By felling trees and building dams, beavers—endowed with sharp teeth, webbed feet, and rudderlike tails—capture water to expand their aquatic domains. When European colonists arrived in North America, they found a land puddled by as many as 400 million of the rodents (Castor canadensis). An estimated 250 million beaver ponds once interrupted North America's waterways, turning free-flowing creeks into fertile wetlands that supported creatures from salmon to moose.
But the good times didn't last. Beginning in the early 1600s, fur trappers pillaged the continent's streams and shipped millions of pelts to Europe for felting into fashionable hats. Not until the 20th century did conservationists begin to help beavers recover, a task that often required creativity. In 1948, for instance, biologists packed 76 beavers into crates and parachuted them into the Idaho backcountry (all but one survived the drop). These days, as many as 15 million beavers swim North America's waterways, a 150-fold increase from the species' nadir. As the rodents have rebounded, scientists have learned that beaver-built water features help address environmental problems, including drought, pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Says Mary O'Brien, a conservationist in arid southeast Utah, "They're kind of magic."
Happy thanksgiving to all and thanks for the cool article!
Beavers are the most incredible engineers - check out webcams online of their constant building, it is the most adorable thing imaginable!
How did the animals learn so much? great read: Ed Yong, An Immense World: How animal senses reveal the hidden realm around us.
For your pleasure, some inspirational quotes from a famous father about loving his son, about love, and about the world. Have a great holiday season!
John Lennon:
“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.”
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
“If someone thinks that peace and love are just a cliche that must have been left behind in the 60s, that's a problem. Peace and love are eternal.”
“Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns it calls me on and on across the universe.”
“We live in a world where we have to hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight.”
“The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn't the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.”
sharing, heard on sirius beatles channel
a thought for our time
John Lennon knew that love and compassion could heal our world
best wishes for a speedy recovery for Deb, and a happy holiday season to all!
All You Need Is Love, John Lennon and Paul McCartney
...Love, love, love
There's nothing you can do that can't be done
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy
Nothing you can make that can't be made
No one you can save that can't be saved
Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time
It's easy
All you need is love...
There's nothing you can know that isn't known
Nothing you can see that isn't shown
There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be
It's easy
All you need is love...
Sierra Club:
By felling trees and building dams, beavers—endowed with sharp teeth, webbed feet, and rudderlike tails—capture water to expand their aquatic domains. When European colonists arrived in North America, they found a land puddled by as many as 400 million of the rodents (Castor canadensis). An estimated 250 million beaver ponds once interrupted North America's waterways, turning free-flowing creeks into fertile wetlands that supported creatures from salmon to moose.
But the good times didn't last. Beginning in the early 1600s, fur trappers pillaged the continent's streams and shipped millions of pelts to Europe for felting into fashionable hats. Not until the 20th century did conservationists begin to help beavers recover, a task that often required creativity. In 1948, for instance, biologists packed 76 beavers into crates and parachuted them into the Idaho backcountry (all but one survived the drop). These days, as many as 15 million beavers swim North America's waterways, a 150-fold increase from the species' nadir. As the rodents have rebounded, scientists have learned that beaver-built water features help address environmental problems, including drought, pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Says Mary O'Brien, a conservationist in arid southeast Utah, "They're kind of magic."
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2018-4-july-august/feature/beavers-are-ultimate-ecosystem-engineers
[note: putting beaver into the search engine is problematic as I found out :) try google scholar for more polite search results]
Happy thanksgiving to all and thanks for the cool article!
Beavers are the most incredible engineers - check out webcams online of their constant building, it is the most adorable thing imaginable!
How did the animals learn so much? great read: Ed Yong, An Immense World: How animal senses reveal the hidden realm around us.
For your pleasure, some inspirational quotes from a famous father about loving his son, about love, and about the world. Have a great holiday season!
John Lennon:
“Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears.”
“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
“If someone thinks that peace and love are just a cliche that must have been left behind in the 60s, that's a problem. Peace and love are eternal.”
“Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns it calls me on and on across the universe.”
“We live in a world where we have to hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight.”
“The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn't the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.”
“There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all”
― John Lennon, Real Love: The Drawings for Sean
Thank you! I am touched and thankful on all fronts.
Thank you, JF! Have a great family holiday and thanks for entertaining/informing/educating us about all the things in the world! :)
Your skill and sense of purpose, dedication to bettering our world and helping others is really inspiring.
Thanks for starting substack so we can read the pearls of wisdom you choose to share :) It is a lot of fun and hope that you are having fun too!
Best wishes to you and yours for a new world of peace in the New Year
“What barrier is there that love cannot break?”
― Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi: An Autobiography