Out of a need for people to speak out, I started the Kern River Beaver blog. It got a lot of attention as people across the good ol' USA spoke out about why they thought a family of beavers lives should be spared. The story was on CNN.com a good chunk of Friday. I'm sure that helped put pressure on Bakersfield city leaders to not kill the beaver family.
Read related article.
Currently, Bakersfield city leaders are saying they've revoked the beaver family's death permits, though we don't know how the beavers will survive: in a zoo, in a creek somewhere else, or even left alone in the Kern River.
Is this a mystery beaver from the Bakersfield beaver family?
Image by N.L. Belardes, March 2007
In the meantime, the voice of the people have somehow created order out of chaos. I think we can be grateful that another little Christmas family miracle is in our midst...
Remember Emmet Otters Jugband Christmas? Maybe they need to make a muppet movie about a little Bakersfield beaver family spared four days before Christmas...
And let's not forget what the Oregon State blog has said today, Once again, the Beavers are the champions.
Image: OSU Beaver Admissions Blog.
15 comments:
FIRST!!:)
JUST KIDDING:)
I saw in the newspaper about PETA getting calling in and their response to this. I am for animals non suffering but I personally think PETA and ALF are way to radical and having called them caused some pressure. Just my thoughts on it.
I'm sure all parties involved helped put pressure on the matter: PETA, media, response to the media, etc...
Doesn't hurt when the story makes the homepage of CNN two times in one day...
BTW: I have never received so many emails because of a news story...
Everyone loves to talk BEAVERS:) Is that proper?:)
You Californians are a bunch of bunny errrr beaver huggers. Wait a minute ... beaver hugger ... maybe not such a bad thing.
There's enough wall-to-wall carnage on the national newscasts, it's nice to see a bit of humanity and common sense shine through. Now if we could only train them to pick up the slack and build affordable housing for the 12,000 still homeless from Katrina.
Big ups to 23 for shining a light on this ...
With all this talk about $500 trees, why do they not just put a 2 foot wide piece of tin aroung the trees, so that the Beavers can not chew them down, way to simple to do that I guess, sure save a lot of money and trees, and maybe the Beavers will just move on if they can't chew the trees.
Updates released by the AP are all over the internet. Here's one example from a San Diego newspaper:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20071221-1750-ca-brf-sjvalley-bothersomebeaver.html
I'm not sure where this idea of a family of beavers came from. When I talked to an AP reporter and Bakersfield and California park/wildlife officials on Friday, I mentioned that it was probably a pair of beavers, hence why so many trees were being cut down so fast. Beavers build a lodge together once they have pair-bonded and in preparation for their upcoming winter and start of a family (breeding would occur between mid-winter and spring in Central Cali). This is probably a young couple, creating or improving upon a small lodge that, as far as I know, no one has yet to see.
I suppose I should mention that the Indiana welfare researcher they mention is me. :)
http://mypage.iu.edu/~eduferna/
Just happy I could help out in whatever way I could.
I should also note, if you really want to help, don't let this story go away just because the beaver(s) is/are likely saved. Removing these beavers is a temporary solution. It's probably a necessary solution at this point, but eventually, more beavers will move in.
Be understanding that this is a relatively new problem for your city, and hence why state and city officials will have to learn as they go along. But for the sake of future beavers, encourage city officials (or even better, donate time and/or money) to armor your park trees. There are numerous cheap, labor-minimal solutions for preventing tree destruction by beavers.
Keep talking to your city officials about these solutions (see http://www.beaversww.org/), be understanding and patient, and most importantly, donate time/money, and everyone, including future beavers, will be the happier for it. :)
Great job getting the word out on your beaver situation. I'm a member of the martinez subcomittee considering keeping our local beavers,The Martinez Beavers Blog and resident/local support was the most important aspect of their being saved. I made youtube videos to make sure they'd be seen, The Complete Tailwrote articles for the paper, and connected with beaver experts across the country. One of which was Sherri Tippie in Colorado who is an expert in beaver location and was able to talk about the dangers of relocation. This helped convince the council to form a study group to think of other options. The entire Nov 7th meeting is online and has some of the best local arguments and resident involvement. Keep up the good work and let us know if you need help! mtzbeavers@gmail.com
Can I just say how much I hate the term "speak out." Is it possible to speak IN? Plus, it's the internet...there's no speaking involved. "Speaking out" should be reserved for demonstrations and events where big change is needed. This is only about BEAVERS, not a social crisis. You've used this phrase 3 times in the first few sentences of your blog. Choose a new phrase.
I don't worry so much about editing a blog article. Besides, if you have a problem with the beaver topic, picking on phrasing isn't going to solve anything. Being anonymous also doesn't add much credibility to what you're writing...
As for the term 'speaking out,' There's nothing wrong with using it. Whether I write 'speak out' or 'voice an opinion,' people are still using their writing voice to speak their mind... get it?
You probably don't.
Well, since there are a lot of Beaver experts here...how did the word Beaver, become popular in reference to the female love zone?...well, whatever the reason, it has me programmed to instantly love this little creature of Earth...Merry Christmas to all!-dw
I have been in contact with Nick on this and have continued to pursue this issue. I want to know why no one has seen these beavers since the story came out. I have already contacted the Governor's office, the Mayor of Bakersfield, Bakersfield City Council, The Today Show and PETA. Hopefully this will result in the beavers being found safe, sound and unharmed. I will keep you posted. Thanks to Nick for all of his help with this.
Hey all-
I just got the following response from Diane Hoover the Director of Recreation & Parks for the city of Bakersfield and I thought that I would share:
The beaver is indeed safe because he destroyed another tree in the same area two nights ago. We are working with the Department of Fish and Game and the Department of Agriculture to re-locate the beaver to another area. In addition, we are attempting to wrap the trees along the bike path that are still standing and need to be protected.
To clarify your information a little more, the beaver actually moved into his current area fairly recently due to finding some standing water along the bike path. There are several beavers living in and around the river area, and they move where there is water. We have had less rainfall than normal this year so the river is very dry; almost non-existent. This particular beaver found a drainage ditch under the bike path to make his current home. The cottonwood trees he has destroyed are trees planted along the bike path to shade the many people using the path. Trees along the bike path have been specifically irrigated, paid for by state grants, planted and nurtured by volunteers.
The beaver is alive and well, and will remain so. Trees are also a precious commodity in this climate, so we are working to re-direct the beavers' appetite to trees away from the path by protecting the bike path trees within his current range.
California, particularly Bakersfield, has a diverse climate and abundant wildlife. Along this very bike path which runs 32 miles along the Kern River, you will find coyotes, roadrunners, great blue herons, egrets, mudhens, bobcats, squirrels, rabbits, foxes, and even the endangered kangaroo rat.
Thank you for your concern about the Bakersfield beaver story. You are welcome to visit at any time to appreciate the full beauty of this part of the country.
Dianne Hoover, CPRP
Director, Recreation & Parks
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