On the big screen

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers May 12, 2014

Video: Beaver rescuer Sherri Tippie gets an overdue shout-out on PBS

Thirty years ago, when Sherri Tippie first got interested in trying to save a keystone species whose habitat was being wiped out by breakneck development up and down the Front Range, she was ridiculed by wildlife officials as a rank amateur. What, after all, could a hairdresser and former go-go dancer know about trapping and relocating beaver?

But over the last three decades Tippie has trapped, fed, cuddled, relocated and serenaded more beaver than anyone else on the planet. Wildlife agencies now routinely come to her for guidance and inspiration — as did the PBS program Nature, which airs a segment this week on the growing effort to reintroduce beaver to revitalize rivers across the West and features Tippie as one of the top crusaders for the species.

The hour-long segment, “Leave It to Beavers,” airs on Wednesday, May 14 (7 p.m. MDT on Rocky Mountain PBS, Channel 6). It’s long overdue recognition by one of the country’s top nature programs of Tippie’s work, which was the subject of my 2011 feature, also (predictably) titled “Leave It to Beaver.”

Nice to see Sherri once again getting the recognition she deserves! The author of the blog is a big fan of hers and wrote the huge article on her in Westwood a few years back. Remember it appeared with this great artwork, by Eleanor Grosch (which incidentally, will be featured in the silent auction this year). I think he was understandably a little smitten with her many charms. Now he’s promoting the upcoming documentary which had the good sense to put her in it!

Speaking of the silent auction, we received another enormously generous donation from Safari West this year, which I mention because Worth A Dam stalwarts Lory and Ron are off today to enjoy their winning bid from last year. Our friends at Safari West have promised a behind the scenes meet and greet, and I know they’re going to have a wonderful time. If you’re feeling jealous you should be. Why not bring your check book to the beaver festival and make sure you win this year’s prize!

Last night we counted 5 beavers and I thought you’d enjoy some Mother’s Day footage. This is mom with one of last year’s kits. Since our new mom doesn’t oblige Martinez by having a distinctive tail, we know it’s mom by the visible teats Cheryl saw when standing downstream. Oh and the very childish whine the younger beaver made when she approached! Mom’s on the right.

A preview with heart!

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beavers elsewhere, Environmental, Friends of Martinez Beavers May 9, 2014

More excitement from the upcoming Nature special on beavers, this one a profile of Sherri Tippie. I have it on the very best inside authority that she was their favorite part of the documentary, so it’s no surprise Nature producers decided to lead with their strength. It’s great to see her doing what she loves most. The clip is un-embedable, so click on it to go to where you can watch it in person. I promise it’s worth it.

There’s also a nice letter about pointless beaver trapping from Montana that you’ll enjoy.

Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge: Killing busy beaver was unnecessary

Re: The recent demise of a North American beaver (Castor canadensis) on the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge.

According to Metcalf management, the bad-luck beaver was interfering with the refuge’s ability to manage water levels and they had to take appropriate, corrective government action.

I guess I’m a bit confused because in my wildlife biology training, I was taught that beavers provide beneficial habitat for ducks, which ultimately improved waterfowl breeding success. If water control becomes a problem, there are two popular devices for controlling water levels in beaver ponds:

1. Install a temporary device such as a three-log drain.

2. Install a permanent device like the Clemson Beaver Pond Leveler, which reduces damage from flooding.

If these measures aren’t feasible, then beavers can be easily live-trapped and relocated elsewhere. Killing them in a conibear trap would be a last resort. I’m sure the folks at Trap Free Montana Public Lands aren’t excited about this recent activity by an organization that is part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The mission of the USFWS, as stated on page five of the Lee Metcalf NWR Comprehensive Conservation Plan (September 2012) is to “conserve, protect, and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.” Unless you’re a beaver bothering the busy field technicians working at the refuge.

Jim Hamilton, Florence

Go Jim! Thanks for standing up for beavers. You’ll be on the right side of history. I’m glad you have the flow device idea, but I’d love to introduce you to more modern tools. Still, we’re grateful!

Speaking of flow devices, our own Castor Master installed by Skip had been showing no signs of life lately. In the past, even when the water from the secondary was backed up above the pipe outflow, we could usually see little ripples from the exit. Lately there’s been no activity and the pond was looking higher. We were starting to get nervous that it wasn’t working or maybe the beavers had plugged it. Yesterday Jon went down to measure and saw that it had “UNclogged” and was flowing freely. The dam is still air tight and unmeddled but that pipe is back to doing it’s job. Maybe a plastic bag or something else got lodged? Looking at the sheetpile you can see how the level dropped. I’m just glad it happened naturally before the city got involved. And that they will have a beautiful tight dam and pond for the new kits.

Beavers Far and Wee

heidi08 Beaver Behavior, Beaver Rehabilitation, Beavers, Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, Dispersal September 26, 2013

Cheryl got a call a Tuesday about Sonoma Wildlife receiving a beaver that had been huddled in someone’s back yard for a couple days. She drove up to see it yesterday with some beaver treats and background because this is the first beaver they’ve ever had. 31 lbs, which really seems disperser size for our beavers, but its not really the right time of year to be without a home. A physical yesterday revealed it’s a male with bite and scratch wounds on his back. He’s going into surgery today. Cheryl has been invited to help with the release when he’s on his feet again. If you want to assist with his care and remind them that it’s a good idea to rescue beavers, please donate here. I did, and you should too. Rest assured that all our beavers are on sight and no one is missing. Plus when you watch this video you will be certain it’s not ours.

From a very young age, Martinez beavers know how to hold on to an apple.

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Liz Wickard talks with children and their parents about beavers during a Nature at Night hike Sept. 20 at the Morrison Nature Center in Aurora. The Nature at Night series is a free environmental education series held once a month. (Seth McConnell, YourHub)

Aurora nature program explores animals, insects

Kaleb Cano, 10, raised his hand straight in the air when the instructor asked for a volunteer to demonstrate what it’s like to be a beaver. He jumped up, stood in front of the room and beamed with his arms outstretched. Liz Wickard, a naturalist at the Morrison Nature Center in Aurora, plopped a thick, brown pelt over Cano.

“This heavy fur keeps him warm. It’s like the underwear coat,” Wickard said to a room full of giggling children on Sept. 20. “But beavers have two kinds of fur, and this fur on the outside is made of coarse, oily guard hairs.”

Well, technically the hair isn’t naturally oily. It’s painstakingly treated by the beaver every day. And really, if you wanna teach what its like to be a beaver you should let people lie about you and pollute your home and blame you for everything before shooting at you in the dark. Then have the children crawl through some body crushing traps and see how many get away.

Have I grown too cynical for this work?

“About two years ago, this dam was about 15 feet tall and 30 feet wide,” Wickard said to the group once they were outside, along the muddy banks. “But it washed out during heavy rain one summer, and no one repaired it.”

Gosh an educational beaver dam that’s suddenly untended for no reason whatsoever. Call me jaded, but I just had to go looking to see what happened to the beavers on Sand Creek two years ago.

These endearments are directed not at me, but at the beaver, which must endure a few more minutes of this alarming final stage of their 200-mile journey to a new home. Tippie trapped this family in a desolate stretch of Sand Creek in Aurora a couple of days ago and has been chatting with them regularly ever since.

This is from the Westword article on Sherri Tippie in 2011. So somebody paid for these animals to be trapped and relocated, which is marginally better than being killed but still an easy answer to the mystery of why the dam’s not maintained. Maybe the Morrison Center itself paid for them to be trapped? Or it was the nearby golf course or Sheriff’s office or some combination. At any rate the story of their removal ran in the most famous 5 page article about beavers in the history of the Colorado Area, so I’m going to expect them to know dam well why the dam isn’t maintained. And be straight about the dangers beavers face.

And, for goodness sake, stop dressing children up in coats and flippers and use your grant money to explain to children and parents that beavers build a neighborhood and this is why they are WORTH A DAM.

Point Taken

heidi08 Beavers elsewhere, Creative Solutions, kits July 24, 2013

So yesterday I was insecurely musing that Martinez might not be very much fun for Sarah Koenisberg and her filmmaking friends after visiting with Sherri Tippie. And today there is proof that my fears were well-founded. Just examine the evidence.The woman in the red shirt is Sarah, was wrote me last night that getting in the skanky water was one of her least favorite things ever. I dare say this was a LOT better! The woman on the right should need no introduction on this website, and the bundle in Sarah’s arms is one of two tiny kits they picked up yesterday bringing the total to 4.

I’m worried about this poor girl. Look at the grueling strain she’s under. And that pained expression on her face. Maybe Worth A Dam should be her Cyrenian, come relieve her of all that unnecessary burden and carry her cross instead? Don’t worry, Jon’s packing the car as we speak. We’ll be there in 16 hours.

I have seen a few irresistibly adorable baby animals in my life – and this is all of them. Maybe I’m biased, but baby beavers make that new royal brat look like head cheese. Just sayin’.

News from beaver central yesterday morning where Cheryl watched a beaver and otter with pups square off yesterday in Cordelia. She caught this lovely photo. Enjoy.

beaverotterfight — Beaver and Otter argument: Photo Cheryl Reynolds

Amongst Royalty

heidi08 Beavers, featured, Festival, Friends of Martinez Beavers July 23, 2013

So the Beaver Believers film crew went out live trapping with Sherri Tippie two nights ago and were rewarded with a mom, dad, and two kits for their efforts. Not to mention some excellent footage and very fine conversation, I bet. 1011393_198095830351460_1058026479_n

“Waist deep in a stinky, skanky pond in urban Aurora, Colorado, filming a live trapping effort to relocate a beaver family to a happier home in Glacier National Park.”

What an exciting couple of days will be! – culminating in a release! If Sherri doesn’t inspire every one of you, you’d better visit the cardiologist very soon and check if your hearts aren’t made of stone. When I heard her speak I sat in the audience the whole time weeping, I was so happy. Not that I got to see her, not that I was invited to the same conference as her – but just that she existed. I can’t help thinking that coming to Martinez after all that excitement might be a bit of a let-down….but come anyway.

Which reminds me…with apologies to Mother Theresa…

If you are kind to beavers, people in your city might get mad at you;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful at saving beavers, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest about beavers and frank about solving problems, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What beavers spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Let them build anyway.

If you are happy with your website and celebrate in festival, people may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good for beavers you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;