Imagine that you are out on a walk in the wilds of southwestern Idaho in 1948. It is August 14, and the leaves on the trees are about to change to yellow, orange and red.
Suddenly you hear the drone of a small plane in the sky.
While shielding your eyes from the sun, you see several boxes being thrown out. Each of them is connected to a parachute that opens as the crates descend towards the meadow.
Are there provisions for the rangers? Or is it perhaps the smuggling of illegal goods? Wrong on both counts.
What you are seeing is relocation of beavers – of all things.
Bewilderment and frustration
The beaver is easily recognizable with its flattened tail that resembles a paddle. But the large rodent is also widely known for its architectural features in the form of impressive dams and cabins.
If it is allowed to continue undisturbed, the beaver’s joy in building can have knock-on effects for its surroundings. In a river, the dam can become large and solid enough to divert the river into new courses, or fill small valleys with water so that new, small lakes are formed.
DIGER: The beaver is the largest rodent in the northern hemisphere and can weigh up to 40 kilos. Photo: NTB/Shutterstock Show more
Many species benefit from the beaver creating new wetlands with its dams.
But they can also become pests if there are too many of them in one place. And in Idaho, the beaver had become a growing problem by the late 1940s.
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Rich in water, poor in beavers
As the beavers played an important role in the ecosystem, killing them was out of the question.
Instead, they wanted to relocate several of the animals to the remote natural area Chamberlaine Basin. There are large lakes here, where there were no beavers until then.
ALASKA: Beaver dams can assume considerable dimensions and flood large areas. Photo: NTB/Shutterstock Show more
This was not the first time that beavers had been moved in Idaho. They were caught and transported in either sacks or cages, then released to their new, wet freshwater home.
But when it came to the Chamberlaine Basin, the inaccessibility was to create major challenges.
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Dead on horseback
At the start, the animals were placed in crates which were then transported on horseback. But the trip took several days, and many of the beavers died as a result of the heat and stress.
It was then that Elmo W. Heter at the Ministry of Fish and Game came up with an unconventional idea: Release beavers by parachute.
UP WITH SEG: After marking the beaver, it is lifted into one of the boxes which are then sealed. Photo: Screenshot/Idaho Fish and Game Show more
And you document from 1950 Heter describes how it was done:
Two boxes with breathing holes were fitted together as a case. Elastic bands attached to the bottom of the box formed elastic springs that opened the box automatically on landing.
Ropes were used to hold the boxes together until they landed and automatically opened.
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Thrown out again and again
The name Geronimo is for many inextricably linked the medicine man and Apache leader (1829-1909) who fought for fair treatment of the North American indigenous population.
But did you know that it was also the name of the beaver that became the “lucky” chosen one to prove that Heter’s idea had the right of life?
EXPERIENCED: Geronimo the beaver got up to several walks before he could finally settle down in his new home. Photo: Idaho Fish and Game Show more
“An old male beaver, whom we called ‘Geronimo’, was released again and again across the field,” writes Heter.
“Every time he climbed out of the box, someone was ready to pick him up. Poor guy! Finally, he became so resigned that when we approached, he crawled back into the box again – ready to go up again.”
However, Geronimo was rewarded for his efforts. Together with three females, he was given a priority seat on the first flight to “the new world”. Later it was reported that Geronimo’s colony was well established.
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Found lost video treasure
In 2015, the skydiving beavers became the big talking point in the US. In a mislabeled box at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, something thought to have been lost more than 60 years earlier was found.
The cash register turned out to contain film footage of beavers being put in boxes and dropped from planes by parachute.
SECURED: Here we see the pilot attaching a parachute to one of the crates before departure. Photo: Screenshot/Idaho Fish and Game Show more
The color film, which had the title «Fur for the Future»was 14 minutes long and consisted of recordings made sometime in 1950. However, it was in very fragile condition.
Fortunately, experts were able to digitize the old recordings. The film has since been made available to the public.
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Marked before flight
Geronimo’s maiden flights paved the way for the relocation of a total of 76 live beavers via parachute.
“Fur For the Future” offers, among other things, footage showing several wooden crates lying on the shores of Payette Lake. The narrator’s voice explains that the boxes are to be dropped by parachute over the wilderness.
RELEASED IN BOXES: Beavers were dispersed to prevent overpopulation. Photo: Idaho Fish and Game Show more
Each individual box contains a pair of beavers, where each of the animals has been sorted by weight and length. We see how the rodents are marked with clips in the ear before they are released into the box which is then tied back with rope.
The boxes are carried on board the small plane that will take the animals to their new habitats.
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Airy arrival
Parachutes are attached to each of the boxes, which are then placed in a row at the back of the plane. Ten crates with a total of twenty animals, “ready” for the flight to the mountains.
The parachutes themselves were taken from a surplus warehouse that had been untouched since the Second World War. According to Heter’s own records, the boxes were released between 150 and 240 meters above the ground.
NEW HOME: In the picture we see two parachute-equipped beaver boxes that have landed in the meadow. Photo: Screenshot/Idaho Fish and Game Show more
In the film, we see the wooden boxes floating down to the ground, before it cuts to dazed beavers that can put their paws on safe ground. Nothing is said about how the impact itself dissipated.
According to the narrator, the beavers’ noses and instincts ensured that they reached the water and their new homes safely.
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99 percent successful
The parachute solution was described as a great success. According to Heter, there was only one accident in which a beaver lost its life.
HAPPY LANDING: 76 beavers were parachuted in total. For one of them, the drop ended disastrously. Photo: Screenshot/Idaho Fish and Game Show more
After the boxes were dropped from the plane, a cable is said to have come loose. It created a large enough opening for the beaver to climb out on top of the crate.
“Had he stayed where he was, everything would have gone well,” maintains Heter.
“But for some inexplicable reason, when the box was about 23 meters off the ground, he jumped or fell.”
– Extremely dangerous
Increased fire safety
To this day, beavers are still being relocated in Idaho. But parachutes have not been used for many decades.
– We catch and release beavers sometimes, but in other ways, said Steve Nadeau from the ministry ABC News i 2015.
– Although we do not use this method today, it turns out that the parachute method worked well when it came to getting the beavers out of inaccessible areas, he continued.
GREEN AND SAFE: It is clear how big an impact the industrious beavers have had on nature. Photo: NASA Show more
Satellite images NASA have removed the natural areas where the beavers landed over 70 years ago, shows that they and their descendants have had a major positive impact on their surroundings.
Compared to areas without beaver dams, they are lusher, greener and more resistant to fires.
2023-09-10 18:00:04
#Thrown #beaver #parachute
