Posted on 12/26/2022 7:43:13 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
WORCESTER - If someone were to mention the animal that built America, you would probably think of some sort of domestic farm animal like the horse or perhaps a cow - one a beast of burden during construction, the other a key economic livestock animal.
You wouldn’t think of beavers. But that’s what they are - the animals that both literally and economically built America.
“They shaped our country’s landscape and jump-started capitalism on this continent,” said Leila Philip, a professor of English at the College of the Holy Cross, who also teaches in the Environmental Studies Program, and author of "Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America," which went on sale earlier this month.
Philip has spent the last six years studying beavers and their influence on our country’s history and how they can help us in the future by mitigating the effects of the climate crisis. In "Beaverland," she explains why we need beavers, dispel myths about them and how to harness them in nature-based solutions to climate resiliency.
The most important takeaway for Philip is that although she came to realize that not only have beavers shaped the continent, “they have a huge new role to play in helping us deal with the greatest crisis of our generation - climate change.”
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
You knew this dam thread was gonna be pelted with beaver joke....
As opposed to human dams, beaver dams are natural and thus closer to god and thus god dams if you will
2-for-1 special on Mother`s Day
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Just let a few beavers build a dam on a creek on your land and see how long it takes for the Department of Interior to send a fed SWAT team to your house for wetlands violations.
Philip has spent the last six years studying beavers and their influence on our country’s history and how they can help us in the future by mitigating the effects of the climate crisis. In “Beaverland,” she explains why we need beavers, dispel myths about them and how to harness them in nature-based solutions to climate resiliency.
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Harnessing beavers? Sounds a little kinky.
Beavers created an enormous number of wetlands which creates methane which is supposed to cause global warming which is supposed to be bad.
I wonder what this professor has to say about that?
My liberal BIL gave us this book for Christmas. I plan to do a book review and send it to him.
Next question?
My Dad used to blow up beaver dams with dynomite. Otherwise half his land would have been under water.
Brings back memories of the old instrumental hit of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. BIG BEAVER.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IXmPZSM07o
Beaver : “Golly Wally, what am I gonna do now?’’
Wally: “Gee Beav when Dad finds out you changed the climate he’ll go ape!’’
Beaver; Aw gee, you’re not gonna squeal are you?’’
Wally Course I’m gonna squeal, ya did it, didn’t ya?’’.
Include the song; Wynonna’s Big Brown Beaver.
Rest easy. You’re not the only varmit trapper nearby. But this is reminding me of John Jacob Astor who made his fortune selling beaver hats to Englishmen. So many they named Astoria , Oregon after him. But he should have made one into a life jacket since he went down with the Titanic. Some folks think sinking the Titanic was Beavers’ revenge?
And, coincidently, beavers love wood, too!
save a tree ... eat a beaver ...
Dam beavers!
They damage trees for timber harvest and back up streams into low farmland.
Pain in the ass.
Dam beavers!
Canada....leading the way!
The beaver
The beaver was given official status as an emblem of Canada when “An Act to provide for the recognition of the Beaver (Castor canadensis) as a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada” received royal assent on March 24, 1975. However, the beaver was a part of the Canadian identity long before Parliament passed the National Symbol of Canada Act.
Historical significance of the beaver
After the early European explorers realized Canada was not the spice-rich Orient, the main profit-making attraction was the beaver population. In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the fashion of the day demanded fur hats, which needed beaver pelts. As these hats became more popular, the demand for the pelts grew.
King Henry IV of France saw the fur trade as an opportunity to acquire much-needed revenue and to establish a North American empire. Both English and French fur traders were soon selling beaver pelts in Europe at 20 times their original purchase price.
The trade of beaver pelts proved so profitable that many Canadians felt compelled to pay tribute to the buck-toothed animal.
Sir William Alexander, who was granted title to Nova Scotia in 1621, was the first to include the beaver in a coat of arms.
The Hudson’s Bay Company put four beavers on the shield of its coat of arms in 1678 to show how important the hard-working rodent was to the company.
A coin was created – which was known as a “buck” – that was equal to the value of one male beaver pelt.
Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor of New France in 1678, suggested the beaver would be a suitable emblem for the colony – and proposed it be included in the coat of arms of the City of Québec.
The French Kebeca Liberata medal, created in 1690 to celebrate France’s successful defence of the City of Québec, depicts the image of a seated woman (representing France) with a beaver at her feet (representing Canada).
When the City of Montréal was incorporated in 1833, it included the beaver’s image in its coat of arms.
Sir Sandford Fleming featured the beaver on the first Canadian postage stamp – the Three Penny Beaver – in 1851.
Le Canadien, a newspaper published in Lower Canada Footnote 1, featured the beaver in its masthead.
The Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste included the beaver in one of its emblems for a time.
The Canadian Pacific Railway company still includes the beaver on its crest today.
Despite this recognition, the beaver was close to extinction by the mid-19th century. There were an estimated six million beavers in Canada before the start of the fur trade. During its peak, 100,000 pelts were being shipped to Europe each year; the Canadian beaver was in danger of being wiped out. Luckily, about that time, Europeans took a liking to silk hats and the demand for beaver pelts all but disappeared.
Today, thanks to conservation and silk hats, the beaver – the largest rodent in Canada – is alive and well all over the country.
LOL!!! Thanks my FRiend. I needed a good laugh!
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