Every now and then there is a friendly beaver story in the news accompanied by an amazing photo or two, and if its not from Martinez or Napa, or Vancouver or Port Moody, it’s from Spring Farm Cares in New York.
Spring Farm CARES has a reputation for rescuing and caring for injured and sick farm animals and household pets, and serves as a place for them to stay for the remainder of their lives. But a “hidden gem” is the conservation work and care given to the natural wetlands and wild animals that make the 260-acre property off Route 12 their home at the Spring Farm CARES Nature Sanctuary.
The sanctuary is staffed by Naturalist Matthew Perry, who is Spring Farm CARES’ Conservation director and nature sanctuary manager. He is recognized throughout the region as an authority on wild birds, their habitat and behavior. Among his specialties are neo-tropical songbirds and Peregrine Falcons.
Perry said there is care taken in the decision of what trees and shrubs are planted on the property to help create a self-sustaining and thriving ecosystem. Certain trees, flowers, seeds and nuts provide food and sustenance for the wildlife habituating the area, such as the beavers, mink, muskrats, frogs, geese and bird varieties. Tamarack and Pussy Willow, for example, are loved by beavers, in addition to the sweet potatoes Perry feeds them. Those furry “friends” of his actually do the natural work in providing the rich, watery habitat for other mammals, fish, turtles, frogs, birds and ducks.
“They work for us, so we need to work for them,” Perry said about building and restoring the wetlands. “And if you’re going to do a wetland project on the cheap, beavers are good to have on your side.”
Yes, they are. Mighty good indeed. It’s nice when folks appreciate their neighbors. Here in Martinez for instance, we counted ourselves pretty lucky that we were able to live with beavers for a decade. And of course the creek felt lucky because it got more fish, birds and otter when the beavers made things comfortable for them.
Speaking of making things nice and comfortable, we’re off today for our friends at Wildbirds Unlimited in Pleasant Hill for their always entertaining Mother’s Day Event and wildlife day. If you’re in the market for some birdseed or a special gift, come by and say hi because they always have plenty of exhibits and the best sales today.
Ooh this is a fun day. There is so much good news to share, I’m like a kid in a beaver store! You will be too. Let’s start with a late April Fools from Canada that I received yesterday afternoon. I was excited by the headline, but you’re sure to be thrilled by the photo.
What started out as an ecologist’s dream ended up a nightmare mired in mud, myth and misery.
Rainer Wasserman is a 38-year old ecologist at The Ohio State University of Ohio, whose work used to focus on wetland restoration and ecosystems.
“When I first heard it, I didn’t believe it,” he said, shaking his head. He was referring to the first confirmed sighting of the Castorimorpha megaloenochae, a giant aquatic relative of the beaver, whose destructive power is equalled only by its orneriness. “I never saw one; neither did anyone else I’ve worked with over the years. Until recently, that is.”
The almost mythical creature came to the forefront recently when a 3-acre detention basin along King Street flooded in 2014. Great piles of debris blocked a culvert that allows for the basin to properly drain. And though beavers were fingered as obvious culprits, no one, in the basin’s ten year history, had ever actually seen the animals in the act of building the dams.
Hahaha! It reminds me of what I often say about our Castoroides skull….THIS is the size of the problems the city thought the beavers were going to cause! YS Ohio has definitely stepped onto the beaver stage this year. It has swallowed their news cycle, just like it did in Martinez. Funny to read a giant beaver is ruining a retention pond. To tell the truth though, considering the untrue things you say about beavers all the time, this article really isn’t that special.
Now it’s time to thank Connecticut because they had enough state pride to promote their resident filmmaker’s 3-part series on CPTV starting next week. I thought it was only going to show on the east coast, but when I called I learned that it will air on all PBS stations. The second part airs on tax day and will be about beavers!
Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) will premiere the new three-part miniseries “Animal Homes” from filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum of New Haven, Conn., as part of the long-running PBS natural history series Nature on Wednesday, April 8 at 8 p.m. Parts 2 and 3 of the series will air on Wednesdays, April 15 and 22, also at 8 p.m.
This three-part series provides intimate, never-before-seen views of the lives of animals in their homes. It investigates just how animals build their remarkable homes around the globe and the intriguing behaviors and social interactions that take place in and around them.
Filmmaker Ann Johnson Prum, an avid outdoorswoman, has produced television documentaries for the past 20 years with a focus on the arts, science and nature. Her 2010 documentary “Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air” was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Nature Programming, and her film “An Original DUCKumentary” won the 2013 Emmy Award for Outstanding Nature Programming. Both films also aired on CPTV as part of the Nature series.
“Animal Homes: Location, Location, Location” (Premiering Wednesday, April 15 at 8 p.m.) – Finding a good base of operations is key to successfully raising a family. One must find the right stream or tree, the right building materials, neighbors and sometimes tenants. In the wild, every home is a unique DIY project, every head of household a designer and engineer. Cameras chart the building plans and progress of beavers, black bears, hummingbirds and woodrats, examining layouts and cross sections, evaluating the technical specs of their structures and documenting their problem-solving skills. Animal architecture provides insights into animal consciousness, creativity and innovation.
Whoohooo! More beavers on PBS! Thanks CT for the promotion, because I might not have known. I guess they were pretty happy with how Jari Osborne’s documentary did last year. You can read all about the upcoming miniseries here. Here’s a great promo to whet your appetite.
Something too look forward to on April 15th. How often can you say that?
Onto my favorite part of this trifecta of beaver cheer. It’s the just-spring update from Spring Farm Cares an animal sanctuary in New York. They’re good friends of Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife. Their beavers have just broken through the ice to check for treats. They made sure they weren’t disappointed.
Beaver under ice – Spring Farm CaresBreaver Breaks Through Ice – Spring Farm CaresIceworld – Spring Farm Cares
Beaver emerges- Spring Farm Cares
Aren’t those lovely? You might want to go see the whole thing for yourself here. Consider dropping something in their tip jar because they are doing wonderful things. There’s even adorable muskrats under ice photos. I’m very jealous that we never get to see beavers under ice, but there is one thing they photographed that Martinez has seen many, many times before.
Spring Farm Cares is a nonprofit animal sanctuary in New York. They are good friends with Beavers: Wetlands and Wildlife and produce some of their films. They arranged to have beavers on their land. In fact in May there was a very nice spread in UTICAOD about the beavers, how they arrived and the naturalist who has been watching them ever since, Matt Perry. Yesterday I found this from Matt at their blog
Somewhere between last Wednesday night and Thursday morning, disaster struck our main beaver pond when a 20 foot section of its dam collapsed. The Pond drained very rapidly and the resulting torrent of water destroyed other canals, ponds and dams located downstream. Such a rapid draining of a pond containing hundreds of thousands of gallons of water has the potential of killing beavers, but so far I have found no evidence that any of the colony were killed. I still have yet to account for all of the members of the colony –but that’s not too unusual even in normal circumstances.
Boy, have we been there! Matt, our hearts go out to your beavers, who will work hard to keep their family safe. Go read the entire article to see the temporary accommodations they’ve employed and the work put in to getting things back on track. In the meantime you will see an unbelievable bird show as everyone moves in to feast on the exposed fish and mud! Washouts happen, and beavers tend to recovery their wits far more quickly than people. I’m sure Matt is in for a treat as he watches them reapply their skills. I was comforted to read he brought them poplar because a job big that calls for a little caloric treat to keep the spirits up! At least, that’s what our beavers seem to think!
Kingfisher Update:
It turns out the the female Kingfisher I brought in yesterday from the beaver dam had a broken mandible, so thank you Moses and Robert for getting her because you gave her a chance at life. The jaw has been splinted and she is being kept calm and quiet in a back area, with staff only handling. She is apparently doing well for such a ‘high stress’ bird. They will keep feeding her by hand 4 times a day and hope to keep her weight up. When we hear more I’ll keep you posted.
From the weird coincidences department I have to mention in passing that a broken jaw on a Kingfisher is not at all different from a broken incisor on a beaver, and she was rescued from the same place, by pretty much the same people, transported in the same Subaru, on almost exactly the SAME day as mom beaver.
Spring Farm Nature Sanctuary home of preserved and restored native wildlife
The sanctuary is staffed by Naturalist Matthew Perry, who is Spring Farm CARES’ Conservation director and nature sanctuary manager. He is recognized throughout the region as an authority on wild birds, their habitat and behavior. Among his specialties are neo-tropical songbirds and Peregrine Falcons.
