So I got lots of writing done today, but most of it was for a fantasy novel that’s not going to be available for at least a year (though maybe some stuff sooner for patrons?). Long story short, I’m wiped, so I’m going to lean on Ze Frank again, to continue my ongoing campaign for a human-beaver partnership.
There are a couple of things in that video I never knew, including the fact that beavers apparently build dams because one of their common ancestors hated a very particular kind of noise made by flowing water, to the point where the entire species seems to structure its life around putting sticks on the noisy water to make it stop.
A small pond sits about a foot above the adjacent lake. The two are joined by a small stream about ten feet long. One day I found a small dam on the stream at the pond outlet. Unfortunately it raised the pond water level enough to overflow at another point and flood the path between pond and lake. I assumed kids had made the dam and took it out. Two days later the dam was back and a little bigger. I removed it again and contemplated leaving a note for the humans to stop doing this.
The next day a found a huge wall of mud blocking the stream outlet and realized who I was up against. This is all in a large urban park. The beavers come out at night and are so acclimated to city lights that they are not disturbed when I shine a flashlight on them.
Those aren’t beavers, they’re platypuses walking backwards.
@xohjoh2n – o shit you’re right!
@Rebecca – thanks for the story! Do you think the city will let them stay?