Mastodawn

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 28, 2025

Good Morning #Canada
Finally... the moment you have been waiting for. It's Day #1 of #BeaverWeek. Who knows what fascinating facts of Castor Canadensis we will discover together this week. Our Beavers fought back from near extinction because their fur made awesome hats to become an increasingly important mammal restoring water conservation in an era of global warming. The odd double entendre, totally unintentional, of course, might slip into the conversation.
The best place to start is with this highly interesting Canadian Geographic article that provides some history and habitat info on our beloved Beaver.

#CanadaIsAwesome #ClimateChange
https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/rethinking-the-beaver/

Rethinking the beaver

Has there ever been a national symbol more loathed or misunderstood? Has there ever been a more important time for the beaver to flourish?

Canadian Geographic

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 28, 2025

Don't mess with a Canadian and his Beaver...

#BeaverWeek #ElbowsUp
https://youtu.be/bpj1zgyfScM?si=9xbshIPVVGAeMyh4

Molson Canadian - I Am Canadian - Beaver Attack! -Commercial

YouTube

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 28, 2025

#BeaverWeek #Factoid

Beavers are monogamous, forming lifelong pair bonds. Their offspring will typically live with their parents for two or three years before going off to start their own colony. Remember, once you find a Beaver you like, you should hang onto it.

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 28, 2025

#BeaverWeek #Factoid

European beavers are, on average, slightly larger and heavier than North American beavers, although both species have significant size variation within their populations. While North American beavers (Castor canadensis) typically weigh between 16 and 32 kg (35 and 70 pounds), Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) can weigh between 18 and 38 kg (40 and 84 pounds). Not judging...

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 29, 2025

Good Morning #Canada
March 1975, the Beaver is officially designated as a National Symbol of Canada, meaning #BeaverWeek is helping us celebrate 50 years of celebrity status for the tail slapping mammals. The National Symbol of Canada Act came about because in January of 1975, a New York Senator proposed making the Beaver an official state animal. Canadians, who loved Beavers more than Americans, moved quickly. The youngest MP in history, 23 year old Sean O’Sullivan, introduced a private member's bill to counter the American attempt to grab our Beaver. O'Sullivan should be immortalized on the $5 bill.

#CanadaIsAwesome
https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/the-dam-the-myth-the-legend-50-years-of-the-beaver/

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 29, 2025

#BeaverWeek #GOAT

https://youtu.be/knobmUd-r5E?si=p0JhRaTy-RfAaa17

How I Met Your Mother - Beaver Hand Puppets | FOX Home Entertainment

YouTube

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 29, 2025

#BeaverWeek #Factoid

To waterproof themselves, Beavers rub castor oil, produced from a gland near their tail, through their fur using their split toenail (their grooming claw).

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved

#BeaverWeek #Factoid

A Beaver can cut down a 5” thick tree in about three minutes and, on average, will cut down more than 200 trees a year.

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 30, 2025

Good Morning #Canada
The Beaver is the only mammal, besides humans, that is able to re-engineer their environment to support their lifestyle. Humans can use this Beaver superpower for good, rebuilding #Watersheds and increasing storage of water to combat drought and wildfires. Provinces are reintroduc8ng Beavers to their historical habitats, and even moving pairs of Beavers to desert regions in the U.S. to totally transform landscapes.

#CanadaIsAwesome #BeaverWeek #Engineering
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/nuisance-beavers-relocated-1.7268057

'Nuisance' beavers relocated, put to work in dried-up watershed in B.C. Interior | CBC News

The beavers were residing on two farms near Merritt, B.C., doing what beavers do: eating trees, diverting water, and causing floods.

CBC

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 30, 2025

A good video showcasing the Beaver's ability to transform a desert landscape. I also love the thumbnail showing a stampede of Beavers being released onto a field.

https://youtu.be/z-hHQVsK1WE?si=5JLjfWFn9j0RFMR3

They Released Thousands of Beavers Into America's Desert... What Happened Next Shocked Experts

YouTube

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 30, 2025

#BeaverWeek #Factoid

Beaver teeth are unique due to their iron-rich orange enamel, which makes them exceptionally strong and resistant to wear. These teeth continuously grow throughout the beaver's life, requiring constant chewing to maintain a manageable size and sharpness. The iron content in the enamel is what gives them their distinctive orange color and provides added strength.

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 30, 2025

https://youtu.be/Y09YOkVmGg0?si=M0NiQwOglxymmKu3

funny Molson Canadian beer commercial 'Chasing Beaver'

Funny Molson Canadian beer commercial 'Chasing Beaver'

YouTube

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 31, 2025

Good Morning #Canada
Conservationists who focus on restoration of wetlands are increasingly "Leaving It To Beaver." Beavers are considered the ultimate Keystone Species because they area they re-engineer offer benefits to many other species, and an entire ecosystem can collapse if a Beaver is removed. A Beaver dam doesn't just hold and conserve water. Beavers increase the population of frogs, fish, insects, birds, and small mammals and extend the range of larger mammals like moose, deer, and bears. The quantity and variety of vegetation are increased. Water is filtered and saturates the land, refilling artesian wells. It's unbelievable that we almost lost this amazing creature because of a hat fashion trend.

#CanadaIsAwesome #BeaverWeek
https://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2021/01/01/leave-it-to-beavers-keystone-species-provides-nature-based-restoration/

Leave It to Beavers: Keystone Species Provides Nature-based Restoration

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 31, 2025

BTW - The BeaverCon mentioned in that article does not refer to the traveling "convention dedicated to fostering connection, fun, and empowerment among female board gamers." I'm not making that up.

The more serious and scientific BeaverCon is a biennial meeting of wildlife and water conservation experts that hold workshops to demonstrate the power of Beavers.

https://www.beaverinstitute.org/professional-info/beavercon/

Beaver Institute | BeaverCON 2026

Beaver Institute

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Jul 31, 2025

#BeaverWeek #Factoid

A Beaver's tail is flat, leathery, and sparsely haired. Beavers use it as a rudder for steering while swimming and as a prop to balance when standing or sitting on land. They will slap their tail on the water's surface to warn other Beavers of danger. Beavers store fat in their tails, especially before winter, to help them survive periods with limited food.

A Beavertail is also a famous Canadian pastry that was introduced in the winter of 1978 to skaters on the Rideau Canal. It's a great way to eat Beaver without harming any animals.

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Aug 1, 2025

Good Morning #Canada
We should thank Prince Albert for helping to save the Beaver. His choice of wearing a silk tophat in the mid 1800s has been cited as one of the reasons fashion moved away from Beaver hats and thereby saved them after almost 3 centuries of trapping. And silk hats were easier and cheaper to make. Whatever the reasons fashion almost made the Beaver extinct, first in Europe and then in North America. When fashion trends shifted, the Beaver was saved.

#CanadaIsAwesome #BeaverWeek #MadHatter
https://digital.library.mcgill.ca/nwc/history/01.htm

History - Beaver and other pelts

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Aug 1, 2025

#BeaverWeek #Factoid

https://youtu.be/zpzICsQdldk?si=61xnJNCZ78dYMuD9

Canadian Beaver

YouTube

Innocuous In Innisfil Has Moved Aug 2, 2025

Good Morning #Canada
Capitalism certainly doesn't waste an opportunity, and as entrepreneurs were trying to make Beavers extinct, they made use of every part, including the Beaver's secretions. Castoreum is a yellowish exudate from the castor sacs of mature Beavers used in combination with urine to scent mark their territory. Butt for centuries Beaver Castor Oil was used to flavour food, make perfumes more interesting, and cure every ailment known to the human race. Rumors persist about its use in many products, but it's rarely used today. I will not make a tasteless, smelly Beaver joke this morning.... you're welcome.

#CanadaIsAwesome #BeaverWeek #Eewww
https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-history-of-flavoring-food-with-beaver-butt-juice/

A History of Flavoring Food With Beaver Butt Juice

No, castoreum is not a cheap substitute for strawberries; it’s luxe, artisanal secretions from a beaver's rear end.

VICE

DB Schwein Jul 31, 2025

Hee, somehow I don't think the beavers caused orangutans to move into Arizona, but other than that!

So very cool.