It’s nice to know that there are folks who will leap to the beaver-rescue in other ways. Check out and sign this fine petition against re-opening the trapping of beavers to fur-dealers. It only takes a second to sign, and it was down at 200 signatures last night. Let’s push it to 1000.
And onward to advocacy from our Scottish friends, I loved Bob Smith’s letter.
Don’t make a beaver problem worse
SIR, – Through discussion with others, it has become apparent that some farmers within Tayside might be creating problems for themselves with regards to the beaver population here, which is currently being monitored by SNH via the Tayside Beaver Study Group.
There have been instances of individuals clearing away food caches. Unfortunately this will only encourage the animals to fell more trees.
Removal of bushes and trees as a food source results in sacrificing the integrity of the river banks and can/will lead to long term issues such as erosion and scouring of the banks.
Digging out dams and clearing out burrows will force them to create more burrows elsewhere, perhaps in a worse location. Lethal removal of the animals will often just encourage other beavers to take up the same location.
If you want some more discreet help without going through the study group, there are a number of people around who can quietly advise.
It is important to learn from this so that when the Scottish Government is deciding whether to formally introduce beavers or not, that it has some evidence to fall back on. If it is not aware off the range of situations that might be occurring, it will assume that no such issues exist.
Other farmers will thank you for coming forwards with your experiences now, as lessons learned may well help them in the future.
Bob Smith Treetops, Victoria St, Rattray, Blairgowrie,Nice work Bob! People need to know some alternatives for meddling with beavers. Here in Martinez they would have happily take away their dams, their trees and their burrows if we let them.
This morning’s donation comes from the San Francisco Zoo, who generously offered four free tickets (two adults two children) for sale at the silent auction. When’s the last time you went to the zoo? Maybe stopped off along ocean beach to walk on the sand and hear a seagull or two. I have always had wonderful adventures at the SF zoo. One time a baby barking deer escaped and followed me around. One time a baby ant eater was getting a ride on his mother’s back. I always love to watch the lion feeding at lunch time just because of the roars that rattle through your bones. I’m thinking we all really need to go to the zoo. Thanks SF ZOO!
