Remember that Mill Creek beaver project in Washington? I heard from Ben about this yesterday, clarifying that it was a single walled pipe that went over the dam, not under. (Also he’ll make changes to link to our site soon, thank you very much.) Looks like they’re getting a lot more press this week, which is great.
MILL CREEK, Wash. – Beavers in Penny Creek are in for a surprise.
In an attempt to solve a perpetual flooding issue that causes traffic delays, the City of Mill Creek has commissioned Beavers Northwest to build a “beaver deceiver.” The system of pipes has no formal name but the idea is to let beavers co-exist with humans and end the flooding issue.
This is a great story, and will someone please pinch me because I’m obviously dreaming at the public works quote? Great work by our friends at Beavers NorthWest. This is really good coverage and fun to see. The reporter was obviously having a delightful time getting to use new tools that day, he even filmed the install with a go pro and tweeted about it, but you have to go to the article to see that, because I can’t embed it here.
Meanwhile, we’re off to the Mother’s day event at Wild Birds Unlimited in Pleasant hill. Always a fun day, and it will be a great chance for you to meet Gary Bogue and Joan Morris who inherited his column! (And for some unknown reason Chuck Todd is listed as a guest…I don’t exactly understand, will birds be on Meet the Press this sunday?) Jon and I are there the first half of the day, and Cheryl and Lory will see it close. Come see the bald eagle, stock up on bird seed and stop by and say Hi!
Remember the beaver in Brookside Elementary that had flooded a field and drove the administrators to seek a trapper? They had the sense to wait until the last day of school and warned kids to keep away from the traps. Then some moms and kids found out, got upset about the plan, drew some media attention and made a few administrators upset in the process. Eventually they were able to slow down the decision and shine some light on options. I talked to them about all the resources available and suggested they should really know better, since they were a whopping 7 miles from Michael Pollock’s office.
So far so good. Now the other news. The option the school picked was relocation rather than installing a flow device and letting the beaver stay to educate children about their important roll in restoring creeks. Okay, bring on the Hancock traps.
Remember the beaver that a month ago became a cause célèbre in Lake Forest Park?
It was caught Tuesday, its life spared, and moved to a temporary home at the Tulalip Fish Hatchery near Marysville.
Now the rodent, named “Beatrix” by neighbors, waits for the nonprofit Beavers Northwest that captured her to find her a mate. Then off the pair will go to some creek on Forest Service land along the Highway 2 corridor. Pairing up beavers makes it more likely they’ll stay at that spot.
We are trying to handle this with as much sensitivity as possible,” wrote Pete Rose, Lake Forest Park administrator, in an email.
The answer to the city’s problem came in the form of Ben Dittbrenner, a University of Washington Ph.D. candidate in aquatic ecology, who a couple of years ago co-founded the nonprofit Beavers Northwest.
Okay, right off the bat I need to say that Ben is a good guy. He really admires the work beavers do and understands the ecology. I met him a few years ago at the State of the Beaver Conference when he was working as a watershed steward. He helped Mike Callahan with his salmon adaptions to the flow devices. He has since left to pursue his Ph.D on using beavers to mitigate global warming. He’s a good guy, but he’s no Sherri Tippie. She uses branches as a lure so that the beavers are relaxed and chewing when she releases them. And usually doesn’t bring the media. I’m sure using scent sets them on edge. They are already expecting a fight.
He is very, very enthusiastic about the largest rodent in North America.
Dittbrenner begins the list of why the ponds are great: They remove pollutants from ground water, they are drought protection, they decrease the damage from floods, they produce food for fish and other animals.
Working with the Tulalip Tribes, over the last couple of years Dittbrenner’s small group has captured and relocated some 40 beavers.
I would like this story SO much better if they had installed a flow device. Just as I would like Ben’s website SO much better if the links for nonlethal solutions were not all dead or 404’s and he didn’t have the story about throwing beavers from the airplane on the front page. He’s doing good work for the right reasons I keep telling myself. But this kind of thing just upsets me.
Have you seen those inhumane concrete container crates they use at Guantanamo? They are NICER than what this beaver gets. And speaking of torture, how do you think a beaver feels in a tiny box listening to the roar of rushing water that she can never, ever repair? I can’t help myself. What on earth is the fascination with housing beavers at fish hatcheries? Are they just big concrete spaces with water?
This is where beavers SHOULD be living. Rusty of Napatopia sent me this photo yesterday after the beavers did some repairs. He smartly asked if I was suffering from “Lodge Envy”, which I’m sure you can guess the answer to. Big beaver showoffs!
We have accomplishments of our own to boast of. Jon finished the stage platform refinement yesterday for the beaver festival. How lucky are OUR musicians going to be? There are three platforms which we formally inherited from the John Muir Historic site. We decided they needed sprucing up a bit. Here’s the center one.
