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

Tag: martinez beavers



Secondary Dam - Photo: Lory Bruno


Watchful eyes have been checking on how the storm has hit our beavers. Last night Worth A Dam  watched little Jr come out and groom on one of the banks, with a larger beaver in the vicinity. We know he wasn’t washed away with all the rain, even if the dams need some major repairs. This morning Jon says that a night heron is perched at the biggest gap in the primary dam and just chowing down on whatever crosses his path!


Primary Dam and Flow Device - Photo: Lory Bruno

Bob Rust (of the inflatable beaver-fame) filmed our beavers Sunday morning during the hardest rains. I’m so grateful for his effort and to be able to see how they gamely swim upstream in even the strongest current.



Lots to talk about this morning. I’m told some visitors from Sonoma are coming down tomorrow for a beaver viewing because they heard my talk at Audubon and wanted to see the heroes themselves. I went down this morning to verify arrival times with the new clock. Mom came back over the secondary at 5:50 and jr swam around under the footbridge at 6:25.

Some odd Martinez beaver remnant conversations on the bridge this morning. A woman who said she moved to Martinez from out of state with her daughter in 2006. When all the excitement started they were drawn to hang out at the beaver dam and were picked up by a news crew. The little girl pointedly told the camera “We just moved here. Martinez is our home now. And it’s the beavers home too”.

Her daughter is now 15.

Also a boisterous cycling man who helpfully explained that he was the one who “started” this whole beaver thing by protesting on the dam when city staff was trying to remove it. (I actually remember this story.) He forced them to carry him off the dam and was arrested  he says by the officer who was later shot in Martinez (Paul Starzck). He noted that the fallen officer was such a decent guy he let him drop off his bike at home before bringing him to the station, and he even talked about it at his funeral.

He also explained that he was really mad at that “Swede named Bork” who came in and took down their dam by so much. (Swede? Bork?) He had tried to explain that they need that protection from predators and of course did I know after he did it that one kit died and got all scratched up by a raccoon?

Which I repeat here primarily to note that the Martinez Beavers weren’t ever protected because it was the right thing to do, or the easy thing to do. They weren’t preserved because they were good for creeks or birds or children. They survived only because they were functionally family pets and “owned”  defensively protected by many, many people. People who talked to their neighbors and friends, and news media. They said good things and wrong things and had remarkable insights and repeated gossip and got facts incorrect. People who thought beavers ate fish and lived in the dam and people who still swear they regularly see them in the daytime. Now those who have seen me wince at the conversations will know that I have an allergic reaction to misrepresenting the facts about beavers, but it doesn’t matter because my accuracy didn’t save their lives.

Their populism did.

Are the beavers still important to Martinez? Well, this campaign flyer in the Gazette this morning appears to think so. I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that he’s not using that ad with the South of highway 4 crowd, but it’s a funny thing to see anyway. I used to joke about the “beaver bump” but I don’t think there was ever anything as unified as a beaver voting block. We were libertarians and democrats and republicans and teachers and policemen and seniors and shopkeepers and health care workers and homeless people and criminals. We were motivated by compassion and ecology and revenge and sour grapes and good will. We were the original big tent: eclectic with a purpose. And that’s why we won.

We got the city to hire “Bork the Swede”.  Ha ha.






Happy Almost 5 year Anniversary by the way!


Which makes this new article from BBC Nature timely to say the least.

‘Beaver tourism’: can it work?

By Stephen Moss, Naturalist

Reintroducing a species is never easy. The cause is championed by some, while critics question the wisdom of the species’ return, as with the case of the European beaver’s return to Scotland. Hunted to extinction in Scotland in the 16th century, the beavers are part of an official reintroduction trial in Knapdale Forest, Argyll.

Since the trial began, controversy has surrounded the project but it could be that reintroduced species can benefit local economies as well as ecosystems. Given that the beaver is the first extinct native mammal to officially return to the wild in Britain – the wild boar has also come back, but by accident rather than design – you might think this would be cause for celebration.

But the beaver continues to cause controversy, with a small but persistent alliance of landowners, anglers and foresters ranged against its return.

This is a smart, well written article and our scottish friends are very happy with it for a good reason. The answer of course is “no, not all by itself”. Tourism alone can’t justify beavers in Scotland or Martinez for that matter. But when you combine it with birds, and fish, and mammals, and dragonflies, and community spirit and the wash of bad will you would have incurred to get rid of them, the beaver equation is looking pretty nice.

Even for the illicit beavers:

Earlier this year SNH finally announced that it was suspending any attempts to capture beavers along the Tay, a decision that will be reviewed in 2015. In the meantime a working group has been set up to advise landowners on how to co-exist with beavers on their land.

But given that this population now seems to be fully established, any attempts to eradicate beavers from Scotland would now surely be a case of shutting the stable door long after this particular horse has bolted. Sir Lister-Kaye certainly thinks so, suggesting that by 2015 there could be as many as 300 beavers living wild in Scotland.

“We do need a constant on-going educational effort, aimed at a new generation of young people who understand fundamental ecological principles and who can lend weight to the debate about the beaver,” he said.

The reality is that, whether people like it or not, beavers are now firmly established in many of Scotland’s river systems and wetlands. And polls show that the majority of the Scottish public welcomes this new – or rather returning – addition to their fauna.

Paul Ramsay suggests that instead of worrying about beavers, we should be celebrating their return.

“When you consider that in Europe as a whole this creature was on the very brink of extinction, and yet has made an incredible comeback, this is a fantastic conservation success story – and something we really should be boasting about,” he said.

Amen to that, Paul.



Tail up: Heidi Perryman

Yesterday’s field trip was an unbelievably bright group of beaver-savvy children who told ME the story of the Martinez Beavers and asked smarter questions than I hear from most adults. They were working on several beaver projects and one boy was even writing a story about beavers from the point of view of another animal that relied on the pond! Cassy (one of this summer’s beaverettes) and her daughter-in-law came to help out and boldly marched children into the center of town to conduct surveys on lunch-goers at Luigis and the Creek Monkey. Sweet-hearted Luigi gave every child a beaver t-shirt!

Even the youngest children were delightful in their precision. Case in point: after my talk about beavers and dams and keystone species,  I asked Jon how the tours were going and he said the younger kids were driving him crazy. Pushing? Shoving? Ripping trees? Throwing trash in the creek? I wondered.

No, he explained. They were all making “Beaver noises” while he was trying to talk. Uh-Uh-Uhhh…Uh-uh-uhhhhhh….Uh-uh-uhhhhhhhhhhhh.

My very favorite comment of the day came in response to the above photo, which I showed and asked why they thought his tail was in the air. “Getting ready to slap the water” was a favorite answer, to which I replied wistfully that I was not that good of a photographer. “Signaling the other beavers?” was a close second. But this is the one that got my attention.

“He’s raising his tail up so that his parents can keep track of him when he’s under the water.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you and I aren’t enrolled in a school for gifted children in Palo Alto! Thanks everyone for a great day. Thanks kids for your art and enthusiasm. Thanks teachers and parents for keeping everyone on track and special thanks to Cassy and Jill being the bridge between children and the town of Martinez. Small beaver world fact number 283: When Cassy’s son and daughter-in-law got married a couple years back they wanted a bagpiper for the service and called me to connect with the piper we had at the festival, Jeff Campbell! Apparently he did a dam find job!

Oh and it’s September 20th so remember to celebrate the year by listening to this:


So the ‘blessed event’ won a belated mention from the foot-dragging Contra Costa times who repeated the announcement in their collective column saying:

While The Eye understands the giddiness the new kit has caused among Martinez beaver enthusiasts, we wonder about all the breathless news coverage. After all, wild animals reproducing is hardly unusual.

First of all, referring to yourself as “The Eye” borders on delusional and is furthermore deeply, deeply annoying. Second of all, people are happy about the beavers because they overcame adversity. Like the eentsy weentsy spider.  Like the ant on the rubber tree plant. Like the youngest billy goat brother. See first the city wanted them dead, then they wanted them gone, then the mom was actually dead AND gone, and still despite all this we have a new kit! The new kit we never expected! It’s called HOPE. It’s that  thing with feathers!

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune–without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
But not the Contra Costa Times
Because  “The Eye” can’t see.
Apologies to Emily Dickinson

Hrmph. Now that I got that snark outta my system, I will tell you that we saw the baby last night! After the fourth of July bruhaha we saw nothing on Thursday, nothing on Friday, nothing on Saturday, and were almost in despair. But last night the baby made an appearance by the bank hole and again by the secondary dam! Cheryl snapped some photos that we’ll try and get up soon. I got video of his little beaver butt diving underwater again, but am expecting better things will follow. I’m just glad he’s still there, and healthy.

We were buoyant when we left, and the beavers seemed shiny and bright. A young couple drove from San Jose just to see them and were rewarded with several sightings! She said that beavers were her favorite animal and that she was from Texas. I can’t think of a better place to spread the beaver gospel, so I hope she talks about this magical night forever!


If I had to choose a favorite animal it would be the beaver

STACEY COLE
Nature Talks
Unionleader New Hampshire

IF I HAD TO PICK a favorite animal, the beaver would find itself heading the list. Oh, I know the placement of dams built by these wondrous creatures can upset folks who have different land-use objectives, but I really enjoy their company.

Now that’s the kind of opening paragraph that makes me sigh, settle back in my chair, pick up the coffee and look forward to a good read. Thanks Stacey (who I read is a 90 year- old man and an award winning writer.) Beavers are your favorite? Gosh, I know just what you mean!

Beaver ponds attract many other animals and, with the exception of river otters, beavers appear quite willing to share their pond with them. I came to that conclusion several years ago when the first pair of beavers constructed a dam. They turned our original half-acre “dug” pond into a nearly two- acre body of water. In time, the enlarged pond attracted many species of birds including wild turkeys, grackles, song sparrows, scarlet tanagers, catbirds and several kinds of warblers. These birds built nests among the various shrubs and small trees that grew around the pond’s edge.

Ahh, what a nice observation! It makes me think of the 2008 research by Hilary Cooke and Steve Zack that beaver chewed trees create ideal nesting habitat for migratory and song birds! Of course, even if a fellow wasn’t a crazy research reader and just sat still and WATCHED his eyes would eventually teach them all about the good they do for the ecosystem. Stacey goes on to say that a friend gave him the article about blue herons nesting in flooded dead trees at beaver ponds, and how much he enjoyed it. Honestly, Stacey is a national treasure. Go read the entire article!

Just one problem with Stacey’s writing as far as I can see

Our beaver pond has always attracted both great blue and green herons. As far as I have observed, there are no fish left of any size.

Um…what do you think those all those birds are doing at your pond if there’s no fish? Come to think of it, why did the old beaver have to chase away the otter in the first place if the otter didn’t have really delicious things to eat?  Trust me. There are fish in those ponds.




Green Heron Catches Splittail at Third Dam: Cheryl Reynolds




Also this morning there’s a beaver revisit in the Martinez Patch. Reporter Jim Caroompas wants to know why the beavers are still controversial even after they have not caused problems for 5 years? He says he’s not exactly a fan, but just genuinely wants to know why the beavers are still disliked. Maybe you can go help by posting your thoughts.

This is Martinez, where even aquatic furry critters become lightning rods for politics. But I don’t understand, now that the fears about the beavers bringing floods and doom to downtown have passed, why they are still the target of so much animosity in some. What have they done other than bring us visitors? Created an active creek eco-system that now includes muskrats, turtles, and other denizens? Brought us national publicity?

I can’t imagine whether this is a genuine question. Doesn’t he remember that the beavers attack was waged by some of the most powerful players in the city; wealthy men who still wield massive powers that affect every  pocket of Martinez.  (And if you’re a local reader, yes that was a pun). Honestly, hasn’t he heard of the applicable Eratosthenes theorem? I thought everyone learned it by heart in grade school.

I believe its latin name is “sorecus loserium.”

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