So yesterday morning while we’re furiously packing getting ready to head for the Sierras I get a call from an unexpected number saying “Is this Dr, Heidi Perryman?” and I automatically froze a little bit thinking good grief did some old patient found this number? But It was ABC 7 news calling about the Palo Alto beaver,. They wanted to know could I give a quick interview for a spot on the evening news?

And I thought good lord NOW? My computer is packed, I’m halfway out door, I’m a mess and can’t string two sentences together and anyway how does channel 7 know my phone number? Is there like some giant bathroom wall where news crews just write the names of everyone they once interviewed?

So I declined and told her to call Rick instead, and I just caught the lovely story this morning,

‘Nature’s fighter’: Baby beaver spotting in Palo Alto excites wildlife experts

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) — A recent sighting of a small baby beaver in Palo Alto is creating a big deal for wildlife experts.

Bill Leikam is the president of the nonprofit Urban Wildlife Research Project that focuses on restoring healthy habitats for ray foxes.

In August, one of Leikam’s trail cameras near Matadero Creek in Palo Alto captured a baby beaver.

Dr. Heidi Perryman, founder of Worth a Dam, confirmed to Leikam that was indeed a juvenile beaver.

Well I’m glad the little guy got so much attention and that my name found its way back into the story. And ooh look Rick’s on the teevee!

“The beaver ponds and the wetlands that they build are hotspots for biodiversity, they are uniquely resistant to droughts and wildfires and they can help take the power out of floodways so when we have these big atmospheric rivers and other kind of storm events it’s not so destructive downstream,” Fairfax said.

Dr. Rick Lanman, president of the Institute for Historical Ecology, says beaver ponds store water often in remote regions which provide a water source for firefighters.–

“Nature’s fighter. Not just an ecosystem engineer that is a keystone species but also nature’s free working firefighter,” Lanman said.