Consider the Beaver

They are incessant workers. In northern Alberta, a beaver dam more than half a mile long has been found. Several generations of beavers have worked on that project for more than 40 years (“World’s largest beaver dam 40 years in the making.” The Star, May 7, 2010).

Beavers are well designed for their role. They have teeth that never stop growing, bodies perfectly made for swimming, eyes with built-in swimming goggles and the ability to stay submerged for 15 minutes. They are built to lift many times their own weight, pulling heavy logs to the water. They could not have been better engineered for their job.

The sound of running water motivates them, indicating a threat to their lodge. Since a beaver lodge must be in water deep enough to permit entry below the ice in winter, any flowing water must be stopped. In one case, a tape recorder playing the sound of running water was left in an area populated by beavers. Within hours, the device was “dammed”—buried in mud!

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