Not a Concerto

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Who's Killing Beavers Now? January 7, 2011

Monday beaver friends Sharon Brown of Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife and Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions will be trotting down to their local public television stations to record an interview for Canadian Broadcasting about the beaver situation in Brandenburg Germany. Click the video for a nice summary of the situation. Officials are concerned that (wait for it) burrowing into banks could cause a collapse of the levee that protects the town. (Gosh sounds familiar…) Apparently there are still a few level heads in the country who have suggested that digging produces irrational fears in humans and people are panicking unnecessarily. I made sure they had Skip’s digging report and wished them well.

UPDATE: Beaver friend and WORTH A DAM foreign correspondent Alex Hiller sends these remarks:

What is being reported in the article is a long lasting problem depending on poor dam protection at the Polish side of river Oder. The border between Poland and Gerrnany goes along the middle of the river. On German side all dams were improved after the so called century flooding of 2001.

On the Polish side of river Oder nothing was done – except for repeated complaints. I learned about that situation from local German beaver defenders of that region when I was exploring beaver sites over there in autumn of 2005. It was supposed the complaints were meant to receive money from European Union funds, getting flood protection sponsored.

The big dams along the riverside are set back into the flat land at least fifty yards or more. I haven`t seen a beaver lodge being build on dry land with a tunnel of fifty yards to get access to the water.

What was in discussion and is still highly recommended are emergency hills to be built artificially between the riverbank and the flood protection dams that would offer refuge to all kind of wildlife. I learned about people that had stepped onto dams in the century flooding of 2001 after their villages had been flooded due to broken stretches of the same dams and started clubbing beaver families that climbed up onto the same dams because the people were afraid the beavers might dig into those dams and destroy them.

Beavers are being strongly protected by nature protection law in western European Countries ending at the eastern boarder of Germany, exactly in the middle of river Oder. In all eastern European countries, starting with Poland just across river Oder beaver affairs are being covered by hunting law. Complaining about the beaver means increasing the numbers of beavers for shooting ( they do not set traps in eastern European countries but shoot ). The Riga beaver conflict of Latvia was about hunting by shooting in town which is prohibited,

In Germany we have two cities named Frankfurt: Frankfurt at (river) Oder, a big town at the German-Polish boarder about an hours drive east of German capital Berlin vs. Frankfurt at (river) Main where I live just in the middle of Germany and about five hours drive southeast of Berlin.

Alex

Thanks SO much Alex! Of course remember all too well our own sheet-pile-palooza.

(A little aside. For some reason the German video was only possible to embed in – uh – German so I downloaded it in English, converted it and put it back up since I discovered that my personal Youtube account has been ‘upgraded’ to hold longer files. Hmmm. Who knew? Documentary?)

So Close and Yet So Far…

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Uncategorized, Who's Killing Beavers Now? October 24, 2010

A beaver dam at the Carriagetown Marketplace in Amesbury.Jim Vaiknoras/Staff

Hotel plan faces unusual foe in beavers

by: Lynne Hendricks

It’s a rainy sunday so lets go to Amesbury, Massachusetts where a fine developer known as the “True Homestead Partnership” wants to build a Hampton Inn near a shopping mall. Sounds delightful. Problem is there are some beavers living in a drainage ditch near the mall and the owners of the complex have not thought them to be a problem. They’re making one of those dastardly ponds and the water is interfearing with their building plans.

Their trouble is not from the Planning Board or Conservation Commission, which are currently reviewing the plan. It’s not from angry neighbors — at least not the kind that walk on two legs. It’s coming from a family of beavers living next door. The beavers live on land owned by Carriagetown Marketplace LLC, 15 acres that encompasses Stop and Shop and a number of retailers. It’s the plan of developers True Homestead Partners to use the parcel of land east of the marketplace for the hotel, a 10,000-square-foot retail complex and parking. But working within the confines of their 2.5 acre site, the beaver-made swamp may make it difficult to accomplish that. Mayor Thatcher Kezer said the town’s hands are tied when it comes to the nesting family. “Unless we determine it’s a public health hazard, it has to be the landowners who bring it forward,” Kezer said.

Well now that’s the start of exciting and unfolding drama. Lets get the popcorn. You’ll want to replay this every Christmas. Remember that Massachusetts is a state where body crushing traps are outlawed unless certain conditions are met. The trappers association is constantly whining about how hard it is to kill beavers now and twisting arms in the statehouse to get the law overturned. The argument in this article seems to be that the city can’t do anything unless public safety is at risk. That isn’t true. They could hire a trapper to use the woefully inconvenient and body-pampering traps if they wanted to. The beavers would be just as dead at the end of it. So what gives?

Does Kezer want to foce a big favor from Homestead before he’s willing to kill some beavers? Did someone from Carriagetown have a bad breakup with someone from Homestead? Does everybody in Amesbury love beavers? Or is there nobody willing to go in the water this time of year? I wrote the Mayor, the spokeswoman from Audubon and the paper that Beaver Solutions are waiting just two hours away. I guess I’m not complaining that everyones throwing up their hands and saying we can’t trap. It’s just confusing. Trust me it gets worse

It is illegal to tear open or disturb an active beaver dam unless one obtains a permit, which isn’t easy to obtain. But while the beaver’s mass of bundled sticks and mud can’t be destroyed, the law allows landowners some options. Unfortunately for the animals, those options for the most part involve killing them. There’s only one method that provides a win-win for the beaver and developer. Water-level control devices, for instance, make the beaver habitat less desirable, as long as one has a permit. The theory behind the measures is to alter the dam in a way that can’t be fixed by the animals, and hence ultimately persuades the critters to move on. But this option can be tricky since beavers are attuned to the sounds of water escaping their dam and by instinct will move quickly to shore up any weaknesses in their home. Other than that, the law does not provide any other means of relocating the animals.

Did you get that? This article begins with a flourish worthy of the 1812 overature. There’s only one method that provides a win-win for the beaver and the developer. WATER CONTROL DEvICES!!!!!!!!!Wow I got all excited and for a minute there thought I was in love. The next sentence changed everthing, as we dropped from 1812 overture to ‘theme from Hee-Haw“. Flow devices”Make the beaver habitat less desirable. and ultimately persuade the critters to move on”. Is there a mark on my forehead? I keep slapping it when I read STUPID articles. Ahhh Lynne, you were this close.

I’m not sure where you got that misinformation from. Did Mr. Kezer tell you that water control devices make beavers go away? Did Ms. Rines from Audubon? Did you read it on a cereal box? Just so you know. If flow devices made beavers move on, they would be a complete waste of time and a wasted investment. Because new beavers would just move in. Just like when you trap. The point of flow devices is to preserve the conditions that the humans need (lower dam, unblocked culvert) in such a way that the beavers can tolerate it. Then they stay in the area and mark the territory and keep any other beavers from moving in.

Oh and Lynne? beavers do walk on their hind legs.

That’s mom carrying mud and sticks onto the old lodge, BTW. This footage was shot by Moses Silva about two years ago Ahh mom, we miss you. Nice to see you again.

Some of our lucky viewers might notice a new image in your menu bar and bookmark. I figured out yesterday how to do the favicon we used to have on the old site, but I thought the logo was a little mishapen so I tried this instead. It may take a while to show on your site, but it should eventually. This is a silhouette designed by Libby Corliss based on a photo taken by Cheryl Reynold. Thanks ladies!

License to Kill (Easier)

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver News, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions, Massachusetts Trapping Law, Who's Killing Beavers Now? October 24, 2010

Out in Massachusetts the disgruntled folk from the Committee for Resposible Wildlife Management are headed to a lazy man’s victory. The bill making it easier to circumvent humane standards for killing beavers has been approved by the governor and is in its final stages before passage. Just remember, where beavers are concerned the problems rarely have anything to do with reason. (Martinez knows that fairly well through first hand experience.) The original law requiring humane traps passed in the commonwealth back in 1996. It included a list of 9 lengthy exceptions to the rule under which traditional trapping could still be used. At that time, Clinton was president, the economy was booming, and everybody knew somebody that was doing a start-up.

I guess times really do change.

Water Works

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions August 29, 2010

Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions in Massachusetts points out this footage which was taken by a satisfied client at Farrar Pond on Friday. The first thing I noticed was the speakers reference to the round filter with a domed top that Mike installs to block entrance to the pipe — the narrator refers to it as a “Beaver Dome” which made me giggle and think,

Two Beavers enter

One beaver leaves.

Good thing Mike had his summer helper (his nephew, Devin) for this massive project which involves three pipes and requires underwater installation. The residents are only willing to have the flow device visible once every three years when they lower the pond level to control vegetation, so everything has to be installed underwater. Thankfully, its been a hot summer and Mike said the water was pleasantly cool, not cold.

Well that went smoothly, didn’t it? A well oiled beaver installation team. Managing the third pipe is a little more challenging and Devin unwillingly looses control of it. They eventually get the thing righted and finish it off. All in a days beaver work. I can’t help but wonder if the beavers were watching from the lodge and snickering amongst themselves.

Looking at that deep pool I remember our own dam and how high it used to be. Beaver friend Bill sends this photo of the old dam that gave me a pang of nostalgia. Ahh how lovely! Didn’t Mom and Dad do a great job?

Ohh and apparently a certain prominent property owner has cleverly suggested the area be named ‘Puddle park’. This amused me, as it is as near to a veiled admission of his own tempest-in-a-teapot fears as I believe we will ever see. Still, I wondered, given the use of the area under the bridge by the homeless, perhaps what he meant to say was ‘Piddle’ park?

A Beaver Management How-to

heidi08 Beaver News, Beaver-themed merchandise, Creative Solutions, featured, Friends of Martinez Beavers, Video May 19, 2010

At long last Mike Callahan’s instructional DVD is available to make the techniques and tools of beaver management accessible to every property owner and township. Having reviewed my own copy last Wednesday I can testify that the instruction is offered in pragmatic, easy-to-understand language, and will contribute substantially to the welfare of beavers and landowners for decades to come. A second clip of testimonials is viewable on his updated website, and purchasing information can be found by clicking here. Attentive beaver watchers will soon recognize our very own Martinez beavers featured in section two, which couldn’t please this particular supporter more!

There are lots of parts of beaver advocacy that are frustrating, disappointing and tiring. This isn’t one of them. I am eager to see this DVD in every public library across the country. I am impatient to see every city manager forced to watch it at breakfast twice a year, and hopeful that it will become regular fare at Fish & Game or the Department of Transportation soon. Do your part to help spread the word that any city smarter than a beaver can manage a beaver and let’s make doing the right thing harder and harder to avoid.

Thanks Mike! And congratulations!