Victory comes in many forms

heidi08 Creative Solutions, Educational, Environmental, Who's blaming beavers now?, Who's saving beavers now? June 27, 2015

I won’t force you to read this story with a soundtrack, but, (and I can’t stress this enough) you REALLY should.

Mom fights Shoreline School District about beaver and wins

The maintenance crew at Brookside Elementary in Lake Forest Park had a wildlife-removal firm set up traps to catch and kill a beaver at a creek by the school. Then they heard from moms and kids. The traps are gone.

It took less than three days for the Shoreline School District to capitulate to the moms and kids. The order had gone out to trap a beaver that had arrived at Brookside Elementary in Lake Forest Park.

On Monday, a sign from a firm called Northwest Nuisance Wildlife Control was placed at the creek bordering the school:

“FOR YOUR SAFETY PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE TRAPS.”

Left unsaid was that the trapped beaver likely would have been killed, with a shot to the head, as the state doesn’t encourage relocation. Relocated beavers have a poor chance of surviving.

On Wednesday afternoon, the district backtracked with this mass email:

“The traps are being removed from the area. The District will be researching viable approaches to manage this situation. We appreciate community support and insights we have received this week.”

Ohhh yeah! Martinez knows that victory comes when children carry signs and moms write letters. Hurray for Lake Forest Park and the heroes of Brookside elementary! And one mom in particular:

Meet Jenny Muilenburg, librarian at the University of Washington and mother to kids attending Brookside. On Monday morning, returning from a swim team practice, she saw the sign right across the road from her home. Peering from the edge of the road, she saw the metal traps.

This is how protests begin these days.

You take a smartphone picture of that sign. You post on Facebook. You send out news tips to media outlets. You email, then have a phone conversation with the Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation.

Its president, Jean Reid, then pays a personal visit Tuesday to City Hall, which is surprised to hear about the traps. Pressure on the school district mounts.

Muilenburg writes, “Like many schools in the area, the school teaches environmental education, and each year releases salmon into the stream abutting the property … The kids love the beaver …

“Can someone help us figure out why, when local and state governments and nonprofits and volunteers are all working year-round to improve our waterways and greenspaces to encourage wildlife, that a nondestructive, harmless animal that provides a learning opportunity for children and adults alike must be removed?”

By Tuesday, neighborhood kids put up signs by the creek: “We love our beaver.” “Save the beaver!”

Joey Eck, 8, decides the beaver’s name is “Billy.”

Free Willy, Free Billy.

Game. Set. Match.

Someone bring that woman a margarita because she deserves a little treat this weekend. Involving children always makes the difference, and living near the beavers and showing photos to the media doesn’t hurt either! I tracked Jenny down at the university and emailed her a ton of info when the article originally aired. She never wrote back but I’m going to assume it helped.
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Now you just might want to click play on that video again for this story. Just sayin’

Two men rescued after Deschutes River beaver attack – Fell in water after climbing onto dam

BEND, Ore. – Exploring along the banks of the Deschutes River is usually a placid, familiar activity for locals and visitors alike. But two men, from Bend and Redmond, ended up seeking rescuers’ help Thursday evening when they climbed to the wrong spot – a beaver dam – got attacked by a protective beaver and fell into the water, authorities said.

The caller told dispatchers that Clayton Mitchell, 23, of Bend, had walked to his property from upriver and said he and his friend, John Bailey, 31, of Redmond, had been attacked by a beaver.

He reported his friend last was seen in the water, trapped amid some submerged logs, said Sgt. Bailey (who the department noted is not related to the Redmond man)

Sgt. Bailey said an investigation found the two men were exploring along the river when they climbed onto a beaver dam when they were “attacked by a beaver protecting his/her dam and both subjects fell into the Deschutes River.”

“Mitchell was able to immediately climb out of the water, but Bailey was caught on some logs by his clothing,” the sergeant said. “Bailey eventually was able to climb out of the water as the first deputy arrived at the location.”

The story was of course picked up by the AP and is running absolutely everywhere, but no one has managed to explain to me whether the hikers were walking on the dam or the lodge, and what exactly constituted the “attack”. I wish I was hired as an attorney for the defense. Near as I can tell these hikers got scared by the beaver approaching, fell into the water and got poked by some sticks from the dam.

Which, as far as I’m concerned, serves them right. Because I hate when humans walk on the dam.

Everything old is new again…

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Who's Killing Beavers Now? June 17, 2014

Beaver Attack pulls man off kayak

Click to watch news clip of beaver attack in NY that put one man in the hospital.

Rochester, N.Y. – A beaver jumped out of Irondequoit Creek and attacked a man in a kayak, knocking him into the water last Tuesday. The victim, Michael Cavanaugh of Lima, N.Y. is recovering after being treated in the hospital for bite wounds on his back and deep puncture wounds on his arm. He is also being treated for rabies as a precaution. BayCreek Paddling Center trainer Nate Reynolds saw part of the attack.

And it starts…

I saw this last night and it was picked up by UPI this morning, so we should all get ready for another Belarussian run as every news outlet from Concord California to Caribou Maine covering the excitement. Brace yourself for comments like this,

Beaver are not friendly critters and there have been a few people killed by them. I forget if the Beaver got lucky by biting an artery or if I read that they GO for arteries but people have been attacked and bled to death.

Hahahaha! I know its sick and wrong but the idea of beavers going for arteries makes me laugh very much indeed. Do they keep a copy of Grey’s anatomy in their lodge? I couldn’t help thinking of this famous Monty Python sketch. The lumberjack at the end adds that special touch.

Well beavers ARE protecting their young at the moment. (So much so that in Martinez we weren’t even granted a glimpse of the little bugger last night, I didn’t realize they were actually letting us off easy.) We were lucky. Apparently in New Jersey they’re lunging onto the shores.

Couple says they were attacked by beaver in Watchung

Beware the mad beaver of Lake Surprise.

Karen and Barry Rubinstein were enjoying a stroll by the picturesque lake, nestled in Union County’s Watchung Reservation, last Tuesday when they noticed a head popping out of the water.

The creature spotted the Rubinsteins and set its sights on the shoreline.

“It’s bee-lining, I mean, this thing is swimming right at us,” Karen Rubinstein said.

The animal, which she estimated weighed as much as 40 pounds, came flopping out of the water, its teeth bared and its webbed feet moving as fast as they could manage.

The couple, who live in Summit, started running toward their car when a jogger warned them the animal could get hurt if it chased them into the road.

lake-surprise.jpgThe boat launch at Lake Surprise, which was the scene of last week’s animal attack.Tom Wright-Piersanti/The Star-Ledger

Karen Rubinstein jumped onto a nearby bench and saw her husband cut back toward the lake when the animal suddenly lunged, missing him by inches. After almost chomping Barry’s leg, it scurried back into the water.

If it’s true (and I’m not saying it is) it’s fairly remarkable that they listened to the jogger’s advice. I mean if a terrifying animal was lunging at ME I sure wouldn’t be overly worried about it getting hit by a car. Would you? And how long does it take for a jogger to size up the situation, see the attacker and the victims and guess their destination, and say “Don’t lure him out to the road or he might get hit.” (Was the jogger the president of PETA?) “Make sure he attacks you someplace safe, or he could get hurt!”

Anyway all that must take a pretty long time which means a pretty slow lunge even for a beaver.

Clearly the jogger was not as alarmed as these people were. Are there illegal substances that make you irrationally paranoid of rodents? Will there possibly be blood or urine tests involved?

The park manager explained there were no beavers in the lake nor sign of trees chewed. Otters, however, had been spotted recently.

Still, Karen Rubinstein, who studied forestry at Rutgers University for several years, insisted the creature she saw was a beaver based on its feet, its tail and its size.

“There’s no other animal it could be, unless it was an alien invasion,” she said.

I’m going with that explanation, Karen. Makes the most sense to me. _________________________________________________

More envy-producing adorableness from Rusty in Napa. Turn your volume UP. How’s this for a mother and child reunion?

Awwww…

Best. Beaver. Story. EVER!!!

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Environmental, In the News July 17, 2012

‘Crocodile’ terrorising German town turns out to be a beaver

Two visitors to the Bavarian city’s local lake, Klauensee, claimed to have spotted a crocodile in the water. After deploying dozens of searchers, including a dramatic night-time boat operation with more than 70 police, fire fighters and aid workers, officials in the town now believe they have spotted the missing reptile. But Klausi the crocodile, it turns out, is actually just a beaver.

The city of Schwandorf has no wikipedia entry but is a small German town near the Czech border. What lake housed the criminal? The article doesn’t say but since the public named the mythical croc ‘klausi’ I’m assuming the sighting was in Klausensee. This means the lake with the lurking crocodile is about 2000 feet across and just under a mile long. 70 officers to patrol means one officer every 200 feet on the perimeter. And HOW in god’s name would a crocodile survive in Bavaria exactly? They are cold blooded you know, and the average winter temperature hovers right around freezing. I suppose its possible someone just released his pet croc in the lake and its managing fine in the summer heat, but 70 police? Here’s a handy comparison sheet for next time, because I’m sure even in Schwandorf there are more important things to do, and btw thanks for the morning ROTFLOL.

And because nothing in life is simple, here’s a the flipside of the headline for today. Sigh, something like ‘Yes, Klausi there is a Virginia?’