The thing about beavers is that you don’t get to pick where they decide to do their work. Sometimes its a wetland you can’t wait for them to settle down and improve, and sometimes its a sculpted landscape that no one wants changed. Beavers decide things on their own. That’s just the way it is.
Let’s start with some Canadian beavers shall we? This report is from Chatam which is in Intario just across the water from Cleveland.
Signs of Beavers at St, Claire National Wildlife Area
There are many species of birds and waterfowl to be seen at St. Claire National Wildlife area, but there’s also a chance you can see beavers, or at least signs of their presence. An obvious sign is trees that are munched on by beavers that are along the public trail through the wetland located at pain court.
Gee what gave it away?
Environment and Climate Change Wildlife Technician John Haggerman who is site staff for the NWA said beavers have been seen in the wetland as well as the bear creek area, for at least 10 years.
“We hadn’t seen them much in a while and then they started showing up” he said.
Haggerman said when beavers don’t cut down trees fully that’s a sign they’re just passing through, spending sometime here before moving on.
Goodness there’s a lot to unpack in that sentence. Let’s start with his excellent title. “Environment and Climate Change wildlife technician”. Boy howdy is that a mouthful. A pretty darned fancy name for someone who traps beavers and coddles goose eggs to keep the population from filling up the grass.
And that name! John Haggerman! Straight out of Harry Potter!
But its the sage advice that ‘beavers who simply nibble and do not fell trees are just passing through and not settled down, that earns my deepest affection. A beaver picnic if you will, take out chinese cabium after a long days swim.
Far be it from me to mention, Hagrid, that our beavers remained in the same location for more than a decade and we still occasionally saw trees that were nibbled and not felled. It happened every year and there was zero reasonable explanation we could determine.
Beaver sometimes do things according to their own intention and not our understand. It’s shocking, I know.
Anyway, Haggerman goes onto say that when beavers DO settle in they cause damage by burrowing into the dyke or making trees fall onto houses in the area and then he starts trapping to “move them out” of the area.
I’m pretty sure that’s a euphemism. Aren’t you? I mean it may be a national wildlife area and all but not THAT kind of wildlife, if you know what I mean.
Finally, if you can’t make next week’s conference and you want to learn more about beaver restoration, there’s a webinar coming up by the Association of State Wetlands Managers for March 11th. Taught by our good friends Amy and Kent.
The History of Beaver and the Ecosystem Services They Provide
PRESENTERS
- Kent Sorenson, Habitat Restoration Biologist, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
- Amy Chadwick, Lead Ecologist, Great West Engineering
ABSTRACT
This first webinar in the Association of State Wetland Managers (ASWM) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) co-hosted six-part webinar series on beaver restoration provides the historical background of beaver on the land and the impacts from loss of beaver (through various hunting, trapping and removal activities) in terms of hydrology. The webinar will share what valley bottoms can be with restoration of hydrology and the role that beavers and beaver dam analogs (BDAs) can play in that restoration. The webinar will explain the Stage Zero concept and unpack the challenges created by common practices that have been restoring streams to their first point of failure.
This webinar will set the stage for future webinars providing case studies on the results of beaver restoration activities, addressing common barriers and objections to beaver work, identifying where and where not to place these projects, as well as insights on navigating the regulatory environment and stakeholder engagement, as well as what resources are currently available to help those interested in beaver restoration or explaining its value (when used in the right context) to others.
Go here to sign up And make your own beaver conference! I just signed up, it’s easy and free unless you want the certificate.
