What is in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.
R&J 2:2:45
Brands and names have a strange way of shaping our language. “Aspirin” was once a brand name, owned and trademarked, and is now the general name for acetylsalicylic acid from Bayer to Bufferin. Hoover, Biro, Sellotape: all brand names that became the generic term. It’s a compliment of sorts, for your invention to become the ubiquitous name for all copies, but no inventor is happy about it at first.
I mention this because there has always been much confusion about the names of flow devices. Even the much publicized contraption in Alhambra Creek has been repeatedly misnamed in print and conversation. Recent confusion is evident in this article about the Oshawa beavers. Certainly a beaver colony won’t be saved by a name, but its good for readers of this blog (the most informed beaver watchers in the known universe) to know what’s what. This is confusing business, and I’m still learning, so consider this a work in progress.
A Flow Device is the generic term. It can apply to all installations designed to humanely block beavers from a destructive water activity. The thing in Alhambra Creek is a Flow Device, in the same way that your Honda is an Automobile, or your Labrador is a Dog. Sometimes the terms “beaver deceiver” or “beaver baffler” are also used generically, meaning any effort to humanely trick a beaver. This is incorrect and sometimes confusing, so here’s a primer:
The Beaver Deceiver is a trapazoidal fence built around a culvert to prevent beavers from blocking the culvert. It was invented by Skip Lisle in his work with the Penobscot Nation in Maine. His name has become very linked to the invention, and since he installed Martinez Flow Device it is sometimes mistakenly called a Beaver Deceiver. It isn’t one. Our problem was dam height not culvert blocking.
This ground-breaking device was a production of Clemson University in South Carolina. It involved a perforated pipe through the dam and a baffled intake. It is less used today because of its rigid, expensive construction, but it was hugely important in demonstrating that flow devices could work to manage beaver behavior.
This is the flow device in Alhambra Creek designed by Skip Lisle of Beaver Deceivers International. It involves a double walled flexible pipe which goes over the dam. The inlet of the pipe is enclosed with a roundfence called a “filter” which prevents the beavers from feeling suction and plugging the pipe. The outflow is downstream of the dam.
This is the flow device trademarked by Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions. It uses a single walled pipe which passes through a notch in the dam. The intake is enclosed by a roundfence with a domed top to block the pipe. The outflow may also be blocked with fencing.
The Beaver Baffler has been called a modern version of the Beaver Stop developed by Neil Thurber in Canada. The adaptions of the Baffler by Brian Graph of Dodgeville NY have been successfully used to prevent beavers from building in culverts. However, the trapezoidal fencing is generally thought to be more successful at preventing daming.
This combines the techniques of the culvert fencing with the flexibility of the pipe to encourage beavers to dam away from the culvert. It has tested at 99% effective.
A final word on the work of Michael LeClair, who developed many of these techniques with his original work in Gatineau park in Ontario. His work became the foundation of the pond levelers used throughout the world. His devices have been called “limiters” and are far more influential than they ever get credit for.
