construction

Borrowed Time…

heidi08 Beavers, Friends of Martinez Beavers March 24, 2010

The mistress of this website had a computer hazard this week which meant there could be no grand discussions of beavers or the fur trade, only panicked snatches from the laptop. A very nice man, recommended by beaver friend LB, came to perform herculean repairs and shook his finger gravely at the piles and piles of dusty beaver information in the hard drive. It’s time for a new system he said.

Preaching to the choir, I said! Bring on the new wide open spaces to fill with beavers! So our first computer, in 1987, had a whopping 20 MB hard drive and cost us equivalent of half a new car. This new machine will be equipped with a Terabyte, which is equal to 1,048,576 (1,024²) megabytes and cost us less than a new set of tires. That must be progress! I guess that should be enough room for all kinds of beaver footage!

And speaking of extra bytes, we were noticing this week that mom beaver always goes home in the morning with a little something to nibble on. She carries a branch for mid-day snacking, and brings it usually from great distances. It’s a unique behavior, nobody else does it with such regularity. We aren’t sure if she just gets hungry in the interim, or maybe is conditioned from a lifetime of kit rearing to bring something for a snack, but it helps identify her. If you stop by the dam one morning and see a beaver coming back with something in its mouth, check its tail for a notch, because its probably mom!

Healing

heidi08 Beaver News, Friends of Martinez Beavers, pictures June 18, 2009

June 2009 Cheryl Reynolds

Remember Mom’s tail notch? How’s this for a reminder that even though things seem really bad right now they sometimes get better? Looks like mom’s tail is almost completely regrown.

June 2006 Robert Rust

I’m glad for her, but it was one of the things I selfishly appreciated most. It’s so comforting to recognize her in a beaver “crowd”, although right now her eye is so swollen you hardly need to see the tail.

Full Screen

As I told Cheryl, lets hope some of those white blood cells migrate to her eye and kick the crap outta that condition, whatever it is.

Contact from LB last night that water was pouring into the upper side of the dam from under the platform where we stand. She wondered if there was a pipe broken or something. Jon & I went to check this morning and saw no gushing water, but noted that the two sides of the primary day were looking more equal. Some back story. For the past months we’ve been noticing then when you are at the dam, sometimes you see a muskrat dive at the downside of the dam, and then suddenly appear at the upside of the dam, coming out of the little cove where the beavers feed under the standing area. As we’ve watched the level slipping on the main pond, we figured it was going through this “muskrat tunnel” and pouring down to the second pond. Well it looks like with the help of the tides 2 finally surpassed 1 and the water was flowing UP into the first pond last night.

I’m not complaining. They need more water and they must know what they’re doing leaving that muskrat tunnel unfilled…

Beavers get a boost from John Muir

heidi08 Educational, Environmental February 23, 2009

Beaver loyalists will know that the John Muir National Historic Site here in town has been among our most benevolent supporters. Several park rangers have been regular beaver watchers and volunteers. As I was cruising their slick national web site the other day (they even have Muir quotes you can download by letter) I noticed they have a list of “nearby attractions” in the area.

Amidst the Lindsay Museum and the Eugene O’neil Historic Site, there seemed to my discerning eye to be something missing. I carefully dispatched an alluring invitation imploring that our beavers be included on the “what to do list” for the area, and waited to see what might happen.

Success!!!

Check out number eight on the list, complete with not one but THREE exclamation points. It links directly to this site, and from there one can easily pull out the map and our story.

Of course there’s a very natural link between Muir and beavers, and it’s part of the reason we had as much success in keeping our beavers as we did. Look through the November 7th footage some afternoon and count how many times people mention “there should be a better way, in the home of John Muir”. There’s a conservation relationship, but also a very natural tourism relationship. Out of town-ers come to Martinez to visit both.

Remember on April 18th, the John Muir Site will be hosting the annual Birthday Earthday event, and beavers will be proudly featured. Hope to see you all there!

Beaver Firsts

heidi08 City Reports January 1, 2009

Highlights include: Very interested children. Patient parents. Friendly Teens. A dog with a beaver tail. A Duck hunter and scout leader who was very intrigued by the link between beavers and duck habitat. A high school student seeking volunteer work for a science project. A very popular art project. A beaver motorcycle key chain. Nice people. A visit from Mark Ross. A little girl thought the Lindsay Museum display beaver was a boy because it “didn’t have a notch in its tail”. Lots of quiz entries and three fine winners who will be contacted soon.

Thanks to participants and volunteers. Happy New Year to all!