NAPA’S BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

heidi08 Beavers June 9, 2020

Do people still put in birth announcements? “Gloria and Stephan Escobar are proud to announce the birth of their first grandchild, Emily Susan Escobar?” Well they should. And there definitely should be birth announcements for beavers.

Meet Napa’s Newest Resident: Photo Of The Day

NAPA, CA — This little guy — or gal — was spotted by Roland Dumas last week in downtown Napa. It wasn’t the only recent beaver sighting in town. Rusty Cohn shared photos last week of a baby beaver and a larger one, both swimming in Napa Creek.

“It’s a great time of year to watch beavers because the beginning of summer means kits,” according to Heidi Perryman of Worth A Dam, a Martinez-based nonprofit focused on beavers.

Beavers breed once a year, and both parents and the older yearlings — teens — help raise the babies, which are called kits. Beavers are born ready to swim but take a while to learn to dive, she said.

The kits seen recently in Napa are probably about a month old, according to Perryman, who says people should not try to interact with kits. Watch from a distance, she says, and keep dogs away.

“In Martinez we had 27 kits born over 10 years from the same family,” Perryman said. “There appears to be a couple families in Napa.”

Well sure, doesn’t ever retired football player become a sports commentator if they’re lucky? Those who can’t do, etc, if I can’t watch beavers someone else can, and if Roland and Rusty (bless their hearts) are going to play dueling cameras and try to see who can get the best photo, I’m going to sit on my porch and be very very happy.

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BE GRATEFUL FOR THE LITTLE THINGS

heidi08 Beavers May 31, 2020

It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

May 31. Time to wake up early and hope you get treated to the very first sighting of the very first kit of the most amazing summer to come. Even now I wake up with a tingle. And I was delighted to receive these photos from Roland Dumas of Napa. Taken last night after 8:30.

Yes that is about the best thing a person will ever see in this miserable sorry excuse for a live filled with viruses and racism and riots. A kit getting a ride through the water on a parents shoulder is the best thing that will ever be. I’m not at all bias. Its a fact.

Unless you get a chance to see that kit swimming on their own in the big creek. Then THAT”s the very best thing you will ever see. It’s early in the year. I only every filmed one single kit in may. And in 12 years of watching I had to wait until June. What a blessed event. I can’t imagine a single thing I’d rather see.

Except this. I might want to see this too. From our friend in Scotland. Those are bluebells.

I can’t help remembering the Martinez saw its fair share of beautiful things. We got a longer time at the trough of beaver riches than most cities. This was from 2007 filmed by a very young, naive and surprised Heidi,

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And this was from 2018 and filmed by Moses Silva.

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THREE GOOD BEAVER MOMENTS

heidi08 Beaver Behavior April 15, 2020

There are three fine things to share this morning. The first is that Roland Dumas just posted grand photos of his first beaver sighting in Napa this season and I knew you’d want to share.

Isn’t that splendid? I well remember that after the shut-ins of winter we would start to see our beavers again in april and may. It is very likely that if there are kits they are already born or nearly so. Ahh memories.

The second good thing is that we had lots of fun going through the beaver scrapbooks to scan articles for the grad student and seeing this again, which was just about the most polite and simultaneously provoking thing I ever wrote in my life. I’m so proud.

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Ahh the basking! But like any good Catholic I saved the best for last. Because guess what Martinez resident I do not know posted Monday on Facebook?

This was seen Monday morning around 7 am near Starbucks. I especially got excited by the second image, which shows this is an adult beaver. Not likely a lost disperser, but somebody with a significant other somewhere.