We’re an equal opportunity employer here at beaver central. Yesterday I wrote about Mike Callahan of Massachusetts and today I’m writing about Skip Lisle of Vermont. There was a nice article about the current drought with him (and beavers) featured.
Scenes from the West’s five-year drought are striking – the cracked mud at the bottom of a dry reservoir, forests in flames. Wonder what a drought would look like in the Northern Forest? Just look out the window.
This is the first time that any part of New Hampshire has been in an “extreme drought” since the federal government began publishing a drought index in 2000, said Mary Lemcke-Stampone, the state’s climatologist. “Using state records, you have to go back to the early ‘80s to get the extreme dryness we’ve been seeing in southeastern New Hampshire.”
Other parts of the region have been abnormally dry for some time. New York State has issued a drought warning for the Southern Tier and Western New York, which is an extreme drought, while the Adirondacks remain “abnormally dry” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Skip Lisle of Beaver Deceiver International, a beaver-control company that uses non-lethal means, said that beavers have droughts covered. “All those little dams and reservoirs keep water on the landscape,” he said. They have floods covered, too, as those same dams and reservoirs release peak flows slowly.
Intact ecosystems, Lisle said, have a way of coping. “Droughts are good. Floods are good. Dynamism is good. It’s been going on forever.”
Yes beavers are good for drought and Skip is good for beavers! Keep doing what you do saving the water-savers and we’ll do our best to write about it here. I’m curious about our own beavers at the moment. Will the arrival of autumn prompt them into starting an actual dam? They have no yearlings to help them so it much be a harder job. Although I guess all beavers everywhere have started thus at some point in their furry lives.
I hope I’m not jinxing anything by making them a video but I think we have to behave like Martinez has beavers because last time I checked it does. And it rained all day yesterday so what’s a girl to do?
Willow, the beaver whose life I have been documenting in this column for many years, had a visit from a special guest a couple of weeks ago, Roisin (pronounced RoSHEEN, she’s Irish) Campbell-Palmer, Field Operations Manager for the team working on the reintroduction of beavers to Scotland.
The project in Scotland has been one of the most carefully controlled reintroductions of a native species anywhere. Over the course of the five-year study period, five family groups from Norway were released in a forested area in the center of Scotland. These beavers were introduced as a trial, and their probationary period ends this year. Roisin and the other researchers involved have demonstrated that the beavers can survive in the landscape of modern Scotland, and bring the many blessing beavers bring, including a greater variety of habitat types, greater numbers and types of plants and animals, and increased economic revenue from beaver watchers. With flood and drought becoming increasingly common, beavers are also valued as an ally in retaining water on a landscape, and reducing the impact of floods.
While this carefully monitored project was going on, an illicit beaver reintroduction occurred in another part of Scotland, a more agricultural area. Roisin is now also part of a team studying the impact of beavers there, and because the beavers in the farmland have not been as welcomed by the locals, she travelled to Vermont to find out how we manage conflicts with these industrious creatures.
Illicit beavers! Somhow I kinda doubt that there could be a population of 150 if it had only happened during the sanctioned trial. Don’t you? Still it’s nice to read about our beaver friends from the other side of the world visiting the other side of the nation.
Naturally, she sought out Skip Lisle of Grafton, proprietor of Beaver Deceivers International. Skip has been solving beaver conflicts for years, and has learned how to modify beaver works in ways that allow them to do their wetlands restoration without causing undue damage to human property.
I joined Skip and Roisin on a visit to one of Skip’s job sites—a picturesque site with an old red cape, a striking view to the south, and cows grazing tranquilly on the hillsides. The three of us agreed that the best part of the scene was the series of beaver ponds tucked into the middle. When we arrived, we watched one of the resident beavers towing a bundle of fresh plants to the lodge, a good indication that kits were inside. We went down to the roadway to inspect the device Skip installed to keep the beavers from damming the culvert. All was working as expected, and not only kept the beavers on the landscape, but saved hours of time and headaches for the Halifax road crew. As we admired the scene, a mink loped past us, another of the beneficiaries of the work of Skip and the beavers.
At dusk we hiked into the woods to visit Willow. Because it is Roisin’s job to trap, measure, weigh and take samples from the beavers in Scotland, she had never met one that was happy to be with people. She was delighted to meet old one-eyed Willow, who flopped down beside us to eat an apple and offer herself for comparison to the Eurasian beavers.
Now, back in Scotland, Roisin is awaiting the final decision on whether or not the beavers will be allowed to stay. Willow and I are optimistic. In fact, I can almost hear the ceremonial bagpipes welcoming the beavers back to their ancestral lands.
How exciting to read about Roisin’s visit with Skip and Patti! I’m sure the solutions to Scotland’s disgruntled farmers won’t be hard to find. The funny part is that there has always been a weird, salty competition between Skip Lisle of Beaver Deceivers Int’l (Vermont) and Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions (Massachusetts). Even though they started as buddies, and Skip trained Mike, things went wrong somewhere along the way when Mike either helped or stole a client (depending who you talk to) and now the two most important men to the beaver-saving campaign can barely stand each other. This is how Martinez (in the middle of nowhere) found itself so quickly in the middle of everything (because Skip was our hero in person and installed the flow device and Mike was our virtual hero online and gave us tons of advice along the way). It probably was no accident the two coincided, since both happened to be interested in the high profile case of the other.
I don’t know the much about original grudge, Suzanne Fouty at the beaver conference last year was ready to try an ‘Intervention’ to get them to shake hands and be friends – for the sake of the beavers if nothing else! I’m thinking its entrenched by now like Gaza or the beginning of Fiddler on the Roof. The shouting crowd of ‘Horse’ ‘Mule’ is the defense of the people who have stood on one side or the other. We are all the ‘villagers’ and now the feud has extends overseas because our friends of the Tay invited Mike out to do a training in Scotland, and our friends at the official trial went to Skip to learn the trade. Tradition!
Never mind though, because my position has always been that we all need to get along. There aren’t enough beaver defenders in the world, I always say, to pick and choose the ones you ‘like’. We all have to get along and do our part if this is going to have any chance of working, right?
Happy Fourth of July from the beavers, btw from our forefathers. Play safe out there!
I always am eager for an excuse to post this, which I think represents a window between technology and legislation that opens once in many lifetimes.
Yesterday started lovely enough, with the usual sunrise and lighter morning air. But our hearts were quickly alarmed by a THUMP at 8:00. Followed by many regular sounding bangs like the hammer of Hephaestus on the anvil of doom. We recognized the sound of the pile drive from the horrible sheetpile drama lo these many years ago, and rushed to its source.
The crane was erected on the other side of the train bridge about 300 feet from where the beavers are living. After a little researching and checking with the city engineer I realized it was for the new bridge they’re building to the inter-modal facility down stream. They are looking to make traffic easier on all those soccer moms who drive chrissy to the game. Here’s a map of what they’re doing, the blue dot is the beaver home.
Immediately I started to panic. Apparently this phase of the work anchoring the pilings will take two weeks. Jon already said the dam was looking unkempt last week. What must that sound like when you’re right next door underground? Maybe this would drive them away, maybe they had already left. Jesus, I thought I was done worrying about beavers!
Yes our other beavers stayed through a much tougher time but they had four small youngsters to worry about packing along. Even if current mom was already pregnant it was certainly easier to travel with them all ‘on board’ so to speak.
Would they be gone already?
Jon and I had been watching the tide and saw that today was an ideal time to visit. So we braved the smoky predawn and headed downstream. There was a fire last night in the hills behind Rankin park and they were still guarding the embers when we drove down. I was ready for a doomed site with a broken dam and empty waters, and possibly scorched earth. Instead I saw this almost as soon as we arrived.
A beaver! Munching in that lovely untroubled way they have. A train whistle blasted and I thought the hammer of the pile driver might not be much worse. The beaver swam back and forth across the pond, and got in a little tussle with a raccoon that was crossing the dam. Then made a broad show of sitting possessively in the middle to indicate who was in charge.
I always forget how hardy and resilient beavers are! They put my pale courage entirely to shame. I think of that little disperser nursing a drip into a pond on the Guadalupe River and realize they are not afraid to commit. Even when the sky looks dark.
We didn’t just see one beaver this morning. We saw two. Here the smaller male is swimming up to see what the female (on the left) is eating and find out if she feels like sharing. Spoiler Alert: She does NOT.
How many times had I stood by the creek thinking the lyrics to our national anthem applied to beavers? A hundred? A hundred hundred?
“Gave proof thru the night, that our beaver was still there.“
I’m sure they’ll be more banging this morning, and I’m sure I’ll keep worrying whether they will finally have such big headaches and move out in a huff. But TODAY my heart is beaver-blessed and I only can think of this over and over.
More to smile about this morning from our old friend Skip Lisle and the great state of Vermont. This is such a well written article I’m tempted to post the whole thing. Go read it all, and sit grab the popcorn tor this cheerful beaver battle.
Beavers be dammed, Stowe can agree, but there’s conflict over the best way to vanquish the varmints.Beavers build dams to ensure a supply of deep water, but those dams can change the flow of water through an ecosystem and, if they collapse, threaten public and private properties.
Galdenzi said trapping beavers leaves room for more beavers to take their places and can actually result in higher beaver reproduction rates, making the problem worse, not better.
“I want the select board to consider pursuing nonlethal means” of control, Galdenzi said.
Instead of traps, Protect Our Wildlife advocates use of Beaver Deceivers, trapezoidal devices that create a screen over culverts, allowing water to flow through even if beavers try to build a dam there.
Beaver Deceiver inventor Skip Lisle of Grafton says his device is a specialized kind of flow device.
“You’re basically controlling damming behavior by sneaking water away from beavers,” Lisle explained. “You’re controlling water levels with a combination of fences that keep beavers out and water in. It makes their presence irrelevant.”
Lisle says on average, it costs $2,500 per culvert for him to install a flow device.
“It’s a very good investment,” he said. “It can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to clean and maintain a culvert without one. It’s the greatest investment I can imagine.”
“Trapping is not a long-term solution,” Aberth said. “More beavers will move in. Humane solutions make more sense.”
Whooohooohoo! Stowe steps up to beaver central! I could listen to these folks argue all day.
Oh and I’m posting this ‘just cuz’. Lots of people did an amazing job on the fire last night. But I’m going to wager the carquinez strait helped the most.
Yes I know I typed ‘widdle’ instead of little. I did it to communicate a certain infantile whining that this article reminded me of. You know the sort, people who rip out a beaver dam and then complain that it slowed them down, even though it was the only thing keeping the water there in the first place.
SEARSMONT, Maine — In their years of paddling together, Barry and Lori Dana of Solon have overcome plenty of obstacles, and have established themselves as perennial favorites on the local whitewater racing scene.
But the veteran canoeists were in for a surprise shortly after beginning the 37th annual St. George River Race — the first of the racing season — on Saturday.
“We found a beaver dam, and we got quite hung up on it and we wasted about a minute and a half trying to paddle backward into the current,” Lori Dana explained. “We got out of it by grabbing the beaver sticks and alders along the side and pushing off the bottom to get backwards enough to get our bow around it.”
Barry Dana said he’d heard some chatter about the beaver dam just before the start, but didn’t realize how much of an obstacle it would present.
“[Nobody said] that right around the next corner, a 90-degree corner, you’re going to be facing a 3-foot opening [in a beaver dam], but all of the current’s going hard right,” Barry Dana said.
“I’ve been working against the beaver all week, but the beaver, I think, won,” Cross said. “We try not to disturb the river too much. We try to make it so you can get down through. But this beaver, … is working very hard. Harder than I was.”
Those pesky beaver dams! Not even the three foot hole they cut in it helped enough. I can’t tell you how many times I stood at the dam and watched in horror as kayaks or canoes tried to pass thru the dam by ramming the sticks out of the way. Now that Martinez has no dams (and no water to speak of) I bet they don’t even come. That’s called irony I guess.
This part of the article also interested me;
“I grew up on Indian Island, Penobscot Nation, and canoeing was life, Barry Dana said.
Guess who else got his start in the Penobscot Nation? That would be Skip Lisle, it was where he invented the beaver deceiver and started his important beaver work. It was ages before he trained Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions. Decades before he came to Martinez to install our castor master. Small world eh?
Two recent stories have new information that I’m grimly going to share. To start with the mayor of “Tom’s River” who was going to “consider humane alternatives to trapping” turns out not to have considered them very long. Times up! Beaver trapping season is open and no one should be surprised at his conclusion.
Activists angered by decision to trap Toms River beavers
TOMS RIVER — A state-licensed trapper has been hired by the township to remove beavers whose dam-building activities have led to complaints from neighbors who live near Lake Placid.
The township’s decision to hire the trapper — who began working in the area Dec. 27 — frustrated representatives from Gloucester County’s Unexpected Wildlife Refuge, who met earlier this month with Toms River officials in an attempt to convince them to use nonlethal means to prevent the lake’s beaver population from building dams that have flooded neighboring properties.
“Trapping is the only viable, long-term solution to provide a practical and financial means of responding to the presence of beavers on town-owned and managed lands,” a statement issued by the township reads. “Trapping ensures that property damage and human health and safety risks are minimized and that quality of life is preserved for residents.:
Township officials said that in spite of their efforts, more beaver dams have appeared in Lake Placid in recent years. Moving the beavers is not an option since the state Division of Fish and Wildlife does not allow relocation of the aquatic rodents, officials said.
The township says the beaver dams “alter waterways, destroy forests and threaten homes and roads.” Beaver trapping in New Jersey runs from Dec. 26 to Feb. 9.
Ugh. I’ve highlighted your “Proceed governor“moment. That’s where I’d start my response.
If I were there I’d try saying something like “I’m relieved to hear it’s a long term solution, Mayor.” Then follow up with “How long?” Brightly cheerful. “How long did you say the trapper is guaranteeing his work?” Wait a second, and then “Because Mike Callahan guarantees his installation for five years, I’m assuming that trapper will come back and do whatever is necessary for that long too?” See if you can get them to acknowledge that when new beavers move in the city will have to pay again. See if you can get them to talk about the payment for the trapper and how long it usually takes beavers to recolonize adequate habitat.
I agree that its rotten the city said they were pretending to look for solutions while the press was there. And then did exactly what they had always planned the second their backs were turned. But stop recommending compassion, because no ones listening. Talk about saving money. Talk about hiring a trapper four times in five years versus letting you install the culvert fence for free. And ask the mayor which he thinks is a better use of taxpayer funds.
Van Hof, of Unexpected Wildlife Refuge, said her group offered to pay for installation and maintenance of a trapezoid-style fenced beaver deterrent that she said has been proven to have “98 percent effectiveness in historically badly flooded municipalities.” She said the trademarked beaver deterrents suggested by the group, called either “Beaver Deceivers” or “Culver Clear,” require almost no maintenance.
She said the group offered to visit the site weekly to monitor the effectiveness of the beaver deterrent device. The longer beaver deterrent devices lead the beavers farther away from the culvert or pipe and prevent them from successfully damming it, Van Hof said.
Great work offering to do it yourself. Now follow up with the statement that “Rather than allowing us to carry this cost you’re saying its better make tax-payers do it?” And see if you can get that covered by the papers. They are being weasels, and not the pretty kind. Let slip the watchdogs of war. (In a very polite way.)
Cooper Crane posing in Worth A Dam shirts after our legal challenge failed to stop the sheetpile was installed thru the beaver lodge.
More news about the firecracker beaver from our longtime German friend Alex Hiller (posing here for photo with Skip Lisle at the beaver symposium a few years back). He researched the local papers and found that the tragic death really did happen about a week ago. He highlights that fireworks are illegal in Germany and these were probably purchased in Poland. He writes,
It is a sad story you forwarded to me. Unfortunately the incident is being approved by necropsy. The corpse of the female beaver kid of 6 months age was being discovered at the bank of a lake besides the castle of Koenigs-Wusterhausen. The wife of the local hunter had witnessed teens throwing firecrackers into the lake the day before. The incident happened about a week ago.
What was being discovered by necropsy were ear drums on both sides destroyed and ripped open. Its liver and brain had clogged blood vessels resulting from shock. Death was caused from drowing, because lots of water was found in its lungs and stomach. It was assumed that firecrackers could have caused an underwater shockwave resulting in the beaver kid`s death.
Alex is a trusted beaver researcher with boots on the ground. He even found a grisly article from B.Z. showing the ruptured eardrums. (Because German papers are like just that.) So this means it really happened and that when people blow up dams they occasionally blow out beaver eardrums. . (Which is quite upsetting to think about.) It makes me worried for our little beavers in retrospect. And now I’m thinking that maybe that ‘mourning beaver’ recorded by Bernie Krause also had his own hearing loss and couldn’t tell how loud he was being?
You can watch that if you dare, I never will again because it is just too sad. The bright spot in this gloomy follow-up is that Worth A Dam still has a generous beaver friend in Germany who is willing to do some research and translating for us when needed. Thank you Alex, for your valuable aid, and hopefully the next story I ask you to sniff out will be a more beaver cheerful one!
Scotland visits our friends in Vermont to learn how to coexist with beavers.
It is a sad story you forwarded to me. Unfortunately the incident is being approved by necropsy. The corpse of the female beaver kid of 6 months age was being discovered at the bank of a lake besides the castle of Koenigs-Wusterhausen. The wife of the local hunter had witnessed teens throwing firecrackers into the lake the day before. The incident happened about a week ago.
