Experts say, that before beavers were wiped from the country originally, they were commonly seen in all shades of hair color. There were blonde beavers. Black Beavers. And even red-haired beavers. It’s hard to imagine now. Until we see something like this,
In 2012 we were contacted by some beaver friends trying to protect some threatened habitat in Winters, Ca. They were especially alarmed that destroying the bank might also destroy the home of their very rare Piebald beaver.
Piebald literally means having irregular patches of two colors. Usually black and white, so of course II was naturally skeptical until they provided this photo, taken by patient photographer Alejandro Garcia. He waited for months to get this shot, and was concerned enough about the beavers safety to share it with the media.
Piebald beaver: Photo by Alejandro Garcia
Isn;t that beautiful? Can you imagine seeing kits swimming around in those colors? Can you imagine seeing entire families of blonde beavers?
There’s no important beaver news this morning, but I have something VERY important to tell you. Two things actually. Earth shattering.
This is the newest photo take of the threatened piebald beaver in Winters posted on the new Putah Creek Wildlife Stewards facebook page. (Go LIKE them if you haven’t already). Just remember that we probably won’t ever see anything like this again. It was taken by local photographer Vance Tj Koski.
Piebald Beaver: Photo Vance Tj Koski
Isn’t that amazing? Seeing this I realize that losing his habitat is NOT that beaver’s biggest threat. His biggest danger is being trapped, because that is a very, very rare beaver pelt. I usually think that publicity saves beavers, but with our beaver dying lately I’ve begun to think that keeping beavers close isn’t always the best way to save them. Sometimes they’re better off taking they’re chances somewhere else. I said this to the defenders and they agree it’s complicated but feel that this beaver is likely to be threatened wherever he or she goes. Which is true. I’m honestly not sure what I would do.
I feel totally blessed that I ever got to see that photo though. Don’t you?
And the second important thing is of a more personal and less piebald nature. I completed my presentation for minor’s council training for the Contra Costa County Bar Association yesterday about establishing rapport with child clients. Now I’m completely and totally DONE with all my commitments.
No, really. Done.
For 11 months I was getting ready for various beaver talks or getting grants or planning the beaver festival, (or holding or recovering from the beaver festival), and then I had to submit reports to make sure we received our grants. Meanwhile the shrink side of my brain signed on for this talk because I knew it was after the festival and I’d have time, (and a topic near and dear to my heart) which I later found out the class was being video taped and being sold to the state bar so I wanted to make it good, (which it was) and yesterday it happened and now I’m totally and completely done.
Which makes Sunday August 30, 2015 the very first real day off I’ve had since last September. Usually the months WHIZ by but I am stunned that 29 days ago we held the beaver festival. I love September. Because the next festival is still as far away as it will ever be.
Here’s another gift from Rusty’s visit to the Napa beaver pond to celebrate. Chirping and mutual grooming by otters pups. Enjoy.
GEO magazine is a sleek international kind of National Geographic.It is currently published in Germany and France but has moved around the EU fairly deftly. And last year it had a particularly stunning look at beavers from photographer Ingo Arndt who is struggling to show people the value (and beauty) of these important animals. Remember the beaver population in Europe was destroyed by the middle ages, and reintroduced after some folks started to understand their value. Currently the population has recovered enough to be persecuted, which is a kind of victory.
The beautifully pro-beaver article is called”The Beavers are Back”.
My German is pretty much limited to my name, so I relied on Google translate to get an initial read. Basically it describes the valuable work these animals do and how they restore aquatic ecosystems, but farmers hate them and shoot them on site. (As if we needed a translator to know that!) I especially like the paragraph about Bavaria which called them the Gemütlicher Anarchist. Translate the first word as “pleasant or cozy” and the second literally. A pleasant disregard for your rules, roads and infrastructure.
Doesn’t that exactly describe beavers?
Ingo Arndt
Check out that blissful mum lying on her back to let kits nurse. This may be the lodge shot to beat all lodge shots. Not sure what kind of amber lighting they used, but she is obviously feeling safe and maternal. The article contains an interview with Gerhard Schwab, a staunch advocate who traveled with Derek Gow and the Ramsays to the State of the Beaver Conference this year. It ends with the words of a famous German naturalist.
For a moment, the words of pioneering conservationist and beaver friend Michael Succow are remembered: “It’s not about having perfect ecosystems. It’s about leaving dynamic systems in peace.” The beaver is one of its messengers.
I live in Winters, a small town in northern California, with less than 8,000 residents. With a large lake and a creek near Winters, agricultural areas and a small human population, it’s perfect for wildlife to appear in this area. I wasn’t prepared for what I found that afternoon along Putah Creek.
I saw something moving in the water close to the ravine. My first thought was that someone’s pet escaped. At first glance it looked like some sort of rodent, maybe a guinea pig… but then I quickly realized that I was in the presence of something truly amazing: a piebald beaver!
Piebald Beaver: Alejandro Garcia Rojas
This beavers home is slated for bulldozing, and there is much concern and little chance he will be saved. When something this rare happens there is always hesitation about publicizing it in case it draws trappers. But things have progressed to the point that they are ready to risk publicity. Maybe you can write the mayor and city council to let them know how special this is.
And in the mean time, here’s some kit-licious footage from Rusty Cohn in Napa. It’s all wonderful, but I’m starting it where the two kits eat side by side. Just in case I haven’t shown you enough beautiful beaver images today.
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Yesterday was supposed to be a languid Wednesday where I sat around and practiced my talk for SARSAS on Monday. Instead my little desk exploded into beaver central around 1 when someone who had been referred by Brock Dolman wrote me from Winters that they were trying to save a rare piebald beaver that was living in a section of creek going to be destroyed in the name of progress.
I assume you are like me and had never really heard the word “piebald” before, so you might need a short refresher course. The Dictionary definition is “Spotted or patched, especially in black and white.” A pinto horse is piebald. Rarely a hunter will get lucky enough to shoot a piebald deer. And very very rarely we have stories of piebald beaver.
Remember that before the fur trade we used to have all colorations of beaver. Blonde beaver. Redhead beaver. And Piebald beaver. After the population was nearly destroyed that variation vanished. Well almost vanished. Because apparently there is at least one colored beaver left in California.
And, there’s something else you shouldn’t wait to see, if you can see it at all. I’m outing a secret, and am gambling on the goodwill of humanity against stupidity (a big gamble, I know): There’s an extremely rare piebald beaver that frequents this area. Local nature photographer and wildlife expert, Alejandro Garcia, camped out for hours just to get a photo of it, which I’ve seen, and it’s pretty darn amazing. It’s a regular brown beaver in all ways, with a thick white stripe in its midsection like an ice cream sandwich.
Alejandro told me there are only a handful of piebald beaver in existence. I googled it, and aside from some horrific trapping sites based in Arkansas, the only information I could find was from a book written in 1876 by John J. Bowman, entitled, “The Emigrant and Sportsman in Canada — Some Experiences of an Old Country Setter.” Bowman merely says, in a story about his experiences with wild beaver, “I saw one piebald beaver; his back was black, his sides white, and belly reddish.”
That’s it. The sum total of all the information about piebald beavers, almost as rare as a dodo, and, by a miracle of nature, there’s one living in a little pocket of natural habitat along Putah Creek in Winters. What a great mascot this animal could be for our little creekside town. But no. We’re glibly forcing it to “move on.” If you want to get a glimpse of it before it’s gone, don’t wait. The bulldozers are coming.
An ice cream sandwich beaver! How could I not come to full attention! I conferred with the author, contacted some professors at UC Davis to see if we could get some interest, swapped emails with Beth to see if there was anything that National Wildlife Federation could do, called Sarah Koenisberg to see if she might want to film it for her upcoming documentary, and talked with the director I knew at Fish and Game. He pointed me to his counterpart in Winters who, like everyone I talked to, was very interested but wasn’t sure that a beaver could be protected just for its coloration. I reminded him that it was kit season and that there was a good chance that at least one of the kits would have some coloration too. (OMG) And he was more interested.
Now here’s where the story gets very very fascinating.
In our amiable chat he reminded me that beaver were depredation-able and nuisance permits could be issued for their death. I said I understood that very well, and that in fact there were no limits on how many beaver could be written into the permit for depredation. He said, that’s not true. And with no hesitation at all I said come on! I just reviewed all the permits in California for the last two years an there were 51 unlimited permits issued!
‘And he agreed that used to be true but two months ago there had been a meeting and they were told not to issue unlimited permits — then he stopped talking abruptly surprised — maybe that was because of you!
I have zero idea whether it was because of me, but I do know that a third of the permits we reviewed were written for ‘unlimited’ numbers of beavers, and now according to him, none will be. NONE.
I was so focused on finding a way to save that piebald beaver it really didn’t sink in until later. No unlimited permits! I wish I’d asked about that meeting where they were told not to do it. Was it regional? Or with a higher up? Was it time limited? Was there any push back about it?
Of course there were more people to call about piebald beaver, so I had to stop feeling surprised and just feel like I might be able to help. Then there were several forwards about the Fargo beavers and the war room had to redirect. It’s always good to know your work matters. I did what I could for Piebald beaver. And maybe some one will share a photo soon.
Megan Bartholomay, an opponent of the Fargo Park Board’s decision to cull the beaver population to prevent damage to trees, stands near the Red River in Fargo. David Samson / The Forum
FARGO—A growing chorus of animal rights supporters wants the Fargo Park Board to reconsider its plan to trap and kill beavers in city parks along the Red River.
One of the leading voices is Megan Bartholomay, a 38-year-old Fargo resident who believes the board’s plan is barbaric.
“We’re a civilized community living in 2015,” she said. “Is this the only way? What else have we tried?”
One supporter of Megan tracked down Carol Evans from the PBS documentary (it’s always easier to find the emails of government employee!) and she forwarded it to me to see if I could help. I gave lots of thoughts and resources and am eager to see what happens in Fargo. It’s not an impossible battle because there is already lots of beaver intelligence in the state. Just look at this comment I highlighted in 2012 in Fargo from Game and Fish!
“Probably the most economical way of dealing with beaver is wrapping the trees, probably a couple three feet up as high as a beaver can stand off the ground, with chicken wire or some kind of wire mesh to keep the beavers in, they’ll leave it alone.” says Doug Leier with North Dakota Game and Fish.
Piebald literally means having irregular patches of two colors. Usually black and white, so of course II was naturally skeptical until they provided this photo, taken by patient photographer Alejandro Garcia. He waited for months to get this shot, and was concerned enough about the beavers safety to share it with the media.
