Our own Cheryl Reynolds snapped this lovely photograph a few nights ago. It is beautiful look at a beaver on his own terms. I am certain we are in agreement about this being an excellent picture but we differ in our thoughts of whether this is Dad or a yearling (Clearly with those wide eyes it’s not mom!) Cheryl was impressed with the overall size of the beaver and his somewhat cautious approach. I look at the smooth, ungrizzled lines of that narrow face and think this is a young dapper yearling ready to take life by storm. Dad must have seen six years now, and I think his face shows it more. Perhaps you’d like some beaver mysteries of your very own, so head down to the dam and find a few! If you see anything, write and let us know. Worth A Dam stalwart LB has recently taken on the sightings page, and has been updating cheerfully with the excellent detail.
Last night this fun read caught my attention. Beaver friend Brock Dolman sent Ashlee my way for an interview and I was hoping it would be a positive voice for beaver benefits. Whadaya think?
Leave It to Beavers?
By: Ashlee Green
It can cost millions of dollars to restore a river channel with artificial ponds and bulldozers. Some ecologists recommend turning to beavers, nature’s water engineers, who will do that work for free.
Ahhh isn’t that a lovely beginning? Sigh. Get the popcorn and the throw blanket. This is going to be a cozy read.
Ecologists working in the Feather River watershed have unearthed evidence of beaver activity dating back more than 1,000 years. They say the animals were a natural part of the watershed, and restoration techniques like “pond and plug” resemble beaver dams, which clean up river water by trapping silt and organic material.
I actually gave her a very nice quote which she didn’t use, about having engineers “on site 24/7 to make repairs” but, still, I didn’t come out half bad anyway.
Dr. Heidi Perryman, president of the beaver advocacy group Worth A Dam, in Martinez, Calif., says beaver dams create habitat for fish and the insects they feed on. And when beavers chomp on trees, that stimulates dense regrowth, creating vegetation that’s appealing to birds.
She offers a nice collection of links to follow up with, which I helpfully directed her to. Sadly it doesn’t link to the single most useful beaver website on the entire planet, (ahem) but hopefully that was an oversight and people will use their google to come find us anyway.
Careful observers of this website will notice that there are two new flyers in the left hand column. (Click on the thumbnail to go to the pdf) The first is for the talk I’m giving Monday for the organization “Close to Home” in Oakland. I would love to see some familiar faces there, so if you’re not doing anything that night you might stop by! The second is the flyer for the beaver festival, which I just finished putting together yesterday. Looks like its going to be a dam good time!
No ‘seven maids’ update today. I am too depressed. Not just by the oil washing up in Alabama or the stupidity of Tony Hayward thinking he could apologize for his enormous narcissistic uncompassion by saying he was sorry for whining that he “wanted his life back”. No, I was depressed that the head of the NOAA is backing up BP’s denial and pretending not to see the mile long plumes of oil under the sea, even as she pays teams of researchers to study what isn’t there. Favorite part of the article?
“I’m not in denial” she insisted.
Do people actually say that?
