I wasn’t going to post more this morning but I just saw this:
Eric the Ericht beaver has an American following
by Andrew Harris, Blairgowrie Adv
ERIC the Ericht beaver has gained a worldwide following from people opposed to the trapping by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) who have resumed operations after the big freeze.
Heidi Perryman, president and founder of Worth a Dam, a beaver lobby group in California USA, contacted the Blairie after reading the article two weeks ago on the possibility of there being limited accomodation for the wild beaver population once they have been rounded up.
She said from her experience in the States, rehoming has proved problematic.
I’m a lobbyist! So far so good, (if by “experience” you mean: never doing it myself but listening appreciatively to other people who actually DO it) Unfortunately the reporter then proceeds to quote the article I quoted to him as if it were me saying it. I sent him the article “Management by Assertion” by Longcore, Rich & Muller-Swarze, and highlighted my favorite quote about relocation.
“Thirteen beavers were trapped live and removed, one died struggling in a snare, and one was killed by a predator while held in a snare.. Virtually all mortality could have been avoided if Hancock traps had been used (and properly deployed).The end result was not satisfactory to the majority of opponents because of the Reserve’s failure to engage the underlying scientific questions, the mortality during trapping, and philosophical opposition to the exploitative placement of the relocated animals. Six beavers were confined in zoos or other captive display facilities (one beaver subsequently died in a fight resulting from inappropriately co-housing two males), four were relocated to a reserve in Texas, and three went to a movie production company.1
1Management by Assertion: Beavers and Songbirds at Lake Skinner (Riverside County, California) Travis Longcore Æ Catherine Rich Æ Dietland Mu ller-Schwarze (2007) Environmental Management Volume 39, Number 4, 460-471, DOI: 10.1007/s00267-005-0204-4So now in addition to being a lobbyist and a ‘Mrs.’, (which I can live with), it looks like I’m a plagiarist in (at least) two countries. Sorry about that. I wanted to make sure everyone read that quote because sometimes the term ‘relocation’ makes people think everything will be all right and then they stop caring. Well if my precariously preserved good name’s tarnish can help keep free beavers in the river Tay I guess its worth it. I wrote the reporter to clarify and the authors to apologize, but in the mean time its pretty remarkable that Worth A Dam shows up in Scotland, don’t you think? Go read the whole thing and if you haven’t sent Eric your new years wishes yet there’s still time!
Now on to Germany! Where beavers are willfully preventing themselves from drowning on the Odin River in Germany. Their selfish attempt to live by seeking higher ground during flooding has caused the dikes to erode. (Is anyone else having flashbacks ?) Our Northern cousins with the excellent back to their nickle covered the story this week, on CBC the Current interviewing Mike Callahan about options and impact. Enjoy.
To hear the full program go here.
