Child’s Meadow amphib-stravaganza

A few weeks ago, I was privileged to attend a weekend conference in Child’s Meadow, up by Lassen. It’s a property that The Nature Conservancy owns, and we got to take a tour of the beaver dams at the lower end of the meadow. Thanks Brock and Kate of OAEC for the invite.

Child’s Meadow is important because it’s one of a very few ecosystems left in California that can support this handsome devil to the right, a Cascade Frog. Note the beaver chewed stick in the background? Nice shot, Brock! Over the course of a two hour survey, 4 adults, 2 subadults, and 41 metamorphs were counted. The herp geeks were pretty excited.

Seeing the beavers create prime habitat for another endangered species was a great capper to a weekend of discussing beavers as a meadow restoration tool.

And for you fungophiles out there, consider this stunning specimen of a King Bolete (the famous porcini). That’s just some of what can happen when you re-hydrate a landscape with beaver dams, reconnect the floodplain and widen riparian corridors.

Disregard the visible surface water for a moment, that’s the tip of the iceberg. Consider instead the vastly greater quantity of water that’s perking sideways into the ground, seeping along  invisibly, quietly pumping these mycorrhizae up into giant balloons of awesome flavor.

And here’s Kate, perched on the beaver lodge, listening for their chatter. You’d be amazed what you can hear if you approach quietly and then lean down with your ear against the lodge.