Ooh this is a fun day. There is so much good news to share, I’m like a kid in a beaver store! You will be too. Let’s start with a late April Fools from Canada that I received yesterday afternoon. I was excited by the headline, but you’re sure to be thrilled by the photo.
Beaver-deceivers to beaver believers
What started out as an ecologist’s dream ended up a nightmare mired in mud, myth and misery.
Rainer Wasserman is a 38-year old ecologist at The Ohio State University of Ohio, whose work used to focus on wetland restoration and ecosystems.
“When I first heard it, I didn’t believe it,” he said, shaking his head. He was referring to the first confirmed sighting of the Castorimorpha megaloenochae, a giant aquatic relative of the beaver, whose destructive power is equalled only by its orneriness. “I never saw one; neither did anyone else I’ve worked with over the years. Until recently, that is.”
The almost mythical creature came to the forefront recently when a 3-acre detention basin along King Street flooded in 2014. Great piles of debris blocked a culvert that allows for the basin to properly drain. And though beavers were fingered as obvious culprits, no one, in the basin’s ten year history, had ever actually seen the animals in the act of building the dams.
Hahaha! It reminds me of what I often say about our Castoroides skull….THIS is the size of the problems the city thought the beavers were going to cause! YS Ohio has definitely stepped onto the beaver stage this year. It has swallowed their news cycle, just like it did in Martinez. Funny to read a giant beaver is ruining a retention pond. To tell the truth though, considering the untrue things you say about beavers all the time, this article really isn’t that special.
Now it’s time to thank Connecticut because they had enough state pride to promote their resident filmmaker’s 3-part series on CPTV starting next week. I thought it was only going to show on the east coast, but when I called I learned that it will air on all PBS stations. The second part airs on tax day and will be about beavers!
CPTV to Air New Three-Part Nature Miniseries from New Haven Filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum
Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) will premiere the new three-part miniseries “Animal Homes” from filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum of New Haven, Conn., as part of the long-running PBS natural history series Nature on Wednesday, April 8 at 8 p.m. Parts 2 and 3 of the series will air on Wednesdays, April 15 and 22, also at 8 p.m.
This three-part series provides intimate, never-before-seen views of the lives of animals in their homes. It investigates just how animals build their remarkable homes around the globe and the intriguing behaviors and social interactions that take place in and around them.
Filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum, an avid outdoorswoman, has produced television documentaries for the past 20 years with a focus on the arts, science and nature. Her 2010 documentary “Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air” was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Nature Programming, and her film “An Original DUCKumentary” won the 2013 Emmy Award for Outstanding Nature Programming. Both films also aired on CPTV as part of the Nature series.
“Animal Homes: Location, Location, Location” (Premiering Wednesday, April 15 at 8 p.m.) – Finding a good base of operations is key to successfully raising a family. One must find the right stream or tree, the right building materials, neighbors and sometimes tenants. In the wild, every home is a unique DIY project, every head of household a designer and engineer. Cameras chart the building plans and progress of beavers, black bears, hummingbirds and woodrats, examining layouts and cross sections, evaluating the technical specs of their structures and documenting their problem-solving skills. Animal architecture provides insights into animal consciousness, creativity and innovation.
Whoohooo! More beavers on PBS! Thanks CT for the promotion, because I might not have known. I guess they were pretty happy with how Jari Osborne’s documentary did last year. You can read all about the upcoming miniseries here. Here’s a great promo to whet your appetite.
Something too look forward to on April 15th. How often can you say that?
Onto my favorite part of this trifecta of beaver cheer. It’s the just-spring update from Spring Farm Cares an animal sanctuary in New York. They’re good friends of Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife. Their beavers have just broken through the ice to check for treats. They made sure they weren’t disappointed.
- Beaver emerges- Spring Farm Cares
Aren’t those lovely? You might want to go see the whole thing for yourself here. Consider dropping something in their tip jar because they are doing wonderful things. There’s even adorable muskrats under ice photos. I’m very jealous that we never get to see beavers under ice, but there is one thing they photographed that Martinez has seen many, many times before.
