Beaver madness

heidi08 Beaver News, Beavers, Beavers and Birds, Beavers and Frogs, Beavers and salmon, Beavers and trout, Beavers and water, Beavers or Social Ambasadors, Who's saving beavers now? November 20, 2014

beaver guests If you missed our exciting CT debut you can check out the podcast and learn about the guests here. The beginning of the program is a little excessively whimsical, but it’s a pretty awesome listen overall. I was so happy to learn Sherri was going to be on at the end, and thrilled when the host rightfully called her “the Bruce Springsteen of Beaver Trapping”. I’m not unhappy with my performance. I did an okay job of saying what I wanted to say regardless of whatever silly question was asked. (A trick politicians innately seem to have, but is hard for us compliant folks to learn.) It was very hard to hear on the phone, and I was straining ever muscle to make sure I followed what they were saying, even with the dog locked outside and the volume up.

I weirdly never feel stressed during the actual event, but I was a basket case the rest of the day, so I guess it does take something out of you. The amazingly well-spoken caller from East Haddam, CT, was echoed by almost the exact same comment on this website from Pennsylvania. Did you see? Telling people on the East coast that we can live with beaver has amazing results. I loved the genuine interest and education of the producer and the host, who contacted me after to say thanks and make sure they hadn’t posted nutria pictures. And Sherri called me excited after the interview and wanted to kvetch about all the things we didn’t get to say. Not missing any opportunities, I then boldly wrote and thanked both authors, asking for copies of their books for the silent auction. It was quite the morning.

No resting on our laurels, time marches on, and yesterday I noticed this photo leading an article about mink farming in Nova Scotia. The article quotes our friends at Furbearer Defenders and criticizes mink farms for being unsanitary. But its righteous message is compromised by its inherent plagierism. Maybe the photo seems familiar to you? Or maybe you didn’t recognize it without CREDIT to our own Cheryl Reynolds? I wrote the editor and the reporter so we’ll see if it gets credited soon.

In the meantime there’s this charming appreciation of beavers from an outdoor column in Illinois.

Since the early 1960s I have been amazed with beavers.

Before that we had no giant rodents in our state so this was an all new animal. As they became more numerous, many farmers loved to see them and became very protective of any that built dams on their waterways. In fact many farms that contained beaver colonies became a sightseeing event for many folks.

Is that true that Illinois didn’t reintroduce beaver until the 60’s? That would be very surprising. But reading through his column I see that he is largely unburdened by facts or research of any kind. He emphatically states that beavers were easy to wipe out because they only have two kits every year. And that they fell trees and eat the entire thing, all the way to the top.

Well, okay then. Maybe not the 60’s.

Ice conditions make trapping very dangerous and hard work. After catching a large beaver, there is a lot of work to get them ready for market. The animal must be skinned, fleshed (all the fat removed) and placed on a round stretcher to dry. This results in several hours of hard work. The hourly rate doesn’t attract many trappers.

When I was at the beaver festival in Utah I had an interesting conversation with Mary about the Utah trapping association. She had invited them to the event and they brought furs for the children to touch. Mary was especially impressed by one trapper who explained that ‘beavers are really good for the creek! They make all this wildlife!’ and she admonished her students to spend more time talking to them. Because you can’t only talk to people who agree with you. And they could learn things.

Which is true. I agree 100% with the concept. Someone should have many conversations with trappers, wardens and invite their local technicians from APHIS for a beer.

Someone else.

How’s THIS for a headline?

heidi08 Beaver-themed merchandise, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental February 21, 2014

Experts say: Make way for BEAVERS

“The neighborhood meeting helped answer many of the questions about the possible benefits of the beaver dam. We also learned that their appetite for trees might not be limited to just those along the creek bank, and we may need to put up fencing to protect them from these night-time chewers. In the meantime, the ducks certainly like the expanded water areas, which makes things more scenic,” said Steven and Marsha Morasch.

Alice Szanto has lived in the area for 20 years, and her grandparents lived there before she did. None of them had ever seen the creek rise like it did in November. When she found out about the beaver dam, like the other neighbors, she was worried about trees falling and damage to the hillsides.

At the meeting she learned that “the beaver might chew a substantial amount of trees, but the county can keep planting them, and there are ways to protect the trees we want to keep. We have a living National Geographic series in our backyards. I consider myself lucky,” Szanto said.

Linda Burgard said it was helpful to have someone from the ODFW at the meeting to answer questions, and, like the other neighbors, was worried about trees disappearing. But now that she knows how to protect trees on her property, she feels more positive about the beaver dam.

“The pond in the backyard is great now. We have more ducks, and yesterday our beloved heron returned. The grandkids also love all the new wildlife,” she said.

There are now two smaller beaver dams at the same site, and he said that “the new beaver dams will improve salmon, bird, amphibian and mammal habitat. The dams will retain mud and sediment in the pond, slow down the waters and infiltrate more water into the ground. This will benefit the creek and residents downstream.”

Look who’s giving Washington State a run for its money! How wonderful to read this smart work on Kellogg Creek! The closer one gets to Portland historically the greater the beaver IQ drop – but not now. To have ODFW on hand with pro-beaver education takes my breath away. Of course I wrote Susan Barnes right away! My email tells me she has been cc’d in some contact I had with the area in the past.

The beaver dam is certainly a positive for the watershed, said Mike Pinker, who lives in the neighborhood.

“Beavers provide good environmental services. They help cool the water temperature and create habitat for other animals. A beaver community on Kellogg Creek is the sign of a healthy watershed; beavers are our partners, and they are able to do a much better job than we can,” he said.

You really should go read the whole thing. I love everything about this story. It might be the best news I’ve read in Oregon – certainly in a while.

One more bit of scary good news – the beaver-steelhead workshop I’ll be presenting at in Santa Barbara next month is SOLD OUT. In fact it’s the only one that is!

Yesterday’s donation came all the way from Lithuania and will be cause for a definite bidding war. Giedre Karramba of Karramba Design donated a lovely pair of beaver sterling silver stud earrings and a matching necklace that will delight everyone who is lucky enough to see them. I am still trying to wrap my mind around someone donating from such a long way away. But you should definitely plan to bid on these. They are even cuter in person.

Beavers in Big Sky Country

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental September 23, 2013

Comments from readers

Heidi Perryman: Beavers can also do restorative work in cities and parks, too, without the trouble and risk of translocation. Too often it is considered easier to kill or relocate, rather than solve the challenges they are causing in the first place. My city installed a flow device six years ago to control beaver flooding; now we have a stable pond and because of the beaver-tended wetlands we regularly see otters, steelhead, heron and even mink in a tiny urban stream.

Plus, since the beavers remained, they use their own territorial behaviors to keep away others.

Imagine that Washington state is deep crystalline pool of beaver wisdom and the other states are washcloths slowly soaking it up. Knowledge seeps out to the closest neighbors so that Oregon is wetter (smarter) than California and everybody is smarter than Texas. Almost against its better judgment, Idaho is starting to get damp and now Montana is next on the campaign trail. Amy Chadwick has been teaming up with Skip Lisle to install flow devices there, and I am very happy that my letter provides support and emphasis along the way.

Which is not to say that there are not other fonts of knowledge around the country, Utah, Colorado, New York, Vermont, even bitter Massachusetts – but something about the geography of those states swallows that wisdom into a sink hole. The soil beneath is either too hollow or too bedrocky for moisture to pass through and out to the borders. It just can’t seep. Our own state has been dry of beaver knowledge for so long it will take a while to permeate the soil, but I’m hopeful nevertheless. Eventually we’ll all reach saturation point and start spilling into the borders.

And then Ohio and Pennsylvania better watch out.

Three more good things:

heidi08 Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, City Reports, Creative Solutions March 26, 2012

Beaver Town: Residents Coexist With Wildlife

Photo Credit: Steven David Johnson via Flickr

(ANIMAL NEWS) OREGON — The town of Corvallis, Oregon has decided to protect beavers residing in Dunawi Creek, right next to a local popular park. The park’s fields frequently flood from the beaver’s damming. However, an engineer team with support of the community is finding a way to coexist with the beaver’s natural behavior, instead of getting rid of them. Read on to learn how communities can live peacefully amongst animal neighbors. — Global Animal

Let’s start Monday off on a bright note! What an adorable picture! This feel-good beaver-tale comes from Corvalis Oregon, south of Portland where there are plenty of beaver fans among football goers. I’ve been reading something about this story for at least two weeks now as the city is making sure to get maximal promotional value for its kindness. Now it’s an AP story which is even better press than Martinez ever got. Good for them.And good for beavers!

Corvallis parks officials have decided that solving flooding caused by beavers at a local park will take a little engineering of their own. The Gazette-Times reports that for years beavers have caused flooding at the softball fields at Sunset Park from damming the Dunawi Creek. But now parks officials are planning to install pipes to keep the water in ponds at a manageable level.

Maintenance supervisor David Phillips says they considered removing the animals, but that moving the critters may not sit well with the community by Oregon State University, where the mascot is a beaver. Phillips says they “decided we should try and see if we can live with the beavers, this being a Beaver town.”

Mind you an earlier article reported that what they had put in was actually a 15 inch pipe with an elbow – so that the water drains into the elbow until the pond’s a certain height and then it stops until the water rises. No protection on the intake. Which is nice if the beavers don’t plug the pipe since the opening isn’t blocked in any way. The article describes the city as having a “team of engineers”. I’m sure they thought of this.

The beaver-gods must be smiling down on us this Monday because two other amazing things happened before I fell asleep last night. Worth A Dam received a last minute invite to the 100th anniversary celebration of Girl Scouts at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. (As in 20,000 girls and their families do some art and learn about beavers.) And I finally persuaded the iconic beaver author Hope Ryden (of the much beloved Lily Pond) to talk with me on Agents of Change. Since the subtitle of her book is “Four years living with a family of beavers” I’m thinking we’ll have LOTS to talk about! Stay tuned!