Tag: Heidi Perryman

Blackberry time…

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental April 11, 2009

One thing I discussed with Felix our tree-faring biologist was the seasonal nature of beaver diets. Ours seem to start enjoying blackberry bushes with the warmer months, and sure enough we saw two kits munching down on them this morning. One was doing the lovely reach under the trailing branches, and the other had hiked right onto the bank to munch at close range. Later he brought a stash of branches into the old lodge which seems to be functioning now like a picnic table. The dams look lovely, and the song sparrows and swallows are back in full force. It’s worth a morning walk if you’re so inclined.

Beaver friend Lisa Owens-Viani from the SFEP directed me to the March issue of the Chesapeake Bay Journal which has a host of articles on beavers.This delightful quiz is from educator and designer Kathleen Gaskell, and you should all do very well on it. The test construction-trained psychologist in me has a problem with number 2, and number 9 is actually a matter of some controversy, but its a fun challenge to your beaver brains.

1. When a beaver swims underwater, its heart beat drops to half of its usual rate and it uses up to 75 percent of the air in its lungs. (For a comparison, humans use 15 percent of the air in their lungs.) This allows the beaver to stay underwater for about how long?

A. 5 minutes
B. 10 minutes
C. 15 minutes
D. 20 minutes

2. True or false? When born, kits (baby beavers) are well-furred, have open eyes and are ready to enter the water within 24 hours. They are adept swimmers within two days.

3. True or false? On land, mother beavers have been observed carrying their kits with their forepaws and on their tails.

4. True or false? All beavers build dams.

5. Instead of months, Algonquin-speaking tribes’ gave each full moon its own name based on a natural event that usually took place at that time. Beaver Moon is the time of year when beavers are most likely to be seen because they are actively preparing for the cold months ahead. Which month does Beaver Moon refer to?

6. The average beaver today weighs 45-60 pounds and is 3-4 feet long. About 10,000 years ago, a giant beaver roamed North America. How big was it?

A. 150 pounds, 5 feet long
B. 300 pounds, 6 feet long
C. 400 pounds, 8 feet long
D. 500 pounds, 10 feet long

7. Beavers were once found in Great Britain. The word “beaver” is thought to come from an Old English word, “beofor.” What does beofor mean?

A. Brown animal
B. Moat builder
C. Paddle tail
D. Tree feller

8. True or False? In the winter, when ice makes it difficult to leave a frozen stream or river, beaver will eat fish living under the ice.

9. After man, which of these animals poses the greatest danger to beavers?

A. Bears
B. Foxes
C. Mink
D. Otters

Answers

1. C 2. False – Kits are adept swimmers at about one week. The rest of the statement is true. 3. False 4. November 5. A. 6. C 7. A 8. False, beavers are strict herbivores. In the winter, they feed on a host of logs and limbs that they have stuck into the stream or river bottom earlier in the year. 9. Otters. They are able to swim up the entrances of the beavers’ lodge, where they prey on the kits.

Kathleen A. Gaskell, the layout & design editor for the Bay Journal, has been involved with several environmental programs for children.

Beavers in the Dark

heidi08 Beaver News, Recent Sightings March 29, 2009

When the lights went out last night, we trekked down to the dam for some some truly fine beaver watching. It started with the unmistakable appearance of mom, who came and sat near us to give the necessary view of her tail. Then all three kits and later the lumbering figure of dad, coming down the creek with a huge branch and pulling it out onto the dam so we could verify that he was indeed an adult, with an unblemished tail.

It was very cheering.

Photo: Cheryl Reynolds

Another couple saw the light and came down to join us. We didn’t recognize them but they had been to both beaver meetings and knew the story. The man recalled that they had used to see a beaver colony regularly in Plumas County, to which I remarked this was where these beavers were supposed to be relocated. Turns out the woman had been the one to mention our potentially homeless beavers to Beverly Ogle of the Mountain Maidu tribe of Greenville Rancheria. Trappers and US Forestry took all their beavers, and they would have been grateful for ours.

Well, I’m grateful for ours too, but its nice to know how that link got established. I had always wondered how plumas county knew about them, and thought maybe city staff shopped around, but what are the odds of them handling anything so delicately? I just scanned through the Novemeber 7th video to find them, but could not. What I did see that I never did before is that Don Bernier, the documentary guy who got interested in our beavers, was there that night adjusting the microphone. I knew he he’d attended, but didn’t know he was recording it. Good. Honestly that meeting was so inspiring, it really needs to be on the big screen someday.

Four more interested watchers were drawn by the light and came to appreciate beavers in grand display. One man thought they had left becuase “he hadn’t heard anything about them on the news in a while”. (!) They all had things to say about the unattractive and unnecessary sheetpile, and were all very enthusiatic about the animals they were watching. With a crowd of beaver supporters, and some active healthy beavers, it was a very familiar and warm scene.

We came home in beaver-high spirits.

Please to See the Queen

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Educational, Environmental, In the News March 19, 2009

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,—
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

William Shakespeare, King Richard II. Act ii. Sc. 1.

Guess whose been feeling left out of the beaver benefit bagatelle? No sibling is happy when their brother gets something they don’t. Apparently the English are looking anxiously over their shoulders at the plaid reintroduction in Scotland and thinking, “why shouldn’t we have beavers too?” Why indeed. A just released study by Natural England addressed this very question, and last night its findings were released on national news.

From the BBC

Beavers could be successfully reintroduced in many parts of England, a conservation body has argued. Natural England says a study has shown beavers, already set for reintroduction in Scotland, could boost wildlife and reduce flooding, among other benefits.

The creatures have already been successfully reintroduced in parts of Europe and the feasibility study for Natural England, which advises the government on conservation issues, and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species said reintroduction could be possible in many parts of England.

Professor John Gurnell, one of the report’s authors, said beavers acted as “ecosystem engineers” and could provide many benefits. They sometimes build dams to stabilise the water levels around their burrows and channels for foraging, which can slow rivers and control flooding, purify water and increase the number of plant and animal species in the habitat.

The entire 119 page report is downloadable here. It has amazing references, including a list of all the beaver reintroductions done in europe over the last 100 years. I’m still enjoying it slowly, but here’s a lovely introduction:

Why reintroduce beavers?^₁

1.8. Why reintroduce beavers to Britain? The reasons put forward include (e.g. see Macdonald & Tattersall 1999, Coles 2006):

Beavers are part of Britain’s native fauna;
Beavers have been lost entirely by the activity of humans;
As a member of the European Community, Britain has a responsibility to carry out studies on the desirability of reintroducing species that have become extinct (Beavers are listed on Annex III of the Bern Convention, and on Annexes II and IV of the EC `Habitats and Species’ Directive in 1992. The Directive aspires to achieve a favourable conservation status of the priority habitats and species listed in its annexes.);
Beavers are a keystone species they are frequently called ecosystem engineers and act as „natural managers of riparian, wetland and forest ecosystems;
Beavers are inherently interesting to humans and could be a flagship species for raising awareness about nature conservation
Beavers fulfil philosophical and aesthetic ideals associated with returning native species to the wild.

The highlight is mine, but that has sure proven true for lots of us. The entire study is a fantastic scholarly treatise to argue against beaver-nay-sayers. I’m a little troubled by the BBC farm representative who argues that any beaver introduction plan “has to have an exit strategy”.

Exit strategy?!? It’s not like you’re invading another country and trying to establish a democratic government, for goodness sake. You’re inviting back a guest to your home that you previously annihilated. Do you think you forgot how to kill beavers in the interim? Or do you think that public opinion has changed so that your old weapons will no longer be acceptable? I have an exit strategy for you. It’s called education. Learn about the benefit that beavers bring, learn how to deal with any problems they cause, and learn how the land is changed without them. Then your old ideas and fears can “exit” quietly.

(Exeunt Pursued by a Bear. My favorite Shakespeare stage direction. Oh that’s right, you have no bears left in England either)

The report concludes its time to move forward to Phase II of beaver reintroduction:

What next?

12.10. The way seems clear to move to a second phase of consultation and actions concerning beaver reintroductions to England, focusing on education of the wider public about beavers, investigating specific candidate sites for releasing beavers, drawing up detailed management plans and costings, and, if agreed by all interested parties, releasing beavers within the umbrella of pilot studies.

I’m ready for phase two. The entire report is thrilling read and I can’t wait to get back to it. Thanks beaver friend MG in the UK for sending it my way.

Oh and beaver spotting last night: Dad and two kits. I think I’ve figured out their devious scheme to repair the primary dam. “Don’t repair it” They are letting the secondary dam raise the water level until the primary dam stops leaking and doesn’t matter anymore. Brilliant. The Hay Fairy came too, and brought potential bedding for all, thank you very much!

¹The Feasibility and Acceptability of Reintroducing European Beaver in England: Natural England, March 17, 2009

Leave only Footprints…

heidi08 Beavers or Social Ambasadors, pictures March 17, 2009

Take only photographs.

Recognize these? This is the front footprint of a beaver, photographed by Cheryl Reynolds in Sonoma where the beavers were wreaking havoc a while back. Look at those wide splayed toes, almost human, and think about those front paws which can grasp and hold things. Our habitat isn’t ideal for footprints, but we occasionally see some in the mud.

Once I was told the dynamic story of Mary Leakey’s lecture on footprints discovered leaving the site of the Sadiman Volcano 3.6 million years ago which was spewing ash at the time. The footprints of a smaller female appeared to turn back for a while, then resume the exodus, and Dr. Leakey speculated that this was the first known evidence of human hesitation, meaning that the human brain had advanced already to such a state as to weigh opposing factors and consider the best options.

These footprints, of course, do not suggest hesitation to me. They say “direction”. Here’s a drawing to help you identify your own tracks.

I also thought I would share the nice thank you Igor and I got from the Sierra Club on our talk last Wednesday. I appreciated her letter so much I forwarded it onto the council.

Thanks so much for coming out to Antioch for the Delta Group Sierra Club meeting to tell us about the beaver colony in Alhambra Creek. I suppose that beavers in creeks are considered “normal” — but as anyone can see, the beavers in downtown Martinez are truly “special”! Their location is a unique opportunity to study beavers, and at the same time, to monitor the health and stability of an urban creek system.

I think the City of Martinez is very fortunate to have citizen like you willing to volunteer your time to help with the sensitive issue of maintaining the health and survival of both Alhambra Creek and the beaver colony, within the structure of a downtown business area.

The powerpoint program on the Alhambra Creek watershed, together with photos and videos of beaver activity, are a winning argument in favor of having a beaver presence in the middle of the city. I have seen for myself the awakening of interest and pride of “possession” for people who drop in to view the beavers at work. A great asset for the city, and hopefully, with continuing help from your groups, the beavers can continue to thrive as “city” beavers.

Thanks again for joining us on March 12 to share scenes of busy beaver family life in downtown Martinez.

Janess Hanson
Secretary, Delta Group
Sierra Club

Beaver-licious

heidi08 Recent Sightings March 15, 2009

Yesterday was an epic beaver day. Cheryl started out the morning with a photo shoot and observation. Everyone was hard at work on the secondary dam, and she caught each one going back over the primary. Editors Note: Everyone meaning five, it looks like the yearlings have dispersed. God speed little fellas!

She then noticed Dad slink into the old lodge, where he seemed to be hanging out. It is usual for Dad to sleep separately while mom is coming along with her pregnancy, and that appears to be what he’s doing. How do you like your sheetpile panelling, Dad?

She caught some nice photos of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard who have been hanging around the dam and sleeping on the hay.

Later driving in Benicia she found an otter who had been hit by a car.Very sad picture, but a good look at their different body shape.

Thanks Cheryl for the photos! I tried to do a snazzy album but dm got sullen and had a tantrum in our frames, so these photos will have to do. All Photography by VP Wildlife Cheryl Reynolds.

I visited later that night (sans camera) and saw mom and her trio, raccoon, rat and muskrat. They are still taking straw for the lodge, and they need more. Anybody with a horse that can spare an armload or two? Bring it on down. Our beavers need a cozy place to sleep.