More excitement from the upcoming Nature special on beavers, this one a profile of Sherri Tippie. I have it on the very best inside authority that she was their favorite part of the documentary, so it’s no surprise Nature producers decided to lead with their strength. It’s great to see her doing what she loves most. The clip is un-embedable, so click on it to go to where you can watch it in person. I promise it’s worth it.
There’s also a nice letter about pointless beaver trapping from Montana that you’ll enjoy.
Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge: Killing busy beaver was unnecessary
Re: The recent demise of a North American beaver (Castor canadensis) on the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge.
According to Metcalf management, the bad-luck beaver was interfering with the refuge’s ability to manage water levels and they had to take appropriate, corrective government action.
I guess I’m a bit confused because in my wildlife biology training, I was taught that beavers provide beneficial habitat for ducks, which ultimately improved waterfowl breeding success. If water control becomes a problem, there are two popular devices for controlling water levels in beaver ponds:
1. Install a temporary device such as a three-log drain.
2. Install a permanent device like the Clemson Beaver Pond Leveler, which reduces damage from flooding.
If these measures aren’t feasible, then beavers can be easily live-trapped and relocated elsewhere. Killing them in a conibear trap would be a last resort. I’m sure the folks at Trap Free Montana Public Lands aren’t excited about this recent activity by an organization that is part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The mission of the USFWS, as stated on page five of the Lee Metcalf NWR Comprehensive Conservation Plan (September 2012) is to “conserve, protect, and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.” Unless you’re a beaver bothering the busy field technicians working at the refuge.
Jim Hamilton, Florence
Go Jim! Thanks for standing up for beavers. You’ll be on the right side of history. I’m glad you have the flow device idea, but I’d love to introduce you to more modern tools. Still, we’re grateful!
Speaking of flow devices, our own Castor Master installed by Skip had been showing no signs of life lately. In the past, even when the water from the secondary was backed up above the pipe outflow, we could usually see little ripples from the exit. Lately there’s been no activity and the pond was looking higher. We were starting to get nervous that it wasn’t working or maybe the beavers had plugged it. Yesterday Jon went down to measure and saw that it had “UNclogged” and was flowing freely. The dam is still air tight and unmeddled but that pipe is back to doing it’s job. Maybe a plastic bag or something else got lodged? Looking at the sheetpile you can see how the level dropped. I’m just glad it happened naturally before the city got involved. And that they will have a beautiful tight dam and pond for the new kits.
