If you haven’t seen Dana Guzzetti’s lovely article in the Contra Costa Times (and why would you have since its coming out tomorrow?) you must go read it on the website. I can honestly say that at this point in my life I have now read more Martinez Beaver news articles than I’ve read cereal boxes or warning lables and this is by FAR the most delightful. As we have (sadly) grown no more charming over the past 4 years I can only conclude that this is because Dana is the kindest beaver reporter ever, and once again, having the kids there didn’t hurt a bit!
During a field trip, the third-graders listened as Ridler and Worth a Dam founder Heidi Perryman shared details of the beaver family living in Alhambra Creek in the heart of downtown Martinez.”Only one other species changes the earth more than beavers. Can you guess what it is?” Perryman asked. Eventually a student correctly guessed “man.” “The Great Wall of China and a 2,800 foot beaver dam in Northern Canada can be seen from space,” Perryman added.
(Well, Gosh. I’m pretty sure I didn’t actually say the part about the great wall and visible from space thing, but it sounds brilliant. Thanks, Dana.) The only thing missing from your article is FRo! Who labored all day with us and got no editorial credit for her excellent beaver chanting skills. Well, she’ll get plenty of attention at Earth Day, we’ll make sure of it.
Dana provided a great review of how the Flow Device works also, although she couldn’t resist temptation to call it a ‘beaver deceiver’. At least there is proof that I tried to steer her away from the misnomer in her writing ‘Some call it a beaver deceiver” a phrase that conjurs up spaghetti western images of Clint Eastwood in a poncho.
The solution was a water flow device that some call a “beaver deceiver.” It is an open, flexible pipe or tube with a wire cage over it that is placed upstream from the beaver dam so that water is carried to a downstream location past the dam without creating the “running water” signal for the beavers to build.
That’s actually as good a description as I’ve read in any paper, so thank you. Maybe we should just give up on the naming issue and admit that ‘beaver deceiver’ is the most recognized label and is going to get used the most no matter what we do. Skip? I’ll keep at it until 2012 but if people don’t get the distinction by then I’m not going to bother explaining that what we have in Martinez is a “Castor Master” which is a type of Flow Device similar to the Flexible Leveler and Beaver Deceivers block culverts. Whew!
“The beavers make a neighborhood,” Perryman told the youngsters. Since their arrival in Martinez 2006, the presence of the beaver dams has attracted a local food-chain type of ecosystem. Perryman recounts the process: “Bugs came, then more bugs, then fish, then big fish, muskrats, otters and even a mink.” “I discovered the beavers and just began taking pictures of them and posting them on YouTube,” Perryman said.She, Ridler and others have become beaver experts, visiting the site nearly every day, studying, lobbying and teaching about beavers.Perryman is looking forward to February for the State of the Beaver 2011 Conference in Canyonville, Ore. where beaver advocates will meet to learn from the Martinez experience and each other.Worth a Dam has established a beaver management scholarship fund and recently granted $500 to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care to help that community establish a beaver dam water flow device.
I can’t believe you managed to get all that in, Dana! The Beavers thank you SO MUCH! Make sure you keep this article for the scrapbook and let us know if you (or you our readers) want to help out at the next fieldtrip!
Okay, what is worth following that cheerful article? How about more good news? Remember the Bronx Beaver “Jose” outside the Zoo in New York? He was written about in Audubon and National Geographic, among other places. He had built a lovely habitat and attracted a friend last we heard? Well we were contacted last night by the education director for the Bronx River Alliance and he had found Felix Ratcliffs paper on willow intake for beaver and wanted to thank us for the resource. You may recall that Condor Country Consulting generously donated the manpower hours for this paper when the city required a biologist’s report before we could undertake the [controversial?] 2009 tree planting. Well, his labor is reflected in the smartly written report and apparently helpful for all sorts of communities. Including the only beavers in the country more famous than ours.
For a final, satisfying note, check out the Fort Smith Website under the picture of the pretend beaver.
Not A Beaver! This semi-aquatic rodent is known as a nutria or coypu and hails from South America. It was brought to North America by fur ranchers (primarily) and tends to have destructive feeding and burrowing habits. These behaviors make this invasive species a pest to its newfound habitats.
Thanks guys, for the correction!
