BEAVERS BREAKING THROUGH

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Educational October 31, 2020

Our friend Mike Digout of Saskatchewan is getting famous. I thought he might when his ‘beaver-crashing-through-ice” video made it into the daily mail. Now he’s be on the NY Post and ABC. His own Canadian TV is starting to take notice and has a nice profile of him today.

‘I just couldn’t believe it:’ Photographer captures Saskatoon beaver bursting through ice ‘like Superman’

SASKATOON — A Saskatoon-based beaver has become a viral video star after a local photographer and nature enthusiast filmed it bursting through an ice-covered pond last week.

“She just sort of exploded through the ice like Superman and I knew right away it was a really great thing to have caught on camera,” Mike Digout said.

When the weather got colder and the pond froze over, Digout wondered what that would mean for the beavers. He then started noticing that after having a snack, the mama beaver would swim around and strategically choose areas to break the ice.

Hurray for Mike! And hurray for beavers, that are so amazingly robust.

“I just couldn’t believe it. They’re so clever, they understand their habitat so well.”

Digout said he tried for two days to get a shot of her in the act but was unsuccessful. Finally, on the third day, he got lucky.

“I had a hunch where she was going next to break the ice and I could see her body moving under the ice so I hustled. I literally ran to a spot, pressed click on my video camera.”

That’s when he captured the video that’s garnered not only local attention but has also attracted national and international audiences — something that was a huge surprise to Digout.

First, he shared it on his own social media pages last Friday then submitted it to the Weather Network. Since then, it has also been shared on ABC News, the London Daily Mail and the New York Post. The ABC News video alone has gotten over 500,000 views.

Heh heh heh, beavers will make you a star, kid. Just stick with them.

“I thought well, that’s half a million people that are getting to witness this magical spot in Saskatoon and this crazy fun mama beaver that entertains me everyday,” Digout said.

He said he began visiting the pond on the Meewasin Valley trail and taking photos and videos of the beavers at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as a hobby. Now, his Facebook page has inspired children, families and so many others to come down to the pond to see the beavers for themselves.

Good. Humanize the beaver and endear it to the viewer. That’s what we need more of. People care about what they see, and you are doing an excellent job.

He added that his photos and videos have also helped people who aren’t able to go out and explore nature themselves right now.

The Meewasin Valley Authority and the Ministry of Environment told CTV News that while the moment Digout managed to captured seems extraordinary, it’s fairly routine behaviour for beavers during this time of year as they get settled for the winter, gathering food and materials.

Yup. You should mention also how many of them are normally KILLED in the ice under your watch. Winter is a dangerous time for beavers. Not only are they racing against the elements, they are subject to trapping season and hoping they live to breed another year.

The thing I love best about Mike’s movie star is that now that she’s achiever international FAME it will be much, much harder to issue the order for her death. Fingers crossed. Visibility keeps beavers safe.

Yesterday’s beaver conference was fantastic again, and Ben did a great NM specific presentation about the importance of beavers to the area. Meaghan Conway from Game and Fish had a very good talk about why specifically beavers matter in the region. It’s kind of nice to forget about the election and just think about beavers. The next is Monday and then a final closing with Mary Obrien on Wednesday, All in all it’s been an excellent use of a very difficult set of circumstances.

Oh and here’s a video from the “Beaver Game” designed by our friend Ray Cirino in Ojai California. Isn’t it brilliant?

“BEAVERS FUCKING BELONG HERE”

heidi08 Beaver ecological impact, Beaver economics October 29, 2020

Don’t be shocked by the title. I’m just quoting what I heard. I’ll explain later, but for now I’ll just say I’ve been scooped by the Daily Mail.

It’s to to admit my total failure as a beaver journalist and humbly turn in my press pass. A couple of days ago our Saskatchewan friend posted amazing footage of the beaver Matriarch under the Canada ice and breaking through in dramatic resolve and I set the video aside intending to share it with you. I was going to call it the best thing you would ever see. But I got busy with the survey and the conference and it fell to the back of the list.

And now I’ve been scooped by the Daily Mail.

Icebreaker! Moment a beaver smashes through the frozen surface of a lake to grab a branch and then dives back underneath

Mr Digout said he had noticed the ‘adult female had a daily routine of swimming around the pond and breaking the ice at certain spots’.

The beaver, which is Canada’s official symbol, circles for a few moments before diving back below the surface. The large semi-aquatic mammals are herbivores and consume mostly tree bark, often chewing down trees for building material.

Mr Digout said he had noticed the ‘adult female had a daily routine of swimming around the pond and breaking the ice at certain spots’. The beaver, which is Canada’s official symbol, circles for a few moments before diving back below the surface. The large semi-aquatic mammals are herbivores and consume mostly tree bark, often chewing down trees for building material.

Isn’t that wonderful? And aren’t beavers wonderful? No matter how hard your day is I bet you didn’t have to start it by breaking through some ice with your head to get breakfast. Mike’s hard work and shivering effort has paid off with international fame. The Daily Mail has an odd soft spot for beavers. They are a rough tabloid magazine that doesn’t exactly appeal to educated naturalists, but the love their beavers. They published a story about our father beaver raising the kits alone many years ago.

As long as you don’t read the comments you’ll be fine.

Still congratulations to Mike! And lets hope the high profile of Saskatchewan gets people thinking of the animal in a new way. Here’s the other video I set aside to share. Notice she’s using her teeth to nibble the ice out of the way.

Yesterday’s conference was fascinating and really fun to be a part of. Lea Knutson of the Hermit Peak Alliance gave an awesome presentation about incorporating land owner support and how to deal with their very real beaver apprehensions. They showed a new film that hasn’t been released yet about beavers as neighbors. Aaron Hall of Defenders of Wildlife gave a excellent, practical, no nonsense talk about how to solve beaver conflicts the right way. But my favorite part was the informal presentation by organic farmer Ralph Vigil of the NM acequia commission, who said after talking about all the ways they could cause issues for farmer, in a rugged burst of enthusiasm;

“Beavers fucking belong here“

Whoa. I could not have said it better myself, Ralph.

The next one is friday and is all about why beaver. If you want to register I think you still can.

Why Beavers? – Friday, October 30th, 1:00 – 3:30 pm MDT

Zoom Meeting Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvc-msqDMoHtCnKyKWXYLHllcaMyVjTegB

Ben Goldfarb – author– Regional History of Beavers
Kai-T Blue Sky – independent biologist, Cochiti Pueblo – Tribal cultural perspective on beavers
Meaghan Conway – NMDGF – ecological role of beavers for other wildlife
Bill Zeedyk – ecological role of beavers for water conservation

See you there?

SASKATCHEWAN’S BEAVER CHAMPION

heidi08 Attitudes towards beavers, Beaver Chewing September 21, 2020

Well. That was fun. I got a day filled with the cutest craziest beaver cards a person could imagine. Gosh, looking at them all together you people would think I’m obsessed with beavers or something. What ever would give someone that idea?

I am obsessed with this though. It was posted on the beaver management forum page yesterday by Mike Digout of Saskatchewan. It is pretty amazing that anyone living there is a fan of beavers, because they are so notorious for killing them. But here’s his comments.

Thought you all would enjoy this close up video I took in August. This beaver chewed through a poplar limb in 40 seconds, then flung it over her shoulder and headed for the beaver pond. Tonight I had a front row seat to watch and videotape this beaver gnaw through a poplar limb in about 40 seconds. Soooo cool (note: FYI, this was the adult female of the family)

When you see how FAST that beaver is chewing, not pausing to enjoy a single bite and scurrying off with her branch you realize how very unsafe she must be feeling. She’s totally exposed. In daylight. Away from the water. In Saskatchewan. That’s pretty vulnerable.

But boy does she get the job done.

Mike has been watching a family of beavers all summer long and taking photos and video. Obviously we know just what that was like. He has fantastic stuff and hopefully when all his friends and neighbors get to watch how cool beavers are they will think twice about killing so many. I’m also hoping that we will become best friends and he’ll be guest posting here soon.

For now you can see the collection on his facebook page here.