Because the beaver isn't just an animal; it's an ecosystem!

Tag: Libby Corliss


Let’s review. Nearly three months ago our mother beaver died. There were outpourings of support for her and the three kits she left behind. Worth A Dam wanted some kind of memorial to her remarkable life and approached local artist and UCD professor Paul Craig. Paul is an old friend of the beavers and was thinking of them when he designed the metal beavers for the library sculpture. Paul said he would happily make a mother and some kits if we could get him some silhouettes to work from.

Chapter two. I contacted the recently graduated but-as-yet-unemployed graphic artist (Libby Corliss) who designed our brochure and map and asked her for help. She said she could easily turn photos into silhouettes if we could find the right photos. Three of cheryl’s pictures did the trick, and for the fourth we filled in the drawing of our logo beaver generously donated by another graphic artist, Kiriko Moth. Paul quicky produced the metal pieces and we marched down to the city council meeting to ask permission to hang them.

Chapter three. In a down-the-rabbit-hole twist of fate we were given full approval and gratitude, told to go ahead and display them on the sheetpile wall, and to work with city staff who would help us get it done. I later met with Bob Cellini and gave him the beavers and talked about where they might work. I was surprised to learn that Bob does similar metal cuttings and has been meaning to get around to making one for his wife to display in the garden.  I first met Bob in 2007 after the subcommittee had been formed but before Skip had installed  the flow device. Staff had made the decision to take down the dam by a foot during the interim month  before he could get here. I was standing at the bridge when he was reviewing the job and introduced himself mournfully as the man who was going to do the ‘dastardly deed’. I immediately liked him for that. I liked him even more when he said that the binder of articles I had distributed at the first subcommittee meeting was in the staff room and had become the ‘beaver bible’.

Chapter four. So tuesday I got an email from Bob that the beavers were ready to be installed and he had invited the Contra Costa Times photographer for the ‘unveiling’. When Lory got there thursday morning this is what she saw,

With the drop cloth removed, this was the display. Bob made the frame and arranged the beavers in it. Don’t they look happy together?

I was worried that they’d be spread apart or scattered, but I love this family grouping which clearly shows mom taking care of them. Obsessed beaver fans like myself will no-doubt note that the notch in mom’s tail is on the wrong side, because the metal has been reversed. Never mind. I like her approaching the bridge, almost as if she’s coming to ask us for something. I am incapable of avoiding the thought that she’s bringing the kits to meet us and asking us to take care of them when she goes.

I am so grateful for everyone’s help in pulling this together. I love the idea that somewhere on a sheetpile wall, mom beaver and her last three kits will be together forever.


beaver kits martinez beavers

These adorable silhouettes are the work of our map-creating friend Libby Corliss. We scoured through Cheryl’s photos to find the right images. Libby is helping us get the images to artist Paul Craig who will be making a metal two-dimensional sculpture of mom and kits as a memorial. Originally we were planning to have the artwork adorn the very un-artistic sheetpile wall, but in talking with flood expert Mitch Avalon we learned that there would be more concern of debris getting stuck behind it in high flow. Now Paul is leaning towards the upstream side of the Main Street bridge, which would be visible and water-safe.

Paul is the artist behind the metal sculptures at the Martinez library and has been a great friend of the beavers. Because this is truly a small town, his wife was my PE teacher in 7th grade. Go figure.  We have already had some expressed enthusiasm from the council for the project. It’s probably the most visible place for it, and Starbucks is where the public interest in beavers really began. It’s where we picked up mom on her very last day, curled weakly in the weeds and grasses. We’re excited about the project and hopefully we’ll have more to report soon.

I also heard yesterday from the retired supervisor of Sunol Regional Park who knows about several ‘remnant beaver dams’ in and around the area and beyond. Hopefully he will lead us on an expedition to get some samples for carbon testing! This is useful because the current mythology says there were “no historic beavers in Alameda Creek” and so of course you’re completely justified in killing the ones there now. Looking forward to changing that myth. I’ll keep you posted.

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