This morning’s Sunday times, which is the widest-read paper in the UK, invites us all to pity the poor, frightened farmer whose very livelihood is hanging in the balance as we consider those horrible beavers.

Gnawing fears over beavers

The Scottish government’s plans to introduce legal protection for beavers while sanctioning lethal culls to protect the environment has prompted concern from wildlife campaigners. Beavers, which were hunted to extinction in Scotland during the 16th century, are due to get legal protection for the first time this year under plans to allow the species to expand naturally.

However, farmers and landowners will be allowed to shoot the animals under special licences issued by Scottish National Heritage to prevent flooding and protect trees from the expert dam-builders.

The approach has attracted criticism from animal rights campaigners who warn that “unofficial persecution” is being replaced by licensed killing.

Farmers and landowners have opposed the project amid reports that persecution of beavers, including pregnant females, has escalated during the run-up to plans to award the species legal protection.

The Scottish government is expected to place a statutory instrument before the Scottish parliament this year, granting the animals European protected species status.

“Where farmers are concerned about beaver activity on their land, we hope to see a well-funded support programme to resolve conflicts without resorting to lethal control,” said Harry Huyton, the charity’s director. “There are many non-lethal ways of managing the impact of beavers. Above all, we must ensure that the unofficial persecution they have suffered until now isn’t simply replaced by licensed lethal control.”

Mark Ruskell, a Scottish Green MSP, said: “The legislation to protect beavers has faced unacceptable delay and as a result there is a still a free-for-all whereby farmers and land managers can kill pregnant and nursing beavers this year with impunity.

“It’s important that whatever management regime is put in place is not based on the gun.”

I know that the big issue facing folks advocating for the Tay beavers was always permission to kill. People were willing to tolerate beavers IF there was an easy way out. I’ve come to understand that some trap door has to be built into their protection, but it would be nice if it wasn’t just a bullet from some resistant farmer without any oversight at all.

“Specifically, where less drastic mitigation measures — such as use of deterrent fencing and translocation — cannot be implemented, and in addition where a clear public interest in culling has been demonstrated.”

A spokeswoman for the Scottish government said licences to control beavers will be carefully managed by Scottish National Heritage, in accordance with the law related to European protected species.

“But in certain locations, the species can create serious difficulties for farmers and other land managers. That’s why the Scottish government has been clear that beavers have to be actively managed, in line with the practice elsewhere in Europe.”

Andrew Bauer, deputy director of policy at NFU Scotland, welcomed “broad agreement” between the Scottish government, farming and conservation groups that appropriate “lethal and non-lethal management of beavers is essential”.

Alright. Beavers can come back after 500 years and we’ll grant them a thin sliver of protection BUT the moment they cause problems and a flow device doesn’t work or costs too much, we still get to kill them, right?

Maybe the concerned countryside can take a page from this story, which I’m told got its inspiration from the Martinez Beavers. Cindy Margolis of Golden Gate Audubon sent it my way this morning saying

“Your example of translating a wildlife conflict into an opportunity to do something much better for wildlife AND the community has always been an inspiration, Heidi. So, we’re trying to ensure a safe future for Oakland’s herons and it might actually be on the verge of happening….”

The Great Heron Project

If kids ruled Oakland, black-crowned night herons would already be the city’s official bird. As it is, a group of Park Day School students is planning to relaunch a petition to help protect these night birds that go kwok in the dark—as an ambitious project to relocate the herons’ downtown rookery moves forward.

As third-grade Park Day teacher Devin Homme explained, last year, a group of his students launched a petition to make the night heron Oakland’s official bird, after learning that the largest night-heron rookery in the Bay Area is in downtown Oakland—a less than ideal location, thanks to the fact that heron chicks tend to shove their weaker siblings out of the nest.

“The idea was, if the herons become the official bird of Oakland, then no one will say ‘no’ to them,” Homme said of the petition, which described the herons as being “cool and funky just like Oakland,” and warned that, “their babies are falling out of their trees.”

And now those relocation plans are moving forward: In November, biologists retrieved 130 night-heron and 20 snowy-egret nests from ficus trees on Harrison and 12th streets, and then contractors drastically pruned the trees to prevent more nesting. The next day, crews removed 13 ficus trees around a parking lot that covered the city block between 13th, 14th, Alice, and Jackson streets. No one knows what the herons thought, since they don’t start nesting until February. But passersby expressed concern about the future of the birds as workers cut down the trees.

Margulis said she was glad everyone cares about the herons, but it’s not against the law to remove trees or a night-heron rookery—once nesting season is over. “So, I commend the city and the project developer for taking the relocation project seriously,” she said.

As for the Park Day students, last year they met with Councilmember Dan Kalb, papered Oakland with heron art, and even secured Mayor Libby Schaaf’s verbal support for their petition, which garnered about 1,440 signatures. And you can bet your night-heron breeding feathers that the students are preparing to relaunch their petition, this time with the support of Oakland Zoo, as they track the rookery relocation project

Well I personally would have been happier if they moved the post office and the developers rather than the nests, but still. Investing city monies to protect urban wildlife and getting the community involved is a very positive thing. I am sure it happened because of those kids and their ability to make everyone want to do the right thing. Congratulations Cindy!

Oakland Herons should have a table at the beaver festival!

It’s time we challenged agricultural hegemony

The response by farmers’ leaders to the idea of ‘rewilding’ shows how unaccustomed to challenge they are

: Following successful beaver reintroductions in two parts of Scotland, the first release in Wales could be about to happen. Photograph: Peter Lilja/Getty Images

Their dams, burrows and ditches and the branches they drag into the water create habitats for a host of other species: water voles, otters, ducks, frogs, fish and insects. In both Sweden and Poland, the trout in beaver ponds are on average larger than those in the other parts of the streams: the ponds provide them with habitats and shelter they cannot find elsewhere²,³. Young salmon grow faster and are in better condition where beavers make their dams than in other stretches4. The total weight of all the creatures living in the water may be between two and five times greater in beaver ponds than in the undammed sections5. Beavers slow rivers down. They reduce scouring and erosion. They create small wetlands and boggy areas. They trap much of the load that rivers carry6, ensuring that the water runs more clearly.

Beavers slow rivers down. They reduce scouring and erosion. They create small wetlands and boggy areas. They trap much of the load that rivers carry6, ensuring that the water runs more clearly.

Excellent beaver defense in this article. Where’s it from? Since it uses a word like “hegemony” we know it can’t be American because that’s too many syllables for US readers. Maybe you’re thinking ‘it’s just a blog’. But it’s a blog for the GUARDIAN, and its a blog with FOOTNOTES. And it’s really really good. I think it’s primary argument is that farming interests are treated as the only rural interests and ignore 95% of the population. He goes on to talk about reintroducing Lynx and halting the badger cull, but it’s a great read. With great footnotes.

Yesterday was a good beaver news cycle. There was also this from Idaho

Beaver pond in the high water of June. SE Idaho. Beaver remake creeks, streams, springs, even seeps. They usually greatly increase the diversity of wildlife in an area with their ponds. It is surprisingly hard to get Fish and Game departments to take them seriously, have a rational trapping season and to keep people from just killing them. Copyright Ralph Maughan. June 2013

Ralph Maughan

Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides.

Of course I looked up Dr Maughan and found that he is in Pocotello Idaho, which (as it happens) is where our friend Mike Settel got the grant from Audubon to count beavers so I wrote both of them to make sure they were friends! (Because that’s what beaver cruise directors do). I was a little chilled by the “educated and scientific” comments on his post though. Check this out from someone who calls himself CodyCoyote.

But here is an interesting fact about Beavers. When a pair mate, they will have 4-6 kits. When the time comes as the kids grow up , the parent beavers will selectively kill all but one male and one female from their litter, and drive them off to find a new territory of their own. It’s their way of dispersing, increasing habitat and domain , and assuring good genetic viability. But it’s a little draconian to us primates.

Beaver death panels? Just so we’re clear, this isn’t true, has never been true, and would never be true. A parent wouldn’t nuture children for two years just to set up their own little “HUNGER GAMES” right in the middle of their living room and see who lives. What frightens me about this comment is the pseudo-science of it. He uses appropriate words like “diperse” and “litter” and “viability” and I’m going to bet he worked (or works) for some government agency involved in the regulation of beavers. USDA springs to mind, but maybe it was USFS or Fish and Game. He’s educated enough to toss out words like draconian and he is still astonishingly beaver ignorant.

It’s also why you cannot transplant more than a mated pair of beaver anywhere, much as you’d like to have several colonies of beavers out there. I know of a couple instances where conservation-minded ranchers actually tried to restore beavers to their stream in the Cody area here, and they plunked down as many as six animals at once in the same stream basin. They immediately eliminated themselves by infighting. For not understanding beaver behavior, they overdid it and underachieved their goal of rebuilding riparian areas overgrazed by cattle in critical winter range for wildlife.

Information is not a banquet table, Cody. You can’t select randomly the tidbits you might like (the pasta salad and cheese slices) and put them together on a plate based on your own preferences. Yes beavers are territorial and won’t tolerate being dumped together with 5 strangers to happily start a new commune. This is why you relocate INTACT families. I know its not as convenient, but its a lot more successful.

Where did Cody get his information you wonder? A field manual for beaver management from USDA? I think the reason rumors like this and the Belarus killing get such success is that folks like to think about beavers actions are ruthless, so that their own actions look justified in response.

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Cheer from Cheryl who made the 4:30 trek this am and was duly rewarded.

Kit 4:50 Escobar bridge

Checking out raccoon on bank.

Mom come by and wrestled with kit then both went to annex where mom climbed bank for fennel. She sat below bridge with kit,wrestled some more before coming back to lodge.

Second adult went towards annex 5:10.

Beaver working on the dam at 6:05 until 6:20.

Mom mallard and 2 big babies

Whooohooo! I’m glad Cheryl got to see baby 1 even if it was too dark for photos! Soon my pretties!