On my recent trek (which you know as Planet of the Ducks), we also came across some 60 pound rodents. Don’t worry, we weren’t being taken over by giant rats. Nope, we were in beaver territory.
I was floored by how many trees they had taken down. Judging by the forest, beavers must have a pretty spectacular work ethic, if I do say so myself. In fact, if there’s one animal that makes everyone feel guilty about how little they accomplish, it’s the beaver.
Think about it – these guys waltz onto the scene, looking relatively unassuming, bat their big, brown eyes at you and then quietly carry on with their task of taking over the world.
What’s the secret behind nature’s architect? Read on, brave adventurer.
- Beavers have a flap of skin behind their teeth. That doesn’t seem to impressive until you realize that this means they can chew underwater. And here we are wasting time breathing air like suckers.
- Beavers have a built-in kickstand. Also a built-in rudder to help them steer while swimming. One tail, many uses. Score 2 for beavers.
- Four words: Free-running circadian rhythm. You’ve heard people complain about wanting more hours in the day. Well, beavers are too cool to complain. Instead, they do something about it. In the winter, they stop leaving their lodges at sunset and returning at sunrise. By staying in more, they don’t see the sun. This allows them to set their own biological clocks. For beavers, the day actually has 29- hours. Booya.
So, now that you feel completely inferior to a rodent, how’s work going? 
Beavers are so cool – of course, my wife is an Oregon State alum – heh
They are quite industrious. I remember a backcountry coastal road that my friends and I traveled quite a bit, in Oregon’s Coast Range. One year, a family of beavers moved in and turned one section of the road into a pond! Not just a little pond, either.
Hah! I’ve always thought that if we could hire beavers to do our construction work, we’d have far less hold-ups, breakdowns and delays! Efficient little buggers, that’s for sure.
Ha! I went to grad school at U of Oregon, so I have to show preference to the duck post
(sorry, Roy!)
I think about what the US, especially the Eastern US, would have looked like if beavers hadn’t been almost eradicated. They sure do dominate a landscape.
Hi Jess,
As “lakeside” dwellers ourselves we have first-hand knowledge of just how industrious these critters can be!In fact our property shoreline is minus four or five trees over the past couple years from their forestry projects!It seems that our dog has decided that they are most welcome here (strange dog) and he no longer even alerts us to their presence… they just have free reign to do as they please and harvest whatever they need. (I think they are paying him off somehow!)
Have a great day!
Judy