So the director of public works assures me that they didn’t lower the pipe and that the pond will be the same height. Seeing that the filter is underwater I would be entirely uncomforted by this reassurance EXCEPT for that I had a profound realization at 3 am that changed my outlook entirely.
Bear with me here, but before they reinstalled the filter the pipe had been laying directly on the pond floor since the big washout in March. So all of spring and all of summer the pond was ‘controlled’ by a pipe placed at ground level. Although we saw Reed try and plug the pipe on the anniversary of mom’s death, it wasn’t until Dad came back in August that it stopped flowing.
Which means that even if they DID lower the pipe the pond won’t be any lower than last summer. Which is reassuring.
I went down this morning to check on the recovery expecting fierce rebuiding and maybe a red cross unit. I saw two beavers munching, a sleepy night heron, and no work done whatsoever. The tide was high so the secondary was mostly covered but you could still see the gash and nothing had been done to restore it. They clearly have their own pace at these things, even when we humans panic. Alright. We’ll sit tight.
Martinez has no monopoly here. Lots of stupid beaver news around the country and beyond this morning. Remember Upton, MA the city with the rare dragonfly that wanted to kill its beavers without ruining it’s special bugbog? Well they paid Mike Callahan to install a pipe to lower the pond, paid for the conservation commission former trapper to renew his license and kill two beavers and now are reporting that the pipe will keep the other beavers away. (Like Garlic?) Given the fact that I wrote the conservancy and the paper many many times that this was untrue, and the fact that they wrote me back so you know they read it, we will have to attribute this pretend conviction to willful ignorance and let Upton go with love.
Michael Callahan, of Beaver Solutions in Southampton, installed a pond-leveler which pumps water out of the bog while keeping beavers away.
A second bit of stupid comes from Scotland where there’s been rumors that they might just let the free beavers on the Tay stick around and do their thing. Paul Ramsay and friends did such a good job slowing down the massive beaver trapping that they might have escaped with only the zoo-death of Erica to show for it. Apparently the Scottish Game Keepers association is very alarmed at that idea and is ‘gamely’ offering to help do away with them.
One farmer in Angus is having to fell beaver lodges weekly on an adjacent burn to prevent large-scale flooding, with the animals regularly raising the water level by over a foot. “If I wasn’t having flood problems, I would be happy for the beavers to stay, but I don’t honestly see how we can carry on with it,” he said. “They have caused significant damage.”
Finally, a BEAVER-TRAPPING LOTTERY IN OHIO. (No I’m not kidding) Apparently they have so many compassionate humans that offer to protect their streams from beavers that they have to hold a lottery to decide who should be lucky enough to get to do it. Unbelievable. I have never felt closer to the Buckeye state than I do at this moment.
The city of Mansfield will hold a lottery card drawing for controlled beaver trapping at Clear Fork Reservoir. Two units will be available, a north unit and a south unit. Each successful trapper may have one assistant. Interested trappers may apply by mailing a 4 x 6 inch post card to Gary Foster, at 2678 Gass Road in Mansfield, 44904.
On a final note the website has been acting up lately and you probably encountered trouble loading pages. I’m told that it’s likely a ‘cache’ problem and have temporarily shuffled the home page down to holding only the last three posts to adjust for it. I spoke to our good old friend Scott Artis yesterday who is off bravely embarking on a new career in Bakersfield and he kindly said he’d look at it this weekend. Thanks Scott and let’s all keep our fingers crossed.
Too much information on this site. Apparently I talk to much. Who knew?
