Beavers Martinez – Worth A Dam

And then there were three?

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Rehabilitation, Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental July 16, 2013

Close Family — Adult and kit – Cheryl Reynolds

Last night Lory and Cheryl were enjoying beaver-july. Cheryl was at the primary and Lory was at the footbridge and they were watching for kits and photo opportunities. Lory picked up the phone and said, “Okay we have two down here eating blackberries” and Cheryl answered and said “What? I have one up here with an adult!”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, makes three.

Which isn’t impossible, but sure comes as a surprise. We usually figure out the number of kits by the first week, but I guess that’s because they have a stable residence and we know where to look. This year they seem to be dividing their time between the bank hole by the footbridge and the one by the primary, depending on how high the tide gets. The good news is that they’re all healthy and happy. God knows when we’ll ever get the whole family together for a photo, but until we do, enjoy this.

two and adult - Cheryl Reynolds — Two and adult – Cheryl Reynolds

This morning I got a surprise email from Bob Armstrong of Juneau. He’s the remarkable photographer behind the Mendenhall Glacier Beavers book, and gets the credit for my favorite beaver dam photo of all times, which remains my screen saver 5 years later.

Beaver dam at Mendenhall Glacier: Photo Bob Armstrong

Seems he is trying his hand at video. He sent me a very large file which I managed to upload to Youtube. Notice how big that log is and how little that beaver is. Every time he tries to dive with it he floats up. He can’t be a year old. Make sure you stay for the soundtrack that starts at 1.20, and think about this the next time you feel like giving up.

And just between you, me and the lamp post, Cheryl has been working hard with a team from San Jose who has been trying to rescue the mother beaver that appears to have something around her middle. Trash? Cord? We don’t know for sure, but it is restricting her movements and doesn’t look good. Channel 5 was there when they were trying to live trap last night, so it will be all over your TV soon. No luck rescuing mom yet, but we have the very best minds at work getting her safe again. Stay tuned.

What’s on your back porch?

heidi08 New Species September 27, 2009

Apparently this email has gone “viral”, and who can blame every adoring admirer that sends this to all their friends and relatives? You may have read something about the weather in Victoria Austalia, they say its the worst heat wave in a hundred years and fire crews are working like mad to keep things safe. This is back story to explain the little visitor that appears in this photo.

The baby was found shaking underneath a verandah and “looking very sick” after its mother was apparently overcome by the ferocious heatwave that struck Victoria last week.

So the kids found it and the mom invited it inside while they were waiting for the wildlife experts. Read the whole lovely story in the Daily Telegraph. This lost and unmothered little critter was so grateful for the bowl of water offered, it just hopped in. If you feel brave enough to face unruly popup ads, there’s a photo show in the article that won’t look anything like you expect.

I keep looking at this picture and wondering about this little girl. Was this her most magical day ever? Or do they have Koala’s on their porch all the time? I do think experiences upclose with wildlife change (summon) you in a powerful way: well, they did me.

This is as good a time as any to post this newly available video of my OTHER favorite mammal from Australia, maybe one you’ve never heard of. The Honey Possum (Tarsipes rostratus) feeds entirely on nectar and is small enough to fit on a finger. The colorful locals call them “Noolbenger”, which is reason enough to catch your interest. They are having a tough time as their favorite food (the nectar-heavy native Banksia) is getting less and less common under the influence of urban development.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y1CjINN38Jc]

Maybe its a nocturnal rodent-looking thing, but I definately plan on making the pilgrimage down under to stumble about in the dark and see these little fellows with a flashlight.

Last tag:

Beaver friends LK and GTK are working on a Facebook presence for our beavers, since last night I’m told we’ve made 17 friends, many of them from Turkey?

Tree Casualties

heidi08 Beaver News February 1, 2009

Looks like our beavers have been busy. There were felled or nearly felled trees in the creek by the parkinglot behind Bulldog BBQ. The large tree there had never been wrapped, but “leaned the wrong way” so the beavers chose to leave it alone. Last night they threw caution to the wind and let it fall. Jon and Moses pulled and cut the tree off the fence and let the pieces fall on the creek. Sadly one of our newly planted trees was in its path, but the beavers will have a happy feast tonight.

Considering the “unideal” specs of this tree, it was possibly felled by a yearling. At anyrate, the whole fam-damily should be out tonight to enjoy their labors so you might want to stop by with a flashlight.

Hopefully they’ll eat fast before city staff comes on monday and says the fallen trees are a flood hazard and takes them away. They have two nights, I think our beavers can manage.

Technical Difficulties…

heidi08 Uncategorized January 15, 2009

Regular visitors of this hapless webpage may have noticed a strange series of changes in appearance yesterday, none of them improving. Unfortunately our wiz of a web designer has moved on to greener pastures and left the child to do the man’s job. I admit, like all children, I looked at the shiny red button and thought, “I wonder what would happen if I press this”…

Famous last words.

Allow me to be the first to teach you this life lesson, if you haven’t already learned it: nothing good ever happens when you touch the shiny red button. No marching bands arrive, and no ballerinas in gauzy display come to adorn you. Instead what happens is that you turn your beautifully designed web page into a webpage that looks exactly like everyone else’s, and half your information becomes inaccessible.

I spent most of yesterday on the phone with our host server to see if the untainted page could be restored. I was assured that with a little patience the site could look like it did on January 10th. Imagine my delight! Just 5 days ago! I was as hopeful as a young bride, dreaming of the big event. Except it was restored to January 10th 2008. See those pesky drop down menus? (well if you’re using ie you don’t even see those, sigh) They were an experimental phase that we abandoned…sigh…oh where is my lovely bar across the top…

We here at worth a dam have no shame. We will beg, plead, cajole, flatter, and entice to get the things that we need to take care of our beavers. After sweet talking my Utah tech support into nearly two hours of support and wooing him with promises of glowing letters to his supervisor (which I honored), I heard a rumor that a beaver regular is actually an IT guy! I swooped in my batman cape to implore his help. He very kindly picked up my handkerchief and if all goes well he might help us fix things again.

In the mean time, welcome back. We missed you.

It’s a beaver, beaver world…

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Friends of Martinez Beavers December 24, 2008

So last night a few bundled beaver loyalists trotted down to the dam to watch for our furry friends. It was warmer than it had been, and not raining yet. Our efforts were not disappointed. Kit by kit made its aquatic appearance, three in all. I don’t know if you have noticed there is a haybail in the water. It was on the sheetpile side, but made its way over near the dam recently. How exactly did a haybail get in there? Best guess is that it was tossed in during the “snow event” downtown, when they used them on the borders. Lets just hope it wasn’t tossed at something.

(As if our beavers didn’t have enough to worry about with metal and netting. They have less room to swim at the moment and don’t need a huge haybail taking up their legroom. Of course it is water logged and impossibly heavy now, although two good men with waders could probably get it onto the bank.) The beavers had a few ideas of their own. One kit started biting off flakes and carrying them away to the lodge. Packing material? Or natural flooring?

The highlight came when our bravest kit scrambled up the side of the bail and struck a pose atop it, sniffing around and enjoying the new view. I cursed myself for not having a camera, but it looked kind of like this:

Next the large yearling approached who came up onto the dam for a full viewing, and finally the small yearling slunk over the gap in the shadows. For a magic moment there were 5 beavers visible in the water at once, and the traffic jam made for two tail slaps and some lovely mewing noises.

Not to be outdone, a muskrat made an appearance, and a rat of the more mundane variety swam by like Ester Williams with a tail. (What’s up with our rats being such good swimmers and divers anyway? Someone needs to do a research project).

When you hang up your stockings tonight, remember what our beavers want for Christmas!

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=SDYFKkR6GiY]