IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES AND IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES

Wascana is in Canada at the very bottom of saskatchewan, so I don’t retain a great deal of hope for this situation but good for them for trying.
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Residents concerned about beavers being killed at park by Wascana Centre workers

“I saw workers and so I just casually asked them what’s going on with the beavers and then the horrible story started on how they do trap and then kill them because they do consider them pests,” Ell says.

She began writing the Wascana Centre and province letters after learning about what she calls the “shocking” news, but says she never got a sufficient response, despite several attempts at communication.

Ell says she spoke with another park worker and was surprised to learn why park staff were instructed not to use a live trap to safely re-locate the beavers.

“He told me then that he was told there’s no money in the budget for a live trap or the manpower,” Ell says.

Ahh these well meaning women. Relocation is NEVER the answer when it comes to beavers. I know it sounds nicer than killing them outright but there just aren’t enough places for beaver to live safely to mean you wouldn’t get new ones in a heart beat. The only way to actually SOLVE THE PROBLEM is to, you know, SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

Wrap the trees you want to protect. Install a flow device if you’re worried about flooding or a blocked culvert. And get rid of the problem, not the beavers.

We know it works because we did it for a decade in Martinez. As you can clearly read if you pick up one of the new copies of Frances Backhouse new young reader book. Available now on Amazon or wherever books are sold!

This was a nice surprise. My copy arrived yesterday. Cheryl’s AND Rusty’s pictures grace the bright informative pages. Since Frances wrote it I knew it would be good. But I didn’t know it would be THIS good. You better see for yourself.
radical rodents - Copy

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Oh and speaking of Rusty guess what he snapped a photo of in Napa last night? So very jealous, And delighted.

A BOOKISH BENT FOR BEAVERS

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver Book December 14, 2020

Our bookish friends with a beaver literary bent had some news recently I wanted to share. The first is that Frances Backhouse (They once were hats) recently sent her finished book to the printers and is expecting copies to hit the shelves in May. Here’s what she posted on FB:

My new beaver book for kids is almost ready to head to the printer and I’m getting ever more excited about launching it next spring. The designer at Orca Book Publishers did a fantastic job on the whole book, including this wonderful cover.

Of course Martinez kids and beavers are in it somewhere and I can’t wait to see it in person!

Beavers: Radical Rodents and Ecosystem Engineers will be published in May 2021.

Written for kids ages 9 to 13, this new book looks at the beaver’s biology and behavior and illuminates its vital role as a keystone species. It’s packed with facts and photos, as well as personal stories about conservationists, scientists and youth who are working to build a better future for our furry friends.

You can sign up for updates by adding your email to the list if you are interested here:

More news on the literary front is that Ben Goldfarb is still hard at work on his new book about road ecology. Recently he one of 8 recipients of the Whiting Grant for Nonfiction writing.

Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant

The Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant of $40,000 is awarded to writers in the process of completing a book of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction. The Whiting Foundation recognizes that these works are essential to our culture, but come into being at great cost to writers in time and resources. The grant is intended to encourage original and ambitious projects by giving recipients the additional means to do exacting research and devote time to composition.

I’m sure the much needed help with allow him to keep striving in what seems to be a very impressive effort, obviously one now affected by Covid and travel restrictions.

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More recent news from our friends at the Wildlife Trusts in England who managed to add a Beaver gift card added to their roster this year. For five pounds you can see some beavery good cheer to the naturalist in your life, and help a great cause..Click on the image to send your very own, of course we already know all the reasons why, but the background says:

This charity gift card helps look after habitat for beavers and all their friends. Wildlife is having a hard time in the UK. Habitat loss and climate change are just some of the factors that are making life harder for mammals, birds and insects.

That’s why The Wildlife Trusts are creating and protecting precious habitat and campaigning for nature’s recovery. Our mission is to protect, connect and restore at least 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.

This gift supports our 3030 campaign. All funds raised will go towards supporting Wildlife Trust projects that look after wildlife and wild places in the UK.

Imagine such a thing in America. You really can’t can you, but it will happen someday. Just mark my words.

BEAVERS IN MARYLAND: DAY ONE

heidi08 Beaver Conference, Beavers March 4, 2020

By all accounts yesterday was a splendid beaver day, with presenters from around the world really swinging the bat hard for beavers. To the right is Frances Backhouse posing with conference organizers Scott McGill and Mike Callahan (in disguise). Here are some highlights from yesterday Sharon and Owen Brown of Beavers: Wetlands and Wildlifeand were presented with the lifetime achievement award, Skip did a very well received presentation on the history of the beaver deceiver (summarized by Malcolm Kenton) and here’s a brief run through of what I’ll be presenting today.

The only mess-up of the day is that Emily Fairfax didn’t get time to present her awesome fire dissertation – It was a packed schedule and either things started late after lunch or James Wallace couldn’t squeeze her in – but she was hoping to be able to say something about it last night and in her connections with people She was a good sport of course and Lord knows we’ll be hearing from her again soon!

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Check out these great notes by Malcolm on Skip’s Presentation, Worth A Dam’s Emsissary Doug Noble said he stole the show.

Skip Lisle, inventor of the “Beaver Deceiver,” speaking at #BeaverCON2020:
– The Beaver Deceiver is a flow device, but not all flow devices are beaver deceivers!
– We’re like moose — we like wetlands and we know where to turn to make healthy, productive ecosystems. We need to develop a common language & history.
– We’re lucky to live at a time when there are tremendous opportunities to save society a great deal of money with creative long-term remedies and create tremendous habitats.
– There’s a lot of pushback out there because people are used to wetland areas being drained – the culture associates wetlands/swamps with stagnation, disease, “wasted land” and various unpleasantness. So many places inefficiently keep killing beavers in the same places over and over again.
– In my career at the Penobscot Nation, my friend and I kept trying and building junky flow devices until we came up with the successful trapezoidal concept. The trapezoid had to get larger because they’re attached to the dam. Dam-leak separation makes a flow device more robust. Though they’re smart, beavers don’t do much deductive reasoning and can’t grasp the hollowness of a pipe.
– There’s a lot of controversy about where flow devices can work, but I don’t have any problem with zero inches/feet of water. A dry flow device can do a great job protecting beaver habitat upstream. Getting people to stop killing beavers is another issue — there are wide-open trapping seasons in most of these places.
– Every site is different so I need to put in a lot of thought as to what device best suits the place. Some culvert protectors need floors and some don’t.
– We’ve done enormous damage to wetlands after draining them, but beavers can repair all that if we just stop killing them. One beaver in one month (before moving on) brought so many birds to a site I worked on that weren’t there before. It’s miraculous! Remarkable wildlife viewing spots can be created in very short order. Every town can do this.
– I build simple wood structures to guide beavers’ damming — I don’t use the term “beaver dam analog” because it doesn’t need to look like a beaver dam to get them started.
– You can have a long beaver dam parallel to a road and have the water level much higher than the road, with a few pipes through the dam and under the road, and the road stays dry.
– There’s also an aesthetic and spiritual value to keeping beavers on the land — they’re dynamic, fascinating and all different. They bring a lot of joy to our lives.

A packed house with Doug Noble sitting next to Sherry Guzzi of Tahoe!

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BEAVER BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

heidi08 Environmental February 3, 2018

As if the week could get any better for beavers! This morning a wonderful podcast appeared about beavers that brilliantly covered my two FAVORITE talking points about them. How and Why we should coexist!

It’s Saturday morning.What ever your plans MAKE TIME to listen to this.

PODCAST: Can the mighty beaver save the bay?

Almost wiped out centuries ago by fur trappers, beavers have made a comeback in North America, including the Mid-Atlantic and the Chesapeake Region. While many see them as a nuisance — slayers of trees, builders of dams that flood roads and farm land — biologists and natural resource managers see good in the beaver comeback. Their dams create rich habitat for other mammals and fish while filtering sediment and damaging nutrients from waters that flow to the Chesapeake Bay.

Approved!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and climate change, Beavers and Forests, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and Ice, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers elsewhere, Who's saving beavers now? June 21, 2017

Beaver Festival 10 was officially approved by the Parks, Recreation, Marina and Cultural Commission last night, including the waving of park fees for the event. Michael Chandler assured me they were implementing the proposal to extend wifi to the park and Daniel Radke the chair thanked me for my generous 10 years of service. There were no challenges or questions, just an easy fast approval.

Some things have indeed changed in a decade.

Then I found out from Frances that her ‘idea city’ presentation had gone very well over the weekend and was currently available to watch. It’s a delightful 17 minutes that packs a huge punch showing why beavers matter, although I wish she had squeezed in a little information on how to live with them. You should really watch it from start to finish. Even if you have been in the beaver business longer than I have, it will surprise you.