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In simple terms, carrying capacity is the number of individual species an environment can support without significant negative impacts to other living things and/or the environment. When it happens, and we as people get to make the judgments, Todd types suggest “decreases” to put everything back in balance.

Columnist: Gene Fox

Is there a carrying capacity for humans? I’m just asking. Outdoor columnist Gene Fox offers this stark pragmatism about beaver management in Saturday’s Missouri Examiner. He has clearly done exhaustive research on the topic because he says “the beaver is the states largest rodent and number 1 bad-boy’. (I would ask for a reference on that - showing the beavers cause more troubles to homeowners than ants, termites or rats but its a long article and there isn’t time.) He says that beavers have become ‘urbanized’ and suggests that advocates protect them because of the ‘Bambi myth”.

In a similar way that some people are taken in by the “Bambi Myth,” there are those who mistakenly have a “Walden Pond Illusion” of the beaver, which has become urbanized. But the carrying capacity formula is non-emotional, science.

Is there even a Bambi myth? Gosh, I can’t really think of one. Man is bad?

I suppose Gene is implying that the sweet beautiful drawings of the cartoon character ignore the fact that deer chew our plants and disturb our traffic patterns by getting hit by cars and maybe even start fires like bambi’s dad. Or something. He invokes the sportsman-repellent properties of Walden Pond to appeal to the reader’s logic. I suppose what he means to say is that if you have compassion for animals you aren’t rational, and nobody should listen to you anyway.

He goes on to say that ’science’ supports a habit-forming dependence on trappers like the hero described in his article, Todd Meese. Todd is given the impressive qualifications of a ‘damage wildlife biologist’ which sounds as close to a toolbox full of hammers as we are likely to find. (I guess that explains why beavers all look like nails.)

A day or two after the visit, I got a report that two beavers, one 65 pounds and the other 45, had been removed.

Just to be clear, by “removed” he means “killed” - don’t want to be too ‘Bambi’ about this. Looking at the weights I would say he trapped an adult and a yearling. It’s late summer so the colony probably has kits, which he obviously didn’t get. Let’s hope there are some family members left to take care of the young so he can come back next summer and do all it again - and the summer after that, and so on - all those child support checks won’t write themselves.

And quite candidly, a big reason the furbearers have gotten a disproportionate foothold on our turf over the last decade is because trapping has gone out of favor. Less social acceptance, less money in the business. Of course, as population density increases, birth rate will decrease eventually because the death rate will typically increase because of either disease or lack of habitat/food.  Or beavers will move into our backyards through the waste water systems.

Through our wastewater systems? You mean like those pale alligators in the New York Sewer System? Ohh, you mean culverts and drains, all the little waterways that we have co-opted with concrete to become our storm systems. It’s funny how that works, we turn these natural structures into the most unnatural devices and are furious when nature keeps being - well - natural. Like the beavers in Alhambra Creek. Did you ever hear about them? It’s a great story I’ll tell you sometime.

Ok Gene, here’s some science from the Bambi faction. Beavers are a keystone species so every single colony in that housing tract on 291 increases the bird, fish, and wildlife population of the area. Beavers improve water quality,  raise the water table and increase valuable wetlands. Don’t you have some sportsmen in Missouri? Beaver ponds increase important game species like wood duck and trout. In fact there isn’t a single thing you could add to your waterways that would do more to help increase the carrying capacity of the area.

It’s possible you’re not as interested in science when it disconfirms your beliefs. Okay, let’s talk dollars then. There are proven effective and inexpensive tools for managing beavers that offer long-term solutions and will save tax-payer dollars. Beaver Deceivers and Flow Devices will control most any waterway problems and allow the habitat to remain. Wire wrapping or sand-painting of trees will protect property and everyone can benefit from the safe wetlands that beavers create.

If Missouri’s biggest problem really IS the beaver, its because the entire state is using the wrong tools. Instead of encouraging more people to use more hammers, it might be a good idea to introduce a few wrenches and some pliers.

Out in Massachusetts the disgruntled folk from the Committee for Resposible Wildlife Management are headed to a lazy man’s victory. The bill making it easier to circumvent humane standards for killing beavers has been approved by the governor and is in its final stages before passage. Just remember, where beavers are concerned the problems rarely have anything to do with reason. (Martinez knows that fairly well through first hand experience.) The original law  requiring humane traps passed in the commonwealth back in 1996. It included a list of 9 lengthy exceptions to the rule under which traditional trapping could still be used.  At that time, Clinton was president, the economy was booming, and everybody knew somebody that was doing a start-up.

I guess times really do change.

Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions in Massachusetts points out this footage which was taken by a satisfied client at Farrar Pond on Friday. The first thing I noticed was the speakers reference to the round filter with a domed top that Mike installs to block entrance to the pipe — the narrator refers to it as a “Beaver Dome” which made me giggle and think,

Two Beavers enter

One beaver leaves.

Good thing Mike had his summer helper (his nephew, Devin) for this massive project which involves three pipes and requires underwater installation. The residents are only willing to have the flow device visible once every three years when they lower the pond level to control vegetation, so everything has to be installed underwater. Thankfully, its been a hot summer and Mike said the water was pleasantly cool, not cold.

Well that went smoothly, didn’t it? A well oiled beaver installation team. Managing the third pipe is a little more challenging and Devin unwillingly looses control of it. They eventually get the thing righted and finish it off. All in a days beaver work. I can’t help but wonder if the beavers were watching from the lodge and snickering amongst themselves.

Looking at that deep pool I remember our own dam and how high it used to be. Beaver friend Bill sends this photo of the old dam that gave me a pang of nostalgia. Ahh how lovely! Didn’t Mom and Dad do a great job?

Ohh and apparently a certain prominent property owner has cleverly suggested the area be named ‘Puddle park’. This amused me, as it is as near to a veiled admission of his own tempest-in-a-teapot fears as I believe we will ever see. Still, I wondered, given the use of the area under the bridge by the homeless, perhaps what he meant to say was ‘Piddle’ park?

Hi, greetings from Latvian capital Riga, situated at the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea about 300 US-miles south of Finland. For a week now I`ve spent my vacation time to check on proper solutions for a beaver contest launched in mid-June by  Riga City Council: The Old City of Riga is surrounded by Old City Canal that stretches around in a half-circle of two US-miles mouthing at both ends into river Daugava. The canal is embedded  into an enchanting park alongside its banks with neatly mown lawns, lots of flowers and awesome old trees lining up its whole curved stretch like an water alley.

Whatever you were planning on reading this morning, put it aside and go check out this fantastic guide to ‘working with beaver’. It was written by Sherri Tippie in conjunction with Mary O’Brien and the Grand Canyon Trust. It has a detailed account of how to protect trees, install beaver deceivers and configure flow devices. It very pragmatically talks about the benefits of beavers and even talks about relocating the ones that just can’t be tolerated. This is the kind of smart, complete guide to dealing with beavers that 200 people attending a certain November 7th, 2007 meeting would have been very grateful for. I put a link to it on the resource section of the website as well.  If the names involved sound familiar, they should. Sherri Tippie is the top beaver relocation expert in the country located in Colorado. I called her the day before that meeting and asked about the potential hazards of relocation and what she’d charge to come out and move ours if we had to take that route. Mary O’brien is the true beaver believer from my favorite ever beaver article “Voyage of the dammed“. Honestly, you just don’t assemble a better beaver team than this. Go read it and the next time we write the city of St. Paul or Juno or Chicago trying to make them think twice about killing beavers, we’ll make sure to send them a copy!

When you’re done marveling at their good work, take a moment to consider ours. My meeting with city staff went amazing yesterday and they are undertaking the installation of the beavers on the sheetpile themselves. Check out this press release for details. It’s perfect timing, because Mom beaver died on a Saturday morning exactly two months ago today. Doesn’t it seem much, much longer? (Maybe I am just much, much older.) Well, soon there will be a reminder of her impact on Alhambra Creek forever, and that greatly heartens me. Thanks Paul Craig for your generous artwork!

If you need a reminder of how things used to be, check out our New York friend Bob Arnebeck’s lovely footage of his new kits with mom. He’s been watching for them all summer anxiously waiting for the launch and they just made an appearance. We know how that is!

12 min version: Summer Dam Removed to Create Fish Refuge - Camp Meeker Dam Removal from Ben Zolno on Vimeo.

Beaver friend Brock Dolman of OAEC’s Water Institute sends this newly launched video telling the dynamic story of creek restoration and dam removal in Camp Meeker. You probably know where this is located. Have you ever driven to Occidental from Guerneville on the Bohemian Highway? As you wind through the twisted redwood drive you see parts of a lovely creek along your right. The creek used to dead end in a swimming hole that was the center to the early community of Camp Meeker, and salmon would have to go hiking back down the water and look for another route. This video is a smart, engaging look at how to pull the community together with environmental restoration. Here’s Brock’s invitation to see for yourself.

For those who have been following the Dutch Bill Creek Dam Removal and Restoration Project, our construction partner Prunuske Chatham, Inc. has just started the implementation of Phase II to complete this project.  Today, Michael Fawcett, PhD and Sierra Cantor (GRRCD Ecologist) moved hundreds of fish (steelhead) upstream of the project to a safe refuge downstream, and construction should commence by next week.

As a kick off to this final phase of the project, I invite you to view the shortened version of the video and then come down and check out the site.  When its done, come get your feet wet – and next year hopefully come see the salmon happily spawning.

Make sure you have the sound on – the input from the community and our restoration partners really make the video into a story worth listening to. Please feel free to distribute as you wish.  The longer version (also on our website) is equally entertaining, if not more so – its just, well, longer….

Nice work all! And great soundtrack by the way. (Do I recognize the music from the Secret of Roan Inish? Gosh i loved that movie…)

Well, no cranes needed for Alhambra Creek at the moment. I’m off to meet with city staff about the mom-beaver & kits memorial by artist Paul Craig. Nearly two months have gone by since we lost our beloved matriarch. (Is that all? It seems like a million years ago). Hopefully we’ll have her image displayed before too long. Wish me luck!

Update:

Met with Bob Cellini and city staff who were enthusiastic about the beavers and willing to take on responsibolity for hanging them on the sheetpile themselves. We offered suggestions that were well received and left the adorable metal beavers in capable hands. Look for them soon coming to a sheetpile wall near you!

So last night the beavers got a pretty special visitor in the Who’s Who of environmental education. John Muir Laws (’Jack’) drove out from San Francisco for a special beaver viewing and introduction. He brought his sketch pad and board and sat under the willow trees on the bank to draw the beavers as they swam about obligingly. Jack is a firm believer that seeing and drawing nature is the best way to truly understand it, and he dismisses the commonly held belief that artistic ability is a ‘gift’ rather than a pursuit.

He heard the ‘epic tail’ of the beavers salvation and the story of the exciting sheetpile vista that greeted him.  Then he was treated to a tour and the remarkable sighting of GQ strolling over the beaver dam in all his attractive prowess. While he settled to watch the constantly unfolding story of three kits navigating the waters on their own, families with wide-eyed children poured down to watch  Jack shared his excitement with them by passing along his expensive binoculars for a closer look. Jacks illustrations are the last word of Bay Nature Magazine and his drawings of our beavers will appear in the October issue.

Every now and then as he worked and watched he would pause and then exclaim “this is SO COOL!!!” a doxology with which certainly none there would object. Jack was invited to see the beavers by some friendly docents at the Audubon Canyon Ranch who had attended my talk at “Close to Home”. He asked my thoughts about what to emphasize and I stressed two things: the impact of the beavers on the habitat (green herons and pond turtles provided backup for that argument) and the impact of the beavers on the community (for which the hushed bright faces of appreciative children provided ample proof.)

All night he remarked on seeing beavers in Tahoe and Montana or Wisconsin but never seeing them like THIS. He enjoyed my observation that these were ADA accessible beavers, which of course they are, but I pointed out the flow device and stressed that any city who is willing to use creative tools could have local beavers of its very own. At the end of the evening he agreed that this was truly a special wildlife viewing opportunity saying that “Everyone in the Bay Area should come here, watch these amazing animals, buy a burrito and visit this town!” - which I’m sure the Chamber of Commerce would love. He also remarked that this was an essential opportunity for teaching stewardship, since people don’t learn to love nature because of what they saw on the discovery channel: they love first what is in their own backyard.

For their part the beavers were in top form and brimming with artistic merit. Just look at the photo Cheryl took last night.

Beaver Kit: Cheryl Reynolds

Before you go, your help is desprately needed by the poor city of Martinez which can’t possibly think what to name the park where 2000 people have attended the beaver festival over the last three years. Gosh, maybe you have a suggestion? Unless we’re calling it “Sheetpile Vista Plaza”  or “Drinking-in-the-daytime Park” I can really only think of ONE name that makes sense, and it starts with a ‘B’. But why don’t you write and let them know yours?

It seems like every 6 months we get new complaints about the awful flooding caused by the increase in beavers in Massachusetts that blames the crazy hippies who were tricked into banning leg hold and body crushing traps in 1996.  To these troglodyte minds, the onerous burden of being asked to spend five minutes  completing the necessary request is a bridge too far: they won’t stand for it! Now the powerful lobby has attached more exceptions to the exception list in a rider that slipped in at the end of the house session. It sits politely on the governor’s desk with a name like “protecting babies” or “safer streets” to await his unknowing signature.  The Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is asking residents to call and remind the governor that there are already perfectly adequate lethal solutions in place and we don’t need to add more.  Perhaps you’d like to join them.

Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions, who is admirably much more even-handed than I, was interviewed about the story yesterday by CBS channel 3 Springfield. Now this is must see TV!

Remember Ian Timothy’s wonderful packaging of his five part claymation series “Beaver Creek” that he offered for the Silent Auction? Well he was pretty happy with how it turned out, too. Amidst the flurry of launching episode V he generated lots of new viewers and interest. I received an email yesterday from Joe Cannon of the Lands Council in Washington State. As you might recall, the Lands Council is the powerful information and advocacy group behind the “Working Beaver Conference” a few years back and the “Beaver Solution” production last year. It also has two Americorp positions teaching beaver management and stream solutions.

My Americorps coworker and I are coordinating a film fest themed on environmental issues and sustainable living.  We’re showing several films, including the Imax “Beavers” film, and would like to show Ian Timothy’s Beaver creek animations series shown on your website.  I’m so glad you’ve promoted his talents!  These episodes are really great, and would be perfect for short segments between films!   What would the best way to coordinate getting the DVD from him?  If nothing else, I can try to connect with him through Facebook.  I’m pretty sure the theater we are coordinating with can show DVD format.

Thanks! Joe

Joe Cannon

Beaver Solution Project Assistant

The Lands Council

So of course I got pretty excited and did a “Ian this is Joe, Joe this is Ian” email. I just hope Ian isn’t so bogged down with the beginning of the school year he can’t get to the post office! An environmental film festival is a great and well deserved honor to add to his resume. You know, of course, there should be an “introduction to the artist” segment included in the series, with some footage of him painstakingly fixing the clay scene, photographing and then moving it a fraction of an inch, and doing the whole thing again. It could show him doing his homework and sitting with his friends at high school and maybe it could say how he got interested in beavers?

Have you heard the news about the race for the city council in Martinez? It’s an actual RACE with people that are actually NEW. I was told once by a man I very much respect that the combined time in office for our current city council (if you add up all the years one was mayor before one became a council member etc) is 50+ years. That’s what I call an old school. Well a new school year is in session and Martinez actually has real options. I thought I’d introduce you to two of my favorites today and maybe if you’re downtown for Art in the Park you can stop by and meet them for yourself. Before I do, I am reminded by Worth A Dam member Lory that the goal of Worth A Dam is to align with all beaver supporters everywhere and alienate no one. Certainly we are a broadly based group with attachments and beliefs all over the political spectrum. Worth A Dam as an organization doesn’t endorse any candidate without castor glands. Let me just say that these are two women I, Heidi Perryman, happen to like. They have been good citizens and good friends to the beavers and are smart, creative thinkers.

instrumental in helping me know how to advocate for the beavers. I went to her delightful home for a meeting about networking and circulating information. She is on the Parks, Rec, Marina & Library commission which is every bit as ungainly as its name suggests. Gay is the voice of reason and cool clarity at those meetings. With a background in her own successful business and success now devoted to caring occasionally for her grandchildren, she knows how to get things done and how to redirect stubborn interests. When we went to ask permission to install the tile bridge and the very fopish member pontificated that they couldn’t approve it because “there was no cultural plan for the city so he couldn’t know what art was” Gay quietly motioned the project be approved. And it was. Gay has seen the best of Martinez and is pretty much known to everyone who knows anything: her home is the site for opera fund-raises, candidate luncheons, and exciting discussion. She’s also seen the worst of Martinez: broken promises, secret backroom deals and lots of buck passing to blame the other guy. Gay knows how things work in the ‘real world’ but also knows how to appreciate the spirit of community gifts like the beavers.

I’m thinking that this years election cycle will offer some real choices. The beavers and Worth A Dam will like you whomever you vote for, but spend some time checking these two candidates and think about what they might have to offer.

In the world of beaver news we had a confirmed otter sighting last night at the secondary dam, a new tree chewed almost to falling over the water and a possible mink visitation. Three kits, GQ, visitors from Los Altos and two more converts from my Close to Home talk, all who went out to dinner in town.