Wow. That was some rain. I guess it didn’t forget how after all. Jon heard last that we received a nearly a quarter of the yearly rainfall in a single day. Cyclone Bombs aren’t fooling around I guess. For the first time in a long, long, while I was glad we didn’t have our beavers to be worried about. Still I watched nervously as Virginia from Fairfield posted updates on their flooded dams and eventually flooded lodge.
A beaver lodge is like a stationary big coconut shell turned over in the water. As the water rises there gets less and less of it that’s not flooded, I was touched to see how the beavers gathered together and tried to groom a little.
One by one the rest of the family came to the ‘island’ and was kindly received by family members. There must be a bank hole upstream where some of them spent the night. It was exciting and terrifying to see them band together. But then she saw the most exciting part of all. (more…)
Well. just because our Martinez beavers have left the stage, doesn’t mean there isn’t fine urban beaver work afoot. Check out this FANTASTIC story from Fairfield about the Laurel creek beavers, and their champion, Virgina Holsworth.
Virginia Holsworth leads Boy Scouts Troop 482 on a tour of beaver habitats along Laurel Creek in Fairfield, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)
FAIRFIELD — Dusk had settled onto Laurel Creek when the excitement level rose among the nine members of Scouts BSA Troop 482 who on Wednesday had walked and cleaned up a mile or so of the stream’s banks.
Popping a head out of the dark, breeze-rippled water, not far from its lodge, a beaver could be seen.
Moments earlier, a pair of whiskered river otters were spotted in the creek as well.
The appearance of the two aquatic mammals was the climax to the tour the scouts were guided on by Virginia Holsworth, who has made protecting the beavers and their self-constructed habitat on the creek one of her life’s missions.
Her Facebook page has more than 200 followers, and she maintains a website to provide information about Laurel Creek and other waterways in which beavers make their homes in the Fairfield area.
“It’s amazing. I really like beavers and otters,” said Taran Flowers, 11, the newest member of the troop, which is trying to rebuild after the Covid-19 pandemic prevented them from meeting in person and participating in their usual group activities.
Flowers sketched many of the dam sites along the creek. Art is just one of his many interests. Ultimately, he would like to be a baker.
I love every single thing about this story. Every photo, every adjective. As a woman who spent a decade wishing our story would replicate itself like an unfurling strand of bDNA this makes me as happy as I can remember being vicariously.
Virginia Holsworth, far left, leads Boy Scouts Troop 482 on a tour of beaver habitats along Laurel Creek in Fairfield, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)
“My mom was looking through stuff on the internet and she thought it might be a good thing to do,” the younger deRosier said.
He said he enjoys the outdoor activities that have been lost to scouting during the pandemic, and particularly camping, his favorite activity.
“And we are absolutely worried about the beavers,” he said.
While Holsworth spent most of the tour teaching about the beavers and the creek environment, she also told the troop members about how the city comes in each year and tears down the largest of the dams.
The city contends that the dams contribute to flooding issues, and materials from the structures, when they break up, have contributed to millions of dollars in damages to city infrastructure.
Holsworth said the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed her campaign for the city to use other alternatives than simply tearing down the dams, but she said she has stayed in touch with city officials, and specifically Councilman Chuck Timm.
Go Virginia GO. Tell those children AND THAT REPORTER all about how the city cuts down the dam year. And one of the kids was sketching the dams? Jesus get that drawing, scan it, send it to the mayor and make sure it airs on the evening news. This is all falling into place. Well done!
Trevor deRosier, left, and Logan Brooks, center, of Boy Scouts Troop 482 check a map for locations of beaver dams along Laurel Creek in Fairfield, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)
“I’ll just say I haven’t received a response in my favor; I’ll just say that,” Holsworth said.
But that has not stopped her from trying to keep the public educated, including conducting tours to anyone who wants to come out and learn about the beavers.
“We did a creek cleanup; that was in June. And I have adopted the area of Laurel Creek where they (razed) the dam,” she said.
The creek adoption actually took place through the city’s road adoption program, and includes a signed two-year commitment to keep the creek clean and to “represent the creek well.”
Prior to the tour beginning, Holsworth had “salted” the area with four stuffed beaver toys for the scouts to find, which they did with little difficulty, once they realized what they were looking for among the natural sites.
So so smart. So so smart. Sniff, they grow up so young.
Holsworth has gone so far as to name each of the dams along that stretch of creek, such as the skunk dam due to the unexpected visitor arriving while they were there. In some cases, a cluster of dams fall under a single moniker, such as the Dickson Hill Complex – named for the nearby street.
“They build so many dams close together to slow the water down,” Holsworth said.
But she also told them that she knew very little about beavers and their environment until she took up the cause to try to preserve their habitat on Laurel Creek.
Some dams, as she pointed out, are made of tree material and mud, but in areas where trees are not abundant, they are built with cattails and fennels. She was able to show the scouts where the beavers had gnawed on trees, and an area referred to as an “otter latrine,” on one of the banks.
She also told the scouts that some beavers live in burrows built into the creek banks, while others live in open water lodges. The news that the city tears down the dams each fall did not sit all that well with the scouts.
Siddharth Kishan, 12, also described the tour as “amazing.”
Ohhhh you clever girl. Nicely done Ms. Virginia. Get them to care and them tell them why the dams are in danger. Now it’s up to the troop leader to hand them some paper and ask them to write the mayor.
As others walking along the creek came across the scouts, several noted they, too, had been in scouts in their younger days, recalling their exciting adventures.
“This is really fun,” said Logan Brooks, 13. “You can really see all of nature.”
Yes it is. And yes you do. Now go track down Taran Flowers and send him this. picture of the famous Jack laws sketching at the Martinez beaver dam. for Bay Nature in 2010.
One of the very smart things our friend Virginia Holsworth in Fairfield has done in an effort to protect the beavers in Laurel creek was to sign up the laurel creek beaver community for the creek “Cleanups”. This means they get city recognition, an official sign, improved community , a great opportunity for education, a better sense of ownership in keeping the beavers home clean, and at the end of it all a cleaner creek.
Research says that urban wildlife increases a sense of Community Cohesion, and this is exactly what should happen. Recently her very talented husband Kyle just drew this for the next clean up. Isn’t it perfect?
You remember the story of the beautiful cascading dams through the middle of Fairfield and how they were being lovingly followed and photographed by resident Virginia Holsworth. Well, it’s September 16. We all guessed that this would happen this month. But there is no joy in being right when something this devastating is the cause. This is what that big beautiful dam in Fairfield looks like now.
Those are the lush reeds that had grown in the deep water exposed to their roots to die. Remember what it used to look like.Just a month ago Cheryl visited and so did our friend from Pittsburg. As far as I know the city has only take out the one large dam, but there are at least four others and I’m worried about what happens next.
Virginia is beside herself and rumors are flying that the city took the beaver kit and gave it to Suisun wildlife. We know that’s not true but I will do my best to move this into the public eye where we can still do some good. As Mike Callahan wrote once to me when I was heartbroken about our dam. ” Did they trap? If they haven’t trapped yet all is not lost.”
Here’s Virginia in her own words.
RIP Laurel Creek Dam (look in pictures to see before and after)
It happened, the city broke the dam. What was once a beautiful developing ecosystem is now destroyed. Hundreds of animals have lost their homes and avenues of travel. The steelhead that were growing have washed down stream. The frogs and turtles have been misplaced, the birds which feed on the animals have left. There is also talk from locales that the city also took a baby beaver from the area, which I will be looking into. (Edit: The baby beaver was found in Vacaville)
This is because the city would rather destroy than take preventative measures to work with the beavers, who will always keep coming back.
I will be out by the dam in the evenings creating community awareness and informing people of this Facebook page, so they can look for guidance on how to protect our beavers and local ecosystem.
I told Virginia she has three big jobs today. Number 1 call the mayor and find out who did this and whether a depredation permit has been saught. Number 2 call her neighbors and let them know what happened and what they can do. And number 3 local paper and get them interested in the dynamic habitat that was lost.
The city of Fairfield has the dubious distinction of being the birthplace of 3 generations of Perrymans. My maternal great grandmother was born there to a father that migrated from the Azores to be a sheepherder in Suisun. He had 11 children and died of the Spanish flu in 1918. His third son, my grandfather went to school and is buried there. When he married their eldest daughter was born there. Fairfield is big in our family history.
So you can imagine how happy I was to meet Virginia and hear her story,
Double Dam in Fairfield; Virginia Holsworth
It seems about the time that Covid made everyone stay home, she started to notice some interesting wood obstacles in her local creek. And when she walked in the mornings on the path along side the creek she noticed the dark rodents who tended them. Movie filmed by Virginia Hosworth.
She kept looking and watching and noticed there were a number of dams running up the creek from the elementary school up to the canal. She came to enjoy watching the family antics in the morning and walked there frequently to see them. She talked to her friends and took movies of them with her phone. We met in the hallways on facebook and she asked me poignantly, “How do I keep them safe?”
Ohh if I only knew the magic formula! Solano is the county that kills the most beavers around these parts and fairield in particular and shown up in our depredation searches three times before. Usually right around when she was seeing them. But just because it hasn’t worked before doesn’t mean it can never work, right? Filmed by Virginia Holsworth.
So Cheryl went to walk the area with her on Tuesday and learn what she could and I sent our new buddy Patrick Page out last night with the promise of beavers that wanted their picture taken. he sent this from one of the little dams in the middle.
Fairfield beaver: Patrick Page
The way I’m thinking is that first you get some photos, then you build some community, then you get some media attention, then you have a chat with the city. Fingers crossed we are inching along our way. The good news is that nobody will pay much attention to the creek until October so we have a little time. Expect more on this story soon.
One of the very smart things our friend Virginia Holsworth in Fairfield has done in an effort to protect the beavers in Laurel creek was to sign up the laurel creek beaver community for the creek “Cleanups”. This means they get city recognition, an official sign, improved community , a great opportunity for education, a better sense of ownership in keeping the beavers home clean, and at the end of it all a cleaner creek.
