Last year’s unofficial “Blacklist” most popular undirected screen play caught the attention of director Jodie Foster and actor Mel Gibson. It’s about a depressed, aging toy manufacturer whose world is changed by an abandoned beaver puppet he finds in a trash can. He becomes attached to the beaver, forms a relationship with it and adopts some of its characteristics.

Filming began this week, and the usual punning circuit has been making the rounds about the released photos and what his “hand is up”. Foster is a smart woman, but there’s no telling if the final product will be worth seeing. Gibson is certainly not without controversy (notoriety?) Still, a beaver changing the life of a grownup, teaching them about the world, allowing them to become more authentically themselves and more involved with their community was too much to pass up.

Just saying.

All summer long, and until the kindly rains begin, Worth A Dam man-Friday Jon has been watering the trees. The only water source out that way is the creek so it means he throws a bucket into the water, and hauls it out by rope again and again. We’ve had far fewer tree casualties as a result, and yesterday the “slap” of the bucket produced the “tail slap” of a beaver in response, so you know it’s working!

Two trees were planted on the “amtrak” side of the creek, right near a leaking pipe thats trickle has produced a broad patch of grass. When Jon went to water this weekend he saw two deer browsing the green goodness. One was a small, fearless doe, and her partner was a lovely (barely) six-point buck. They stood irritably while Jon was watering, waiting for him to finish so they could get back to their important work. Jon wished he had a camera but imagine this is what he saw….

Beaver watchers have been deprived a glimpse of mom for the month of September, so if you happen to see her some evening or morning, let us know. Her tail mark is barely visible anymore, but her right eye is very affected, so she’s easy to spot if she faces upstream. We are happy to report that the beavers have finally decided to shift their schedules to match the declining daylight hours. Twice this weekend we saw a yearling out by 7:30 pm which is a relief because no one wants to wait in the dark until 8:30.

Certainly not last night when I was avidly watching Ken Burns describe our National Parks. Did you see the Martinez photos? I liked the narrative very much, but am I the only one who thought that Petteway’s annoying and repititve guitar music detracted from the whole experience? (It was almost a drinking game, every time Sligo Creek started to play again, I wanted to do a shot.)

Our Burrowing Owl friend released this video this weekend, and all I can say is that he must have had help. This is no sloppy perryman attempt, and that see-through emblem in the corner could only have been made using Final Cut, which I have only braved a few times even after hiring a tech to teach me how to use it. I made sure all our friends saw it, and am currently trying to nudge Penny into taking the owls on for her next “Comeback Kids” book.

Great work, Scott. You are an Inspiration.

Alex’s most difficult summary was the report from the last day of the conference where beaver density and trouble spots were discussed. He wrestled with this article with enormous care, and I think did an outstanding job. At one point he wondered if writing the names of professors who gave unpopular advice was a good idea, since the “internet is forever” and people might change their minds eventually. I was forced to admit that he is much, much kinder than I am, but assured him he could decide either way. (I have always considered the internet to be a snapshot in time, and if you were caught saying bad things about beavers in that snapshot you will just have to deal with the consequences!)

After some mulling, he decided to let his report stand. I offer it in it’s entirety with the only possible title:

The Good:

“Hot spots” were beaver sites called by Prof. Alius Ulevicius from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Vilnius University, regarding the richness of nutrients and organic material as well as  the structural alterations to eco-systems: Beavers “create specific complex habitats” consisting of different environment elements “like beaver ponds, standing dead wood and debris, beaver dams, lodges, etc.” Its impact on the hilly moraine landscape depends on its location more than its size.

The alterations created by beaver sites in relation to the landscape of densely inhabited beaver territories does not exceed population fluctuations of 6 to 7 percent according to Prof. Alius Ulevicius. Thus to be said for Lithuania, that went through a boost in beaver population starting in the mid-forties of last century leading to an estimated beaver population of about  89 k to 121 k individuals “near to its carrying capacity” counting an average 7.8 beaver sites per 10 square kilometers.  (7.8 beaver sites per 3.86 sq.miles.) In comparison we learned that Minnesota, USA, has got an average of 10 beaver-sites per 10 sq.kilometers ( 3.86 US-sq.mi ) equaling about  2 and a half beaver sites per square-mile with alterations to the landscape in the surrounding territory of 13 percent.

Nevertheless you will find beaver sites in Lithuania not only at lake shores, river and stream banks but also on both sides of roads and highways, most likely lodges at open drains on surrounding meadows of slush green  surrounded by healthy stands of aspen, willow, maple oak as well as pine forests as we were shown on our guided tour to neighboring beaver sites within about 15 sq.kilometers around Dubingiai Conference Center on September 23, 2009, as the final day of the 5th International Beaver symposium.

Despite beaver density, do not expect a flooded countryside with dead wood all around: Lithuania appeared to be one of most beautiful countries throughout Europe in all shades of green with its healthy meadows and forests, numerous lakes and almost undisturbed nature. Have a look on the Lithuanian website ( www.maps.lt ) screening the entire country far better than google maps. “The maximum effect of beaver impact should be expected where beavers are able to alter the hydrological characteristics of water bodies such as small streams, drainage canals and small swamps.”

Indeed the beaver impact on open water drainage succeeds to 18 percent and accelerates at lakes and stream banks: Research on selected 555 segments of 500 meters ( 550 US-yards ) each alongside lakes and streams showed 82 to 100 percent of beaver impact:Beaver made canals collect surface water thus providing larger wetlands from its additional water supply.   The mean burrowing intensity was up to 30 burrows per kilometer ( 0.63 US-miles ) discharging  in average 30 cubic-meters ( 1 cubic-meter is 1000 liters, 1 cubic-foot is about 28 liters, equaling about 1071 cubic feet ) of soil subsurface ground into the canal-bed.

By this means beavers create huge underground infrastructure for a number of forestrial vertebrates  like otters and the invasive species of American mink that can frequently be found in Lithuania at beaver-sites  feeding and resting, moreover sheltering and breeding in beaver-made burrows and lodges.

The Bad:

The negative effect of inadvertent habitat creation for those semi-aquatic predators was later mentioned by Prof. Vladim Siodorowich from National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, on his investigations about beavers as prey supply. Most obviously is beaver impact on the plant communities of beaver meadows with its relatively high species richness due to increased soil dampness, acidity and nutrition. From a conservationists point of view any alterations in a territory with its indigenous plant and animal communities are to be evaluated critically.

Prof Ulevicius called “man and beaver” the main disturbance factors on eco-systems questioning which concept of land use will be the most appropriate regarding beavers that create “highly productive patches that attract and involve higher trophic levels on landscape scale” at the one end of the scale and man “highly favoring the effective use and export of accumulated goods” on  the other end.

The Ugly:

Among the lecturers from Lithuania and other eastern European countries that focused only on disturbing impacts of beavers that were consolidated on their specific investigations was Prof. Romanus Lamsodas from Watermanagement Institute of Lithuanian University of Agriculture recommending “hydrologic regime” to be taken over beavers settling in open drains in localities relevant for concentrated agriculture .

Prof. Olgirda Belova from Lithuanian Forest Research Institute , Kaunas, demanded an  “eliminating norm of 15 to 20 percent” of the beaver population by hunting and trapping for the reason that the main six woody species of the beaver diet are important for biodiversity conservation and need to be protected against growing beaver population. “Appropriate structured harvesting” topped it all and was suggested by Göran Hartman from Norwegian Institute for Nature Research in numbers of 15 to 20 percent of the beaver population as a self-financing method that could provide a positive incentive for landowners and will effect the stabilization of the beaver population. At the same instance he suggested distinct care “as the species is vulnerable to overharvesting.”

Whew, more Good:

This all was said before Skip Lisle and Duncan Halley talked about non-lethal methods of beaver-management. By the way, licensed live-trapper Sherri Tippie from Denver, CO was shown setting Hancock live-traps in the slide show removing beavers from creek of  mid-town Aurora, CO , in the effort to relocate them to sheep ranchers in the Rocky Mountains for all the benefits beaver hot spot provide to animals and to landscape. Hopefully the well proved and cost effective methods of non-lethal beaver management will lead to awareness of viable alternatives to hydrologic regime, eliminating norms and structured harvesting in the mind of those “scientists on demand” as I would consider them according to their unacceptable conclusions, presumably under the pressure to value short-term financial savings higher than long-term ecological effects.

“The Americans are far ahead of us” was noted by one lecturer remarking on the positive effects of beaver-sites on areas experiencing drought from global warming.”Be prepared for the long game” according to an expert of the Scottish Beaver Trial.

Much Appreciated Guest Blogger: Alex Hiller

(Clint Eastwood comparisons entirely my own.)

Skip Lisle (left) & Alex Hiller (worth a dam t-shirt) at the 5th Annual Beaver Symposium

I thought today would be a good day to update folks generally on what’s been happening and what to expect in the next month. Alex is preparing his final “beaver management” summary from the conference, and while he’s busy looking up words in English (can you believe what a good job he’s done?) I can let you know some news.

First of all, I had lunch yesterday with Friends of Alhambra Creek Igor Skaredoff to talk about a project for testing the water quality at the beaver dam. He discussed tests for temperature, salinity, flow, bacteria, detergent and BMI (Benthic Macro-Invertibrates), how they could all be accomplished, and who the key players were to beg favors from to do this on the cheap. Igor knows and is loved by absolutely everyone, so I wrote down everything said and nodded gratefully a lot. The idea would be to work with Rona Zollinger and the ESA students to get the project going. She’s already expressed interest, so the next step is to contact my beaver experts and learn what’s most important for beaver health, and then shorten the list. If you’d like to be involved, especially if you have any expertise to contribute (maybe you’re a whiz with spread sheets or research?) drop us a line and I promise  you will never feel more loved or popular.

In other news, beaver friend Mike Callahan was invited to the State House in Massachusetts thursday with the MSPCA to present on beaver management. One of the interested parties in attendance was the chief of staff for Senator Antony Petruccelli who, as it turns out, is the chair of the committee for the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (in charge of beavers!) and vice chair of the committee on climate change. The chief of staff was very very interested in Mike’s presentation, stayed to ask questions, and invited him back for another presentation. Given the hit job the Department of  Fish and Game got the New York Times to do on beavers earlier in the year, it would be excellent to have a key player on our side.

Scott of JournOwl has been very close to some good news about his burrowing owls, and posted about it here. Looks like the developer and the city are starting to take the owls seriously, so that’s a great achievement.

Our calendar for October is looking fairly insane but the beavers surely appreciate the advocacy work.

October 3: Wild Birds Unlimited, Pleasant Hill

October 6: Presentation to Parks, Marina and Cultural Commission, City Hall

October 10: Jugband Jamboree, Martinez Marina

October 11: Native Plant Fair, Tilden Park

October 17: Girlscouts Amazing day, Flyway Fiesta Sugar Loaf, Walnut Creek

October 22: Presentation to the Kiwis Club, Martinez

Get the picture? We’re gonna be busy.

By the way, I just got back from a trip North and saw  these wonderful interpretive signs at MacKerricher state Park in Fort Bragg. They were conceived, made and designed by Sea Reach,  an Oregon based Company, so I just had to call and ask how they felt about beavers. Great conversation and ideas, and definately got me rethinking the idea of our interpretive signs.

A related note about my conversation with Dave: In the commercial breaks we chatted about woodpeckers and badgers and I tried to get him interested in the stories. He knew about these stories from Carolyn Jones’ articles in the Chronicle, so step one is get her attention!

Finally, Cheryl did some great sleuthing and sent me this last night. It’s the blog from Jenny Holden of Scotland, Field Officer for the Scottish Beaver Trial. Check out her pictures from the conference. Sadly, I don’t see our t-shirt, but we’ll work on them for next year.

More From our Foreign Correspondent: Alex Hiller

Susanne Horne Max Planke Molecular Ecology

Criminal Intent on beaver fossils:

How can you be sure the injured beaver from the road shoulder is not a stranger in the night but legally belongs to its geographical habitat? - Just show a tissue sample to Susanne Horn at Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany and get its DNA analyzed.

In her lecture she mentioned a DNA probe of an injured beaver recognizing it as member of the inherent Eurasian beaver species Castor fiber and not of the North American species Castor canadensis it was suspected to be according to the untypical color of its anal gland secretion. DNA research was done on the data basis taken from dozens of  tooth and bone samples of ancient beavers throughout Europe.

Beaver Populations can be distinguished even locally by the genetic  DNA sequences. Extensive hunt in the 19th century had led to the extirpation of beaver in most parts of Europe except for a few relict populations thus providing a bottleneck in the genetic diversity.

According to the Symposium`s student award winner of the 2nd price, Susanne Horn, “ancient DNA can provide information on the indigenous beavers of a certain area. These results reflecting the history of this species, can now be taken into account by maintenance projects, when planning the relocation of beavers.

Speaking of anal gland secretion (AGS) the 1st price of the student’s award was won by students from Telemark University College, Bo, Norway, on investigation “whether information about age and territory ownership (social status) is coded in the AGS of male Euroasian beavers” ( c.fiber ). Experimental scent mounts in a field study using a free ranging population in Telemark, Norway, as well as chemical analysis confirmed the preliminary suggestions:  The older son of a male intruder appeared to pose a greater threat to resident beavers than the younger son and the intruder itself, suggesting “that dominant beavers carry a `territory owner`badge making them perceived as less a threat than beavers without a territory. ( Helga Veronika Tinnesand, Susan Jojola, Frank Rosell )

Regarding beaver territory the participants of the Symposium were shown the findings at a prehistorical beaver site and its suggestions on the development of the beaver species:

Excavations at an ancient peat bog on utmost northern Canadian Ellesmere Island disclosed in its permafrost ground well preserved bones, sculls, claws and teeth of prehistorical beavers as well as hundreds of sizzled sticks with teeth marks at age of 3 to 5 millions of years ago  (in short = mya ) just before Ice Age. Natalia Rybczynski of Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, who led the excavations, did research on the form follows function relationship regarding ( 1 ) swimming, ( 2 ) grooming claw and ( 3 ) woodcutting .

Rybcynski`s findings to ( 1 ) were, that the stream-line body , its modified webbed hind feet  and modified tail developed 23 mya with its tail as a “propulsive structure” while swimming for getting thrust. The specific form of a flattened tail developed only 5 to 10 mya whereas the ancient grooming claws ( 2 ) had presumably developed 30 to 35 mya and could be distinguished easily by their specific shape different from regular claws at hands and feet throughout millions of years. Woodcutting behavior ( 3 ) could be proved by investigations in National Zoo of Washington, DC: Video analysis of beaver teeth in action cutting wood gave evidence that beaver make use only of one incisor in adjacent position at one side of their jaws, that means beaver gnaw sidewards providing a mean cut width of 60 % of Incisor width. Exactly the same pattern was analyzed on the sizzled sticks of 3 to 5 mya from Ellesmere Island.  As a result wood-cutting behavior in beavers is presumed to have developed 23 mya. What still remains to be unsolved according to Rybczinski is the development of dam-building behavior of beavers.

Sticking to the teeth of beaver fossils, Dr. Clara Stefen, Curator of Mammals at Senckenberg Museum of Natural History , Dresden, Germany, presented her research on length to width ratios of upper and lower molars of beaver sculls to determine the evolutionary progress.

Best

Alex Hiller

Another presenter at the beaver symposium, and a favorite of Alex and myself, Glynnis has done important research on the effects of beavers on drought conditions and the environment.

“Removal of beaver should be considered an environmental disturbance on par with in-filling, peat mining and industrial water extraction,” said researcher Glynnis Hood, lead author on the study and an assistant professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta’s Augustana Campus in Camrose, Canada.

Ahhh Glynnis, we need to send YOU a t-shirt next! I guess those beavers in canada are doing something besides holding down the backs of nickles.

“In times of drought they may be one of the most effective ways to mitigate wetland loss,” said Hood. “Some people believe climate is driving everything, but the presence of beaver has a dramatic effect on the availability of open water in an area. Beaver are helping to keep water in areas that would otherwise be dry.” Even during drought, where beaver were present, there was 60 per cent more open water than those same areas during previous drought periods when beaver were absent.

Here are some other presenters at the conference, Dr. Peter Bush from Boston University, that Alex posted about yesterday.

Obviously Massachusetts is a hotbed of beaver thinking. Today our old friend Mike Callahan of Beaver Solutions is on his way to the state house to do some presentations on beavers for the MSPCA. Good luck Mike!

You’ll probably recognize this other presenter with no introduction…

Alex! We are so grateful to you for this sneak peak at the world’s best beaver minds! Stay tuned tomorrow for the first ever episode of “Castor CSI” where beaver DNA will provide starting insights into foul play…

Skip Lisle & Alex Hiller at 2009 Beaver Conference in Lithuania

Hi Heidi,

you are receiving the summary of the first lecture day - September 21, 2009, - at the 5th international Beaver Symposium. I had to solve unexpected difficulties in getting Internet access. Proudly wearing your “Worth a dam” T-Shirts Skip Lisle immediately recognized his adventures in Martinez , CA, when getting sight of me just after breakfast. Another participant from Denmark pointed at my T-Shirt telling me that he knows about it via Internet

Skip is well known to the citizens of Martinez, CA, for the construction of a “castor master” beaver dam flow device in Alhambra Creek one and a half year ago. His talk at the end of  the second lecture day was the most practical and instantly useful of the whole conference. If anybody wondered what could be done about flooding problems regarding co-existence with beavers, Skip would have the proper solution at hand.

From the presentation of Peter Busher: Darwin and the elephants

“Beavers, in a population sense, can be regarded as `mini elephants`, since they are also relatively large (for rodents), long lived and have few predators (other than humans) in most natural situations.”

Prof. Peter Busher from Boston University, Massachusetts, as chairman of the scientific committee referred to Charles Darwin who developed 250 years ago on the population dynamics of elephants his evolution theory. DarwinŽs famous book “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life”was published in 1859. Moreover in 2009 it is the bicentennial of Darwin (1809 - 2009 ).

According to Busher Darwin had developed an exponential growth equation, that given one elephant cow starts calving at the age of 30 for the consecutive 60 years until death meanwhile giving birth to a calf every three years  that reaches maturity itself following the same scheme we should expect 19 million elephants to live on earth within a surprisingly short period of time. In fact we know that such kind of equations cannot come true according to loss of habitat, hunting, disease, accident, wildfire, extended drought etc..

Busher insisted on long-term investigations “since any short-term study does not allow
a full understanding of the natural pattern of change in beaver populations: The general long-term pattern is one of slow initial growth, exponential growth (traditional “J” shaped curve ), decline and stabilization around a carrying capacity”.

For example the number of beaver sites in Voyagers National Park, Minnesota, increased from 50 to 360 between 1940 to 1985 whereas the number of beaver individuals throughout the entire state of Massachusetts increased from 22500 to 65000 within 8 years from 1994 to 2002 according to Busher. What was rich growth, what was poor
growth ?

Change in population size occurs regardless of the density, populations fluctuate over the time, finished Peter Busher his lecture that could be regarded as a proper measure for the numerous detailed presentations following on that topic.

Among the presentations were investigations on the reasons of population change, such as food competition among elk and beavers researched by Glynnis Hood, assistant professor at the University of Alberta, Canada:

Caused by overpopulation elk chewed down tree saplings knee high in Elk Island  Park Alberta, Canada.  On the contrary, according to Hood “beaver turn down a vertical forest into a horizontal” by felling trees in order to forage on leaves and twigs. It were the beavers smart enough to adapt their foraging behavior, given array of forage species, ”which potentially buffers the effects of competition between elk, deer and beaver.”

Other topics of the first lecturer day were beaver biology and paleontology at the International Beaver Symposium being performed from Sept. 20 - 23, 2009, in the little eastern European country of Lithuania sited between Baltic Sea and Russian border. Mild temperatures and sunshine made it easy and comfortable to stayand socialize .

On the red pine shaded conference center at a marvelous lakeside in Dubingiai north of Lithuanian capital Vilnius  99 beaver enthusiasts of almost scientific background from all over Europe were joined by 6 leading North American beaver specialists, among them Peter Busher and Skip Lisle.

More to come!

Best
Alex Hiller

Once upon a time, in a very far off land where olive trees made a familiar pattern on the hills, a family of travelling magicians moved into the creek. There were three to begin with, a mother, a father and a healthy teen and all were adept at weaving straw into gold and sticks into shelters. They picked a neglected spot along the stream to make their home, right at the edge of the tide, and nestled in amongst the willows and rushes of their people.

Children and their parents sometimes stopped near their camp to watch a party trick or two. The magicians could juggle brightly colored lights and carry trees on their fingertips and it was amusing for the townspeople to see. But back at the castle, the stern old mapmaker was not amused, and argued that the magicians  would call the Great Waters to rise up and flood the small village, drowning their homes and cattle. He directed the magistrate to kill the magician family, and the decision was swiftly made to execute.

‘Such decree of death caused public outcry for those who had enjoyed the magicians waterside display, and the sentence was softened to banishment when the children began to cry at the great meeting where it was considered. A gathering was planned to consider the fate of the magicians, and all the people left their huts and hovels to join in council around the fireside where important decisions were always made. There were four on the dais and four hundred in the fields. The magistrate’s brought in high priests with yardsticks to speak of the Great Flood the magicians would bring if allowed to stay, and the people spoke of their talents and treasures and asked that the magistrate find a wizard who could prevent the flood and allow the magicians to remain.

Faced with such a united and determined voice, the magistrate appointed a council of seven and charged them with the weighty task of finding such a wizard and setting him to its dilemma. Perhaps he expected the task to be impossible, and hoped to divide the inevitable failure by seven and share the blame for banishment. However, these seven quickly scoured the nation for the best skills in the land and the sharpest minds of the nation. After 90 days of searching they brought forth a great wizard the Green Mountain State and, after much council and deliberation, employed him for the position.

Sir Gallop of Lisle  was tall and stern as he surveyed the magicians’ lair and considered the risks of the great flood. The pulses of many a maiden fluttered as he strode shirtless into the shallow creek to see what damage might be called. Despite the prodigious difficulties he knew just what must be done, and he used an enchanted conduit to move some of the powers from the area so that the magicians could cause no harm. With the new bypass in place, even the yardsticks of the high priests could assess no risk of flood. There was great rejoicing and many sighs of relief, and the townsfolk bought Sir Gallop many tankards of finest ale before he returned to his home in the green mountains.

Now the magicians have lived in the town for three autumns, and the townsfolk still love to gather and watch their displays. The enchanted conduit works day and night to direct the power, and in the late summer the townsfolk gather for a festival to celebrate the magicians presence in their town.  Come join them some evening to watch the juggling of brightly colored lights at the waterside, and remember that your town may get magicians soon.