Jackson Hole Wyoming is 894 miles northeast of Martinez, and was once a gathering place for trappers. It is bordered by the Tetons and boasts fantastic wildlife, which makes it the location of one of the most popular ‘safaris’ in the nation. Jason Williams is a photographer, guide and founder of the Jackson Hole Wildlife Safaris that has drawn folks in winter, spring, summer and fall to some of the best moose, bison, bear, wolf, and ferret watching in the world.
And guess what else?
When Beaver build dams they slow down the current, flood the land upstream and cut down mature trees for food and material allowing sunlight to penetrate to the ground. This allows a variety of ground plants to grow where they would have otherwise been unable to grow due to lack of sunlight. When the beaver eventually abandon the area the dams will break down leaving behind a lush bottomland meadow and a much more diverse habitat than a mature forest. Without the beaver the trees will eventually move into the meadows, the roots will strengthen the stream banks leading to lower quality fish and bird habitat. In addition the shade from the canopy will disallow sunlight from supporting as much ground vegetation hence less forage for grazing animals like deer, moose, elk and bears.
This is a classic trophic cascade. Fortunately for the beaver and the bottomland species that rely on their work, chinese silk replaced the beaver pelt hats as the material of choice in the mid 1800′s. The fur trade collapsed due to a lack of demand and the beaver once again began to repopulate watersheds where they were trapped out of existence. Today you will see the tell tale signs of beaver habitation in most western watersheds. Since beaver are nocturnal they are best viewed in the evening as they come out to collect food, shore up their dams and patrol their territories.
If you are ready for a vacation this might be the spot for you. I mention this because, I just found out that I’ll be presenting at our own Safari West in Napa on the 17th of this month, talking to the families who are staying over night about the “beaver safari” that is here in Martinez before staying as their guest and taking a tour in the morning! Safari West has been a friend of the beavers since our second festival when I hunted down their founders and pitched a heart-warming tail (tail?) of how researchers in Botswana or Ecuador are biologists who first grew up interested in the nature of their own back yards. They subsequently paid for the materials to make the tiles on the Escobar bridge, and next year donated an overnight. Their tour and guest package is always our most popular item at the silent auction, so bring your check books this August.
In the mean time I am looking forward to sleeping in the company of giraffes, ostrich and Gnu’s.
And speaking of safari’s on your doorstep here’s a photo this morning from our own Cheryl Reynolds on her way to work in Cordelia: A mother otter with three pups!
