Transform and Replenish Rivers in the Utah Desert

Beavers and their dams can positively impact essentially any environment they’re placed in, even the scorching heat of the Moab Desert in Utah. And that’s what a university researcher has achieved. (more…)