Oh no, I hate when this happens. There are too many good beaver things to write about at once. I’m going to have to shuffle some to the back burner. Well, no matter. We have to make room for this:
How the Beaver War forever changed Batwater Station
Clatskanie resident Karin Hunt has always called her land Batwater Station, or BW for short, but there was time when the BW stood for Beaver War. She said the critters put up a prolonged fight against attempts to clear Batwater Station, a fight Eventually, the beavers’ tenacity and inclination towards plugging water flows led to a confrontation, pitting them against Hunt’s tide gates and culverts. Hunt’s attempts to regulate the water level on her land were matched at every step by the critters efforts to the contrary.
Hunt collaborated with Tyler Joki at the Columbia County Soil and Water Conservation District and Bill Bennett at the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership and they helped to apply for grants. The process of evaluation began, hydrological and other studies were conducted during a two-year period, and it was determined that a levee breach would have the most impact in restoring the land, returning the natural activity of the river to the area.
“What was amazing was how quick it happened,” Hunt said. “All because of the good old beaver.”
Since moving forward with the land restoration, the area has continued to develop its wildlife population. Ducks, frogs, otters, osprey and turtles are among the creatures that frequent Batwater Station, sometimes in such fruitful numbers that Hunt has to turn away prospective hunters.
“Our goal is to give the land back to nature and let it run its own course,” Tillson said.
How quickly can we all move to Oregon? This is an excellent report and I’m very impressed not only with Karen and her husband, but with the agencies involved who were committed to keeping beavers on the stream, enough that they made a plan to puncture a levee!
Someone tape this story to Sacramento’s forehead.
On to England, where this nice report was recently released. It was just tagged with a copy right warning so I lent a helping hand in case its removed. It has amazing footage from Tom Buckley who is obviously the Moses Silva of Cornwall. Watch:
Love the footage of her moving the kits and snuffling for danger after the dog intrusion is pretty nice to see also. Even though Tom is worried by not seeing the kits, this recent report was pretty reassuring.
Devon’s beavers still alive and healthy, wildlife chief believes
Devon Wildlife Trust has said there is ‘no cause for concern’ over the disappearance of England’s only wild beavers.
The colony – the country’s first wild beavers in over 400 years – have not been seen at their usual riverside home for six weeks.
Amateur wildlife cameraman Tom Buckley, who photographed the creatures last February in the River Otter, fears human visitors may have scared them away.
But Trust chief executive Harry Barton said they have more than likely moved to a new lodge upstream.
“Where they have been is a rather public place but its not unusual for beavers to move around and there are sings of activity,” he told the Western Morning News.
I am not wholly reassured by the DWT saying the beavers are fine, because in my experience the folks actually watching the beaver every day usually know better than the folks overseeing things. But I am comforted by the general resilience of beavers, and think its way more likely that they moved to greener pastures and tastier shoots than were killed by a farmer or his dogs.
We will stay tuned.
