I sometimes like to think of this website like a big spiders ‘web’ in the corner of a very active barn. Everything that flows through beaver-related breezes winds up passing thru here in one way or another.
Last year in may I received an email from a Vince Patton of Oregon Field Guide. I was especially excited because they produced a great video on beavers and salmon that I refer to all the time.
First, I’d like to thank you for featuring some of our videos from Oregon Public Broadcasting on your website. That’s very kind. I’m a reporter with Oregon Public Broadcasting’s “Oregon Field Guide.” My latest story is about urban beavers.
We are in search of video of beavers in Oregon, especially in urban areas. Might you know who would have some? Or could you please share my inquiry with your members in the Portland metro area? I saw one video on line which credited Heidi Perryman and Worth A Dam. Could you put me in touch with her?
Thanks for any help you can lend!
Vince Patton
OPB News
Oregon Field Guide Producer
What do you think, could I put him in touch with Heidi Perryman? He was working on a piece about urban beavers and wondered if I had any footage he could use. I put him in touch with lots of local resources because I was having lots of conversations with local folks at the time about the Tiger and Greenway beavers. He didn’t really need footage from here, as you can see. But was grateful for the contacts.
You never know if projects are going to amount to anything. So you can imagine how happy I was to see this:
Isn’t that wonderful? Don’t you want to meet all those people who are cooperating with beaver in their own yards? Don’t you want to buy those houses and live there yourself! Vince did an EXCELLENT job telling this story and, go figure, when I hear city officials saying why its good to live with beavers I instantly tear up.
I am pretty certain that line “beavers change thing. It’s what they do.” is a direct quote from me. But don’t worry. I don’t want credit.
I just want my own way, and obviously I’m getting it in Portland.
More stunning video was released yesterday with such fanfare that, in addition to beaver experts, my niece and cousin sent it along excitedly! This from 1950 by the Idaho Fish and Game commission showing the reintroduction of muskrats, beavers 
and fisher. The muskrats are tossed by their tails, but the beavers are thrown from a plane and dropped by parachute.
This has been a story from the beaver history books for years now, and it’s nice to finally see the [mostly cruel] footage. I’m sure they were thinking it was a win-win for them. Either the beavers thrived in the upcountry and improved conditions, OR they died on impact and they got to get rid of a nuisance once and for all.
Either way, it was worth spending government money on.
