THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL

heidi08 Beaver Art December 1, 2020

It’s a new month. What do you have to show for November?

This time lapse movie shows the making of the “Enlivening The Matilija Watershed” mural in Ojai, California. Nov.9-21,2020. Environmental education, artistic expression and a vision for the future health of the Ojai Valley watershed are the cornerstone objectives for the “Enlivening the Matilija Watershed” mural. This community art project is a partnership between four local artists, Ray Powers (artistic director, project manager, Co-Vice President Ojai Valley Green Coalition), Lisa Kelly (mural artist), Ray Cirino (permaculturist, cob builder, art fabricator) and the Ojai Unified School District (OUSD).

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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?

THE LIVING BEAVER RESTORATION GUIDEBOOK

heidi08 Beavers October 22, 2020

Yesterday I read in the Montana beaver newsletter that the Beaver Coalition has taken on responsibility for the beaver restoration guide book and will be making and releasing updates as needed.

That’s pretty exciting and I am only modestly wounded that they didn’t ask us. But I guess an ex NOAA fisheries guy is a better man for the job. They probably think I would say too many outrageously nice things about beavers. Which I would.

So, just shut up and keep letting us have those nice photos, Heidi. I think that’s what they said.

Any way its good news that the guidebook can continue to reflect updated conditions and that it will stay a vital source for our times. And it’s great that Jakob and Rob are getting the respect they deserve. They do, after all, have the finest logo.

We are proud to be the new stewards of “The Beaver Restoration Guidebook,” a free, open-source guide to the best available science, restoration techniques, and management practices for partnering with beavers. Originally published in June 2015 with funding from the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative and housed since its publishing with the Oregon office of US Fish and Wildlife, this is a living document that has, and will continue to be revised, as our collective knowledge advances.

Speaking of great ideas, our friend Ray Cirino of Ojai California proudly created a ‘beaver game’ for children to play at the three day Manadala Event near the library. Check out his explanation of how it works.

Isn’t that a cool idea? Can you imagine how easily you could incorporate some beaver ecology into that meadow? Say the children following the different paths of the species who come to the pond? I sent it to Amy and am hoping she gets inspired.

FOLLOWING UP WITH FRIENDS

heidi08 Beaver Art, Beaver Behavior, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere May 25, 2020

Follow-ups needed: Here is the chalk-masterpiece by featured artist Ray Cirinio at yesterday’s Santa Barbara festival. Pretty nice work. (Although the beaver has way too many whiskers for my inner critic. He’s not a walrus for pete’s-sake!) The hands are lovely and to form, though. Everything else is very convincing, because he’s probably actually SEEN the other things…hmm.I wanted to be regaled with hundreds of beaver illustrations this morning, but Ray seems to be the only one online so far. Let’s hope his work inspires many others. You can see what a large undertaking it all is. One of my favorite parts of working with Amy is being there when she has Jon help her lay out the grid for her initial artwork. It’s always soo auspicious!

My mother brought over the ‘actual’ newspaper from last weeks Oakley bruhaha. This is the front page of the local news section. That’s some pretty good product placement! Now everyone in the town knows they had beavers.

The folks in England have been working round the clock to promote the next phase of beaver reintroduction. One of them recently shared this lovely info-graphic illustration with I thought I should pass along. Pretty nice, isn’t it?

And since its memorial day I want to make sure you’ve all seen this, If you were alive in 1918 you either died or knew sometime that had. I’m sure my 1898 house could tell stories about wearing masks or social distancing in those days. We are all so very lucky to be reading this and not living it. This represents 1% of the total number that died from this virus.