Out For A Swim

Beavers Make Techie Friends

heidi08 Creative Solutions September 8, 2009

So yesterday I was quietly enjoying the response I got from Chris Pincetich about beavers and salmon and wondering how we can best follow up together, when I got an email from previously unknown DW about the web site. Who designed it and could he talk to him and get some questions answered for the one he’s working on? I described our weird and wonderful history with the site founder, Bruce (who moved on) and the site designer (Mike) who moved farther on, and said that we were now working with a very kind and brilliant woman (Jean) who knew nothing about WP but was able sometimes to control the site through a whip, a chair, and html. Was he perhaps looking for unpaid work with acres of commitment and very little reward? Alas, no. He was not a WP expert either, sadly, but he suggested I put an ad on CL and he would screen them for me.

It took longer than it should have for me to realize that CL meant “Craig’s List”. DW explained how to do it and I dutifully followed the directions and wrote what seemed like an inviting plea, mentioning that it was unpaid but good for visibility and the environment. I thought nothing would come of it, like putting a note adrift in a bottle, and went back about my business.

Within the hour I had ten responses. Two from friendly beaver supporters and WP experts that couldn’t wait to help. In the second hour I got ten more, and then a note that my listing had been flagged for removal. (Maybe because it had the word “beaver” in it?) Honestly, I ask you, am I the scariest thing on Craig’s list?. Even though the ad clearly said “UNPAID WORK” I got many enthusiastic responses. It makes you wonder just how bad this economy is…

Our very first respondent used to live near beavers in New York, and would take the boat out to have his lunch by the lodge. He immediately noticed the theme and the changes we had made to the website, and was full of suggestions about how to proceed. He would handle the color issues for us, and back us up with a new upgraded site if we chose. He couldn’t have offered better or sounder advice, and the whole experience was so affirming it made me kind of seasick.

Allow me to explain. As a beaver advocate, I am braced all the time for difficult responses; for people that shout “eat them” as they drive by the bridge, or the UC professor who wrote me back in my very first attempts to explain that they weren’t endangered and should be shot, or even Janet Kennedy saying I need to appreciate more how the city has helped them. I’m used to bad beaver news. It’s familiar. I’m always standing like the door’s going to open into a gush of strong wind throwing me back and I had better be prepared to keep slogging forward anyway.

I am TOTALLY unprepared when the door opens onto a lovely grassy garden where hummingbirds sip hibiscus nectar and people give me good things that I want very much without my doing anything besides ask. I cannot tell you how anxious it makes me. It is okay if I feel I have earned it, but if it was just given freely and I’ve done no work whatsoever, it freaks me out. Still the “unbearable lightness” of getting exactly what you want means you have to be strong enough to ask for it, and gracious enough to accept it, so I am trying my best on that second front.

Which is all to say WOW and welcome aboard to RS who I will properly introduce as soon as I have permission, and thanks DW for your suggestion! We look forward to great things!

Beaver Inspirations…

heidi08 Friends of Martinez Beavers, In the News September 7, 2009

I got an email a while back from a Dean Wilson in Santa Rosa. He said he had written a song about our beavers and wanted to share. I wasn’t expecting such a professional recording and snappy tune, but it turns out he’s the guitar player for “Laughing Gravy” and recorded the tune at Jackalope Records. I like the music very much, but honestly was a little uneasy with a message that reflected only the fear of Martinez and none of the benefits of the beavers.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=l5P_T3qbrJk]

So of course, being the shameless beaver advocate that I am, I decided to write him some additional verses and see if I might persuade him either to play these or write his own. In the meantime, here’s my suggestions using the same basic meter and rhyme scheme of his song. I told him when he moves firmly in the supporter camp we can make sure his song gets heard by beaver lovers everywhere!

My cousin Jake’s a fisherman

And salmon is his trade

Ain’t worked a single goddamn day

Since the salmon ban was made

We need more salmon in our creeks

More salmon in our sea

NOAA analysts

Says beavers are the key.

Well beaver dams hold water back

Trap silt and filter too

insects start to multiply

So fishes all renew

A lot of birds and animals

Come out to hunt and play

And beavers make this possible

If you can let them stay

So let the damn dam stand, boys

Lets let the damn dam stand

Those furry eager beaver dams

Will give our creeks a hand

A simple pipe and cage can keep

The dam from getting tall

And in the mean time beavers

Give new habitat to all

Thanks Dean for your hard work and cheerful inspiration! Maybe LG wants to do a special performance at the beaver festival next summer?

Martinez or Monterey?

heidi08 Friends of Martinez Beavers September 3, 2009

Last night at the dam site we met a sweet and friendly couple who came whispering down with their flashlight asking if it would be okay if they joined us. They explained that they lived in Orange County, but had to drive up for a class in San Jose that afternoon. They had thought about staying the night in Monterey as a reward but decided to come to Martinez instead. Why, you ask?

To see the beavers!

Apparently they had become interested by an article about the beavers, and then checked out the website and wrote me to ask about a visit. I wrote back as I usually do that someone from Worth A Dam would be happy to meet them and show them around, and they decided to brave the adventure and come check it out on their own. They were staying in Walnut Creek because sadly, Martinez accommodations leave a little to be desired, but they had dinner in town and were planning to come back for breakfast.

They were rewarded with several lovely beaver sightings as the yearlings swam up and even walked onto the dam to give them the best view. He brought down his massive photography lens and snapped pictures gratefully. She talked about her early days working for fish and wildlife when they accidentally caught a beaver in a fish trap. The animal had spent an uncomfortable night in the tank, but was extremely docile at his release and just paddled back into the water. She volunteers now for a raptor rescue program in Orange County and says the avian predators are much less forgiving.

The couple had rented the IMAX beaver movie in preparation for their visit. Honestly, she said, this distance is nothing for people who are really interested in wildlife. Of course we came!

What a delightful evening! You never know what you’ll find on beaver creek….

Access & Ambivalence

heidi08 City Reports, Creative Solutions September 4, 2009

UPDATE:

Go here to find out what happened at the meeting.

The question of access to the beaver dam will be considered by the newly formed Parks, Recreation, Marina, and Cultural Commission Tuesday evening at 7:00 pm in City Hall (525 Henrietta St). This kinder, gentler civic body counts several beaver friends as members, so we are more likely to get an outcome that is good for both the beavers and the city than when the ominous but ineffective chain was hung across the path with a warning from the Police Department.

To be truthful, Worth A Dam is rather ambivalent about the access issue. On the one hand we want to keep visitors from approaching the beavers, climbing on the dam, or visiting the lodge. We don’t want homeless sleeping or drinking down there, and we don’t want pets to come sniffing either. But on the other hand we can see the immediate softening of hearts that comes with standing on the bank and seeing beavers so close. Families and children and groups of all ages are mesmerized by the experience, and we all know we protect the things we care about. Our photographer could never have taken the pictures she has without access. I didn’t actually use the bank to watch beavers until the sheetpile-palooza left me worried about their safety and wanting to closely check each one. Before that all of my videos were filmed from bridges or street side. That is until I felt I was worried about mom’s eye and wanted to see it regularly.

Ambivalence is a developmental accomplishment. Having mixed feelings is something you are incapable of doing when you are three or five or a member of the Bush administration. To be able to hold both sides of an issue in your heart, to see gray area, and to really feel two ways at once is the sign of a more mature mind trying to figure out the complexities of the world. Our mixed feelings about access center on the fact that we want the beavers to be safe, and we want people to have an opportunity to be moved by their closeness.

Separate from either of these goals is the need the city has to not be sued if someone falls in or breaks an ankle. We think that issue can be easily solved by signs saying “Enter at your own risk” or some such language to indicate that the city doesn’t maintain liability for the area. We have suggested “Sensitive habitat” signs warning people not to approach the wildlife, bring pets, or climb on beaver structures and Worth A Dam has offered to pay for these. We generally feel that any fencing built should be gated and that Worth A Dam members and docents should be able to provide access, so that if a docent is on sight you can come down if you wish. Certainly we feel that any fencing that prevents access from the dam should prevent access to the lodge as well. And finally that nothing built to block access should interfere with the habitat or the trees in any way.

It’s a tall order, and maybe a few supporters in the audience would help guide the process. Come by tomorrow if you can and support compassionate decision-making that will keep our beavers safe and valued for years to come.

Turtle Rescue

heidi08 City Reports, Educational, Environmental August 24, 2009

Sent to the Gazette for publication:

Lucky for this little fellow, Worth A Dam member Cheryl Reynolds was standing by when a young man fishing near the beaver dam accidentally caught this Western Pond Turtle. Reynolds is a volunteer at the International Bird Rescue and Research Center, and once managed the Lindsay Wildlife Hospital, After the turtle was safely released back into the water, she was able to explain that pond turtles are considered a “species of special concern” and their numbers are carefully watched around the state.

The young man hadn’t intended to catch anything but carp, but Reynolds explained there are unintended and dangerous consequences to fishing in such a sensitive habitat area. “We find fishing tackle and tangled line all over the banks and dams, and this creates a significant risk for birds and other wildlife.” Although the mayor has been approached regarding an ordinance prohibiting fishing in the area, no action has yet been taken. “In the mean time its up to us to explain the risks and encourage youngsters to take their fishing somewhere else.” Reynolds observed, “It’s a big creek and if the beavers are left undisturbed to do their restorative work, they’ll be lots to fish for in the future.”