It seems that everywhere else in America (and probably Canada too) it’s beaver killing season. Reports from New York, and Illinois and South Carolina bemoan the dastardly fiends and praise the heroic johnny-come-deadly beaver trapper who saved the town by snagging the culprits. So much so that this is the cover photo in this mornings Lincoln Courier.
Click for Image if you are that kind of person.
LINCOLN —
For residents who live in the Brainard Branch area in Lincoln they can breathe collective relief sighs in regards to the problems they have with beavers.
Lincoln Streets and Alley superintendent Tracy Jackson said his department has continued to tear down many of the dams the animals make and has been battling this since the early spring.
Jackson said he is grateful to the efforts of Troy Hanger, of Lincoln, for his tenacity in wanting to rid the area of this problem.
Hanger, a licensed trapper, says the 62-pound beaver was not an easy catch.
“He avoided me for two weeks. I would put three or four beaver casters out to attract them by scent and I would see the trees chewed but he wouldn’t go near the trap,” said Hanger who started this project on Nov. 5, the first day of the trapping season.
Articles like this make me very discouraged that we will ever get to a more intelligent place in beaver policy. On mornings like today when there are so many stories of carnage that I get to pick and choose between varieties of beaver stupid I worry that it is hopeless and it will never get better. The beaver moon was named because its a good time to remember to kill beavers, and that’s true for everywhere in America.
Except Martinez.
A group of beaver supporters gathered on the bridge near the Amtrak station in Martinez on Wednesday to celebrate the Beaver Moon Credit David Mills
Perhaps it was because it was the night of the Beaver Moon. Whatever it was, two of Martinez’s beavers made an appearance at sundown Wednesday while a dozen onlookers watched. The crowd had gathered on the bridge near the city’s Amtrak station downtown at 5 p.m. under the November full moon known as the Beaver Moon or Frost Moon. About 5:15 p.m., the first beaver swam out from its den along the banks of Alhambra Creek. He disappeared, but a few minutes later another beaver came out, swam near one of the colony’s dams, grabbed a vine and brought it back to the den. The event, organized by the community group Worth A Dam, was designed as a celebration of the beaver community in town.
Worth A Dam. Changing the world one beaver at a time.
Apparently the full Beaver Moon we just had was also a Blue Moon, because it is the fourth full moon in a season.I wish I had known, I always like to do something once in a blue moon! I just know it was traffic stopping rising up behind Mt. Diablo on my way home. It is of course traditionally the reminder for all good sportsmen and landowners to head out and set their traps before the great freeze. Sniff. I like to imagine it as something kinder, maybe the bright light that allows beavers to gather their winter food in the dark, or a reminder to us that the holiday season is upon us and it’s time to get “busy as a – ‘.
The good news is that it allowed Jon to see dad and a kit coming down stream under the tile bridge this morning with branches. We’re happy for the sighting because we had not spotted our father beaver since September 8th. We’ve been trying vainly to figure out the family structure and wondering if the loss of mom from the colony will mean it separates or drifts apart. Dad and GQ seem to be living pretty separate lives, which suggests to me that GQ is a male. The kits seem to have divided up between the two, although they all interact every night and seem to get along fine. It’s hard to know what the loss of a matriarch means for a colony, but I’m sure no one has observed it more closely than Martinez, so we’ll keep watching.
At the very least the sighting means that our beavers are feeding upstream, which is good because there’s plenty of habitat springing back to life around starbucks. The graphic above is from the Atlantic Monthly, but I thought I’d make my own.
Jon trotted down beneath the light of the beaver-y moon to catch sight of beavers milling about the place. Two at the old lodge, one climbing up a bank, and one chewing near the footbridge. It was too dark to tell if number four was mom or dad, but its nice to see the whole family every now and then. A pefect ending to the occasion of the 700th post on this website, which is a fairly hefty landmark to pass.Thanks many of you for making the journey with me.
One of the sighs of relief I can breathe now is that since we’ve fully entered November the odds of vast foolish being planned for the beaver section of Alhambra Creek have gone down considerably. We are now in the “stay away from the creek by order of F&G” zone of winter, which, mind you, doesn’t preclude a sudden “emergency” decision, but does mean that the massive work they want to do on the east bank won’t come this year. Hurray! No new tragedies! This weekend I read idly through the posts for last october of the sheetpile-palooza. I had forgotten how horrifically demoralizing and upsetting that period of time was. No wonder I breathed easier when we hit November.
On related notes I am told that bird-foam-weary Cheryl actually has the day off today, so maybe she’ll get some rest and be able to relax. RL is hard at work finding out about the black mountain beavers, and tomorrow I have a meeting with the city staff about the children’s art tile project for the Escobar Bridge. This weekend we’re supposed to be at the Save Mt. Diablo event at Castle Rock.
Every now and then a post gets a little flurry of attention, and Sundays “Descant on a foolish connecticut land-trust” managed to be this month’s entry. A couple feisty beaver friends wrote Mr. Peterson and sent me his responses. I sent my own very polite letter, along with the link to my less polite column. I thought you’d want to see his response.
Thanks for your thoughts. I also appreciate the exposure related impacts of an email such as the one i sent could have. I was actually expecting reactions similar to yours. The best suggestions for solutions have come from those opposed to this type of action as a proposed stewardship plan. That said. I still did recieve several others promoting it as a sound stewardship practice when combined with good design or when there is an overpopulation for a given ecosystem.
My email was expected to identify other alternatives and resources suggested by a broad distribution to a variety of groups on all sides. The strong emotions against trapping as an option brought forth the best alternative ideas, resources and possible solutions that had not previously been brought to our attention. Those that support trapping were not as quick to offer solutions rather quick to support this as a sound stewardship practice.
The PR aspect was to help me express to our entire board that thier are strong views on both sides and to find out the positive and negative impacts of this type of action in other communities. Most of the public views expressed are in opposition of the overpopulation of beavers in this area based on the damage they have caused. I was expecting more land trusts that permitt hunting, in general, on thier properties to provide feedback on how it is percieved by the public. I then reflect on some of the insightful comments by the anti-hunter contingent to this inquiry and maybe those land trusts would prefer to leave those practices less public.
This ecosystem can not support the beaver population current here and they are instinctively converting the wetland to a pond to support thier presense. This location, altered by man has given the beavers an opportunity to further change the landscape. With a connected and healthy 5 acre pond, this affected area needs to see the emergent vegitation restored and wetland grasses return to make a riparian buffer of an appropriate size for the area and restore the area to its condition when donated to us. Again some of these problems are caused by poorly designed roads over the years and overdevelopment – which are not in under our control.
I conceed and agree that suggesting our Town share in the blame (for this type of actions) may not be the most appropriate tact to take. Again to inappropriately throw stones – our Town has not been overly helpful in modifying the roads or storm water systems to mitigate the requirement for a healthy riparian buffer to this pond. The Town actually has permitted (under enacted ordinaces) the volume of water traversing this property by some pooly designed storm water systems, increased impervious surfaces and riparian buffer desruction.
We have other properties that have a cycle of beaver activity that are naturally regulated by them moving in and out to permit the property to recover. We let these alone and exist in harmony. Qe are going to impliment one of the suggested hybrid designs for now and see if this can decieve the beavers for now to get us through winter. I will post our progress of the project and our actions taken when it is completed.
Thanks,
Guy
Ahhh, where to begin. How about by noticing that this is a man who is very happy to have learned the word “Ecosystem” when his daughter was in fourth grade. Like many before him, he believes it is a magic shield and if he clutches it convincingly to his chest he can ward off all challenges to his motives or compassion. “The ecosystem can’t support that many beavers!” Gosh. I wonder why those beavers didn’t get the memo? I mean birth rate is determined by caloric intake which is determined by available food source. So can it truly not support them? Or are you referring to the ecosystem of your internal tolerance, which I agree, appears strained?
You do realize beavers are territorial right? Your yearlings will disperse, by hook or by crook, over land or over water to find their new homes. The beavers you are enduring right now are keeping others away. If you get rid of this “batch” of beavers, you will get another one.
“And makes us rather bear those ills we have, than fly to others that we know not of”.
LK’s spiffy phone app tells us that tonight’s full moon is the “Beaver Moon”, which is a very cool thing for a phone App to tell you. Either its a remnant from the days of yore when you had to set your traps before it froze OR its a compassionate observation that beavers need to buckle down and get ready or the long winter. Either way it seems like a great occasion for an evening beaver festival and I dream of twinkling lights down at the dams with bonfires, carolers and hot chocolate.
But like all facts concerning beavers there is some controversy involved. Some tell us that the first full moon in November is the beaver moon, no matter what, full stop. Some are more prevaricating saying that this years Harvest moon was later, so this is actually the Hunter’s moon, and Beaver moon will be next. This website says that the Hunter’s moon is actually another name for the beaver moon, so what’s an urban skywatcher to do?
Here’s what they all agree on. Because of our lagging moon schedule we’ll have two full moons in the month of December, which means the second ones BLUE. Yes that’s right, on the last night of the last day of the last month of the last year of the “zeros” we will celebrate the “once in a blue moon” opportunity that you’ve been waiting for. Hmm. I have to make plans. In the meantime, be careful with that phrase, because the evening of a Blue Moon is coming.
I have some updates from friends: First from Robert Rust, the kindly soul who kayaks our creek and cleans up the beaver dams.
We had a fairly high tide this weekend. I removed quite a bit of litter from the lower dams. We want our beaver environment to be photogenic.
Thanks Bob!
Then a note from beaver advocate in NJ who manages the website and nonprofit Unexpected Wildlife Refuge Inc. Seems she read my post about marketing Mike Callahan’s Beaver management videos and contacted him to offer help promoting them in her state. True to the name, this bit of unexpected generosity surprised Mike, and reminded me that other people read this website besides just my mother. Sarah later wrote to tell me about the Connecticut Connundrum I posted about later, and added this;
On a less tense note, just came in from beaver watching on the Dyke. I found (after about a week of on and off rain amounting to about 3″ – 4″ – I am guessing but it was steady and relentless and the dam is flooded over) a new modest bank lodge off the dyke path sticking upstream. It would appear the main lodge got flooded out. Me (with a wet arse) and Dave the Cat were rewarded when, at moon rise, a small beaver came out and swam hastily upstream. This is GREAT news because after watching the lodge all summer I only ever saw one large beaver. I thought she was alone. We have a family! Funny how a 9 pound, fuzzy, webfooted quadruped can make life so wonderful.
Ah, Sarah! We can’t wait for the day that we get another couple of 9 lb quadrapeds…sigh.
And finally we got this rumor from our history-buff friend in Los Altos.
Learned from Midpeninsula Open Space ranger on Black Mountain (near Los Altos) Saturday that they released beaver SUCCESSFULLY on Lake Elsman. Looking for web references but not successful yet. Stay tuned!
Now this is an interesting rumor. I will keep sniffing around to follow that up. Happy Beaver Moon, (maybe!) and don’t forget to look up!
