So this year’s Autumnwatch is following a beaver in its lodge at the Aigas Wildlife Centre– and if you never heard of Autumnwatch or Springwatch you are missing out on a rare insight into the british capacity to enjoy wildlife. This is why they’re never going to get away with killing badgers. Here in America we could never tolerate such niceties unless it was Autumn – when sharks attack! or some such nonsense. Never mind, the BBC sticks cameras all across the countryside and people watch badgers digging or duck families growing up and flying south. Click on the video and turn your sound UP because I never really thought about the sounds a beaver lives with every day of its life. I was assured by Warwick Lister-Kaye, general manager and heir of the estate, that that sound is genuine and not added later. Honestly, if you’re ever tempted to try a wildlife holiday, Aigas looks idyllic in so many ways! The beaver video below has a surprising visitor that I’d love to see at our pond someday!
And as if having a beaver in Autumnwatch wasn’t enough, I just learned from Louise Ramsay yesterday that she received word that they’ll include some free Tay beavers as well! That’s right! Not just captive-watch but FREE beavers doing their own thing watch, which is a huge step on accepting them in a country that’s had a beaver tantrum for 400 years. Congratulations to Paul and Louise Ramsay and the incessantly hardworking folks at the Free beaver group including Bob Smith who has been nagging at the BBC to include the once-illicit now-temporarily-tolerated beavers! I will show you the footage if I can!
A long time ago the international beaver symposium took place in Lithuania and we sent beaver friend AH over from Germany to take notes and ask questions. Remember Skip was at that one? And we were particularly interested because the issue of beavers had just sprung to the forefront in Riga?
Haven’t heard from AH in a while (sigh!) but no matter, this year we had NEW spies to attend the beaver symposium in Croatia!
Members of the Scottish Wild Beaver Group (SWBG) and other interested parties are in Bavaria this week for a study trip organised by the group.
The trip is funded by the European Archnetwork and the six people going represent woodland, fisheries, non-governmental organisations and legal interests, and include the author of a recent Scottish Natural Heritage reporton the use of derogations in management of protected species.Paul and Louise Ramsay have also been invited to talk about the Tayside Beavers at an event in Oregon next year.
And in addition to good press they even wrote ablow by blow account of the conference and everyone they met there.
“The International Beaver Symposium would not be the same without Gerhard Schwab from Bavaria, extraduction expert of beavers to the world, including Mongolia. Here he is at a thoughtful moment during dinner on the first evening of the symposium.’
“At the next table were Gerhard and, next to him, Hugh Dignon, the Scottish Government’s Head of Wildlife. It was a credit to Hugh that he took the trouble to come. On the right of the photograph is Karen Taylor, who works for Scottish Natural Heritage in Lochgilphead. I wonder what she is thinking as she looks at Hugh Dignon.”
Since there were some SNH folks there, there was a bit of a stir when Paul talked about the first ‘feral beaver’ who was captured and died in the zoo. I’ll let him tell it since years of upperclass breeding and attending Eaton probably give him the diplomacy advantage. Suffice it to say, fee-fees were hurt, and feathers ruffled, and Paul and Louise scurried about and made their amends on behalf of the free tayside beavers.
All in all it looks like a splendid event, and one that’s growing up, since the inclusion of the Ramsays is the first time it moved out of the ‘science-y’ realm and into the real-world challenges of living with beavers. Maybe someday you’ll be ready for the exciting story of Martinez! Let us know!
So the director of public works assures me that they didn’t lower the pipe and that the pond will be the same height. Seeing that the filter is underwater I would be entirely uncomforted by this reassurance EXCEPT for that I had a profound realization at 3 am that changed my outlook entirely.
Bear with me here, but before they reinstalled the filter the pipe had been laying directly on the pond floor since the big washout in March. So all of spring and all of summer the pond was ‘controlled’ by a pipe placed at ground level. Although we saw Reed try and plug the pipe on the anniversary of mom’s death, it wasn’t until Dad came back in August that it stopped flowing.
Which means that even if they DID lower the pipe the pond won’t be any lower than last summer. Which is reassuring.
I went down this morning to check on the recovery expecting fierce rebuiding and maybe a red cross unit. I saw two beavers munching, a sleepy night heron, and no work done whatsoever. The tide was high so the secondary was mostly covered but you could still see the gash and nothing had been done to restore it. They clearly have their own pace at these things, even when we humans panic. Alright. We’ll sit tight.
Martinez has no monopoly here. Lots of stupid beaver news around the country and beyond this morning. Remember Upton, MA the city with the rare dragonfly that wanted to kill its beavers without ruining it’s special bugbog? Well they paid Mike Callahan to install a pipe to lower the pond, paid for the conservation commission former trapper to renew his license and kill two beavers and now are reporting that the pipe will keep the other beavers away. (Like Garlic?) Given the fact that I wrote the conservancy and the paper many many times that this was untrue, and the fact that they wrote me back so you know they read it, we will have to attribute this pretend conviction to willful ignorance and let Upton go with love.
Michael Callahan, of Beaver Solutions in Southampton, installed a pond-leveler which pumps water out of the bog while keeping beavers away.
A second bit of stupid comes from Scotland where there’s been rumors that they might just let the free beavers on the Tay stick around and do their thing. Paul Ramsay and friends did such a good job slowing down the massive beaver trapping that they might have escaped with only the zoo-death of Erica to show for it. Apparently theScottish Game Keepers association is very alarmed at that idea and is ‘gamely’ offering to help do away with them.
One farmer in Angus is having to fell beaver lodges weekly on an adjacent burn to prevent large-scale flooding, with the animals regularly raising the water level by over a foot. “If I wasn’t having flood problems, I would be happy for the beavers to stay, but I don’t honestly see how we can carry on with it,” he said. “They have caused significant damage.”
Finally, a BEAVER-TRAPPING LOTTERY IN OHIO. (No I’m not kidding) Apparently they have so many compassionate humans that offer to protect their streams from beavers that they have to hold a lottery to decide who should be lucky enough to get to do it. Unbelievable. I have never felt closer to the Buckeye state than I do at this moment.
The city of Mansfield will hold a lottery card drawing for controlled beaver trapping at Clear Fork Reservoir. Two units will be available, a north unit and a south unit. Each successful trapper may have one assistant. Interested trappers may apply by mailing a 4 x 6 inch post card to Gary Foster, at 2678 Gass Road in Mansfield, 44904.
On a final note the website has been acting up lately and you probably encountered trouble loading pages. I’m told that it’s likely a ‘cache’ problem and have temporarily shuffled the home page down to holding only the last three posts to adjust for it. I spoke to our good old friend Scott Artis yesterday who is off bravely embarking on a new career in Bakersfield and he kindly said he’d look at it this weekend. Thanks Scott and let’s all keep our fingers crossed.
Too much information on this site. Apparently I talk to much. Who knew?
