A morality play about asking for help

heidi08 Beavers, Festival April 13, 2014

When I was a child, I envied of the magical cast of adults and big sisters who made stories emerge from paper, and I couldn’t wait until I could do it myself. The very first book I “read” (i.e. memorized and pretended to read, even turning the pages at the right intervals and scaring the babysitter) was “The old woman and her pig.”

Even if you don’t think you remember it, I bet you will when I explain. The woman finds a crooked sixpence while sweeping her house and decides to go to the market and buy a pig, but on her way home the new pig won’t go over the stile, (which is a little english wooden platform that allows people on the public footpath to get thru the gate, but keeps livestock from getting out.) It looks like this.

After trying to push and coax him onto it, she goes to a nearby dog in frustration, asking “Dog, dog! Bite the pig! Pig will not jump over the stile and I shall not get home tonight!” But the dog won’t cooperate. Is this ringing a bell yet? You should be hearing it in your head soon. She goes to a stick and says “Stick, stick! Beat the dog. Dog will not bite my pig, pig will not jump over the stile and I shall not get home to night!”

Of course the stick won’t cooperate either, but she keeps asking for help – first for fire to burn the uncooperative stick, then water to put out the vexing fire, then an ox to drink the uncooperating water, then a butcher to kill the stubborn ox, then a rope to hang the difficult butcher, and finally mouse to chew that lazy rope.

The mouse is the only one who’s ready to consider her offer. He asks pragmatically “What’ll you give me if I do?”

Surprised, she reaches in her apron pockets and finds a tiny crust of bread which she lays in front of the mouse. He nibbles appreciatively, then agrees. And after all that asking the mouse begins to gnaw the rope. and the rope begins to hang the butcher, and the butcher begins to kill the ox, and the ox begins to drink the water, and the water begins to put out the fire, and the fire begins to burn the stick, and the stick begins to beat the dog, and the dog begins to bite the pig, and the pig decides to finally go over the stile…

And that little old woman really does make it home that night!

Which, I’m sure you realize, reminds me vividly of what it’s like to organize every single beaver festival we’ve ever had.
And when I look at these together, I can see we’ve had a lot!

Beaver believers in Alaska!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's Killing Beavers Now? July 29, 2013

Restore Quartz: This favorite Interior Alaska lake needs water; we can help

Dave Klein

In the past, beavers, through their building and maintenance of dams, have played a major role in maintaining higher water levels in the Shaw Creek Flats, allowing increased amounts of water to flow from the flats into Quartz Lake. The periodic presence of beaver dams on the small lakes and drainages in the flats adjacent to Quartz Lake has coincided with high water levels in the lake.

Coincidence? I think NOT. This is a great article that works as hard as it possibly can to say WE NEED BEAVERS YOU IDIOTS without out name calling. The author is a professor emeritus at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, and he is definitely a beaver friend, and maybe even a friend of this site. Just read this.

Continued lowering of the water table throughout the flats also increases the likelihood of wildfire during the spring and summer. Beavers, as builders of dams that control water levels, have effectively demonstrated their engineering and hydrological skills, and they do their work when permitted at no charge to the state.

Dave! Awesome advocacy for beavers. Have you considered beaver festival Alaska? You could have this whole t’linget component to the festival, and teach people about beavers and the watershed. Call me, we can chat.

Now back to our previously scheduled countdown.

Worth A Dam hosts 6th Annual Beaver Festival in Martinez

Why are a beaver’s teeth orange? Do they really pat down mud with their tails? You can learn the answers and other fun facts about beavers at the 6th annual Beaver Festival in Martinez on Saturday, August 3rd from 11 am to 4 pm.

Heidi Perryman, President & Founder of Worth A Dam, is excited about the positive response to their local beaver residents, and that their successful experience can also help educate other urban areas about co-existing with beavers. “This is our 6th festival and definitely our biggest. Last year there were 4 festivals modeled after our own nationwide and two in Canada! We are so happy to be reaching out to cities all across the state teaching them how and why to live with beavers.”

Nice article from the Beth Pratt of the Examiner. Go read the whole thing, and try not to get nervous for Saturday, okay? In the past 24 hours I’ve turned down three booths that wanted to be included at the last minute. We definitely got the attention of the wildlife community. The only thing that can go wrong now, short of meteor or alien invasion is that nobody could come.

Beaver Gladness

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Dispersal, Environmental, Festival, pictures July 4, 2013

Beaver damming story missed something

HOPKINTON —

Ms. Podorefsky’s recent article about beavers (Beavers damming in Hopkinton) missed one important point. Most conflicts between humans and beavers can be solved non-lethally; trapping is usually not necessary.

If they continue to pursue trapping, Hopkinton officials will eventually learn the hard way that it’s impossible to permanently solve problems with beavers by killing them in any manner; more beavers will return, plug culverts, and rebuild dams repeatedly if the habitat suits them- as it obviously does at a few locations in Hopkinton. Furthermore, under the law, the Board of Health trapping permits are only supposed to be granted in situations where public health and safety are at risk – not to prevent a future potential problem.

Linda Huebner

Deputy Director, Advocacy

Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

If Linda sounds familiar, she should. I met her through Mike Callahan and she did a lovely job on his testimonials section of the DVD. Nice Op-ed Linda, and I’m so glad you wrote! Their pretend surprise irritated me so much I could only have written about what was missing between their EARS.

Did you get the new copy of Bay Nature this month? Well just in case you haven’t read it yet there is one article in particular that should interest you. And if you don’t get Bay Nature you should, or you might try the subscription donated to our silent auction for a year before you realize you can’t live with out it. Recognize this adorable photo? You’ll probably want to go read the entire article here. Hopefully we’ll get plenty of interest for this year’s beaver festival!

Now for a fun article from Seattle which clearly has the kindest comments you will ever read in the vast history of beaver reporting. Take a peak and see if I’m wrong.

‘You can’t imagine seeing somebody eat a tree in Seattle’

Cheryl caught a great moment with one of our kits the other night and we’ll be out tonight to make sure the foot traffic behaves itself by the beaver dams!

And finally a taste of things to come from Amelia yesterday, there will be changes but this is looking sharp!

Details Details

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver-themed merchandise, Educational, Environmental, Festival, Friends of Martinez Beavers July 1, 2013

Holy guacamole bat man, it’s starting to look like we’re having a beaver festival! Enjoy the soothing layout and delineated lines because all to soon it will become a clutter of children, parents and teens visiting the booths and learning why beavers matter. I decided we needed street names because it is too confusing to tell people where to go, and I like the idea that they are named for our beaver works, not for our guests! We definitely have a full house this year and now I’m off to find whether they city will let us mark spaces with some kind of removable chalk!

The River Otter Ecology folks (Wildlife Row, west) launched this video last night which is a very clever use of their trail cams and is sure to get lots of hits. Go give them some beaver love and pass it on.

And just in case you aren’t sure now…

It never rains, but it pours!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver News, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Dispersal, Earth Day, Festival March 27, 2013

Do you remember being a kid and running home so excited to tell a story that you could barely find the breath to carry your announcement? Maybe you wanted to get home before your brother so that you could tell it FIRST! This is how I feel this morning, but I will exercise a modicum of self control and tell you the most exciting news LAST because that’s the kind of girl I am.

Yesterday I received my April-June copy of Bay Nature and guess what I found on page 11? Very nice colors and eye-catching location. The undeniably first of its kind advertisement for a beaver festival they have ever had. Indeed, probably the first ad for a wildlife festival of any kind. Nice.

I know what you’re thinking. How can you possibly top that? Well, how about a positive beaver article from Texas? Yes, Texas.

Walls: Beavers have value in conservation

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, beavers were hunted extensively for the value of their pelts. By 1910, their populations became dramatically low in many parts of the United States. So low that strict regulation of their harvest was implemented. Their value as soil and water conservationists is well known by many educated land owners and sportsmen.

Mind you, its no High Country News or Canadian National Geographic, but its definitely note worthy from a state that is generally known for beaver badness. All good things have to start somewhere, and I hope we see more and more beaver ecology coming from the Lone Star State.

Which leads me to our third good news of the day, and the most exciting piece yet. First some context. Back in 2010 I was invited to speak about our beavers at the Santa Clara Creeks Coalition Conference, which was a delightful day that introduced me to some fantastic advocates. One of the folks who attended my talk and got excited about beavers was the executive director of the Guadalupe River Conservancy in San Jose. She introduced me to some folks who introduced me to some folks who got me invited to the California State Parks conference that year. She donated handsomely to us in 2011 and also really, really wanted to build a network of support for beavers in the Guadalupe, just in case she could get permission to introduce some down the road.

Um.

Guess what was just spotted beside the river near a certain aquatic-predator named team’s silicon valley stadium?