Beavers in the Wild
With all the efforts of the Olmsted Conservancy in replanting many of the trees lost during the surprise October storm, the last thing the city’s forester wants in his domain is a beaver or worse, a family of beavers.
On my walk along the banks of Cazenovia Creek, I saw more than a couple dozen trees with the telltale signs--the hour glass gnawed trunks and the resulting pile of wood chips at the base. One of the spied trees was down but because of a miscalculation by the industrious beaver; it never hit the ground and another grand-daddy of a tree a little further upstream was encircled with some steel mesh, put in place to prevent further damage. After two years of hearing about beavers and seeing a gnawed tree or two, I caught my first glimpse of the critter on a walk on Saturday, swimming downstream, probably headed for the clump of sticks and mud I imagine was the lodge. I talked with a few of the dogwalkers who visit the park daily, and was informed by each of the fellows I spoke with that there were two adults and a baby--and that if you get to the park in the very early morning you might get a look at them getting down to business.
This small story is a two-headed coin for sure. Our beavers, whose population was devastated by hunting for fur as well as their destructive nature (at least from our point of view), are members of the rodent family and the only other species on the planet who can dramatically alter the landscape to suit their own needs. But is the return of the beavers to waterways well inside the city limit’s a sign that the environment has improved enough to support them and a host of other animal life that could never be seen inside the city limits because of the contaminates of air, water and land from the industrialization of the area?
The only natural wildlife within the city limits I can remember from my youth are pheasants (which have been wiped out), pigeons, and the duck-filled pond outside the offices of Buffalo Color at the corner of South Park Avenue and Lee Streets, full with water supposedly drawn right from the river. Many native species have been displaced; red and black squirrels, and bluebirds to name a few, and some are endangered, like sturgeons. The return of wildlife to the city is a sign of Buffalo rising that hasn’t anything to do with architecture, housing, business districts or any topic usually found on this website, but one that is akin to a canary in a coal mine and for now the canary is back and warming up for a new song for all of us to enjoy.
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Keith
I love it. This is an example of a quality of life feature that a booming city doesn't have. Buffalo should plan to shrink and do it by turning select abandoned neighborhoods into natural parks (no grass, picnic tables etc.). This will maintain the urban density that a true city requires, it will rid the city of blight and provide a place for the original inhabitants of the area.
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PaulBuffalo
Beavers could be put to work tearing down all of those unsightly old historic buildings that prevent the Buffalo from becoming the new Glendale, Arizona.
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Buffalo21stcentury
There is a vast area between Buffalo and Rochester. Might I suggest that we work with Medina, Batavia, Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Rochester etc to create 2 parks that span Niagara, Orleans and Monroe Counties between 104 and 990/531, then another park between 990/531 and the Thruway where the dear and the antelope and the beavers can live happily ever after...
Buffalo and Niagara Falls are URBAN areas and we are only supposed to have urban parks.
Now I am in support of expanding south park because there is room and I am in support of reconstructing the old Fairgrounds at an alternative location on the eastside somewhere between Humboldt and Cazenovia....but we have a wonderful urban wildlife sanctuary over at the Tifft Nature Preserve.
What Buffalo does not have are jobs and we need to raise our level of education, employment, standard of living and quality of life for more than just beaver, moose and squirrel.
Another suggestion....because I really am in sympathy (I just dont want people to forget big picture priorities) and that is restoration efforts all thru the Great Lakes area.
One way I have recommended is for the Buffalo Zoo and the Buffalo Botanicals to join the Great Lakes Museum in exhibits on local flora and fauna. Such a joint effort could play a major role not just in educating us about local flora and fauna but in monitoring local and regional endangered species, work with other regions to re-introduce species and other extra regional efforts which are desperately needed in Buffalo Niagara.
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sbrof
Beavers after their initial hit to the flora actually improve the quality of the natural landscape for trees and other animals alike. Their ponds act to mitigate against times of drought and those long summer weeks without rain. They also create habitats that better suited for a wide variety of other plants and animals. This should be positive news about the state of our waterways, parks and steps towards a greener Urban environment.
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/mg19526181.600-the-beaver-destructive-pest-or-climate-saviour.html
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Bufago
New Era Beaver Baseball Caps.
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the_trooper
I agree that its nice that the environment and waterways are healthy enough for wild life to return but its still fragil and the trees in Caz are precious. I think the beavers should be moved out asap! I tried getting in touch with the Conservency to talk about this last year, but no one was ever in the Casino when I was there with my dog. If we don't move them were going to loose more trees than we can plant and will have unsightly steel cages around the bases of others. perhaps a move of 1 mile to Tift would be a good new location for the beavers.
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