WEBVTT - Beavers: Tail Slapping Fun 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:03.400 Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of My 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:12.680 Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. 0:00:12.720 --> 0:00:15.640 I'm Josh Clark, and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryan over there, 0:00:15.720 --> 0:00:18.840 and there's Jerry somewhere, and it says stuff you should Know, 0:00:19.960 --> 0:00:26.000 the Orange Incisors Edition. I thought you're gonna make a 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:30.400 bad naked gun joke. No, No, it did run through 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:32.440 my head over and over and over and over and 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:35.000 over and over and over again. Though. It's hard though 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:40.520 when you're at our age. Yeah, and you saw those movies. Yeah, 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:43.360 dumb joke though, Uh yeah, well, I mean it's a 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:47.479 naked gun joke for pizza. Come on. So this kind 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:49.120 of ties in I think a little bit with our 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:54.960 porcupine episode. Uh and that beavers are you know, they're 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:57.440 porcupine esk in some ways. I think it ties in 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:00.400 even more to our Wetlands episode, which gave to the 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:04.240 idea for this episode. You know, yeah, absolutely, I mean 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.080 I'm pretty excited about this one. I think beavers are 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:12.000 about as great as it gets because they're so studious, 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:15.679 and they also bend the world to their will. They 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:18.120 shape things the way that they want them, and I 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:22.160 like that about them. Yeah, and I also love their 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:26.680 familial aspects. Yeah, which we'll we'll get to all this stuff. 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:29.600 But what we're talking about is is the largest rodent 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:34.400 in North America, which really demeans them, I guess. But yes, 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.520 rodents such a it's not a bad word. There's so 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:44.080 many great rodents who beavers, porcupines, squirrels. I know you 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:46.480 have a thing with squirrels, but well, I know I 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:49.440 like squirrels now, Momo and I uh and it knew 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:52.840 me sometimes comes with us to chase squirrels across the 0:01:52.880 --> 0:01:56.520 street in the park um and feed them peanuts. We 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:58.440 give them peanuts is like to kind of buy them 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:01.520 off after Mo chases them up at but the squirrels 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:05.160 across the way will actually come to you and eat 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:08.280 peanuts out of your hand. So I'm I'm kind of 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:13.280 on squirrels now. Momo loves squirrels, chipmunks, mice, chipmunks too. Yeah. 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:17.200 Rodents are okay, Chuck. I think there are fewer terrible rodents, 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:19.720 and the only ones I can think of that are 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:25.760 terrible are those uh scary New York City sewer rats. Yeah, okay, 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:30.000 so rodents are all right up with rodents rabbits, and 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:35.360 I don't think they're rodents. They are he like a hamster, Sure, hamsters. 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:37.520 I don't know if rabbits are rodents. Are they It 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:39.840 makes sense that they would be. But it's what rodent 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:42.760 dot com says. Okay, well, who am I going to 0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:45.720 disagree with that? But we're not talking about rabbits. We're 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.880 not talking about sewer rats. We're talking about beavers. And again, 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:53.280 beavers are amazing, amazing animals, and like you said, you know, 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:56.200 it's kind of related to porcupines and that there's um 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:59.080 what you could call Old World and New World beavers, 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:02.480 but there's really just two species and one is found 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:05.000 in North America and one is found in Eurasia. And 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:08.920 it's easy, peasy, no fuss, no must these are the 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.839 beavers that are alive on the planet. Yeah, so we've 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:17.400 got the American beaver. They weigh between fifteen and sixty 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:21.799 five pounds, which is very large. Uh. If if you've 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:25.200 ever seen a large beaver in the wild, it's um, 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:27.560 it's not scary because you know, and we'll get to 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.520 whether or not they're they're dangerous, they're really not. Um 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:33.000 but it's it's such a large thing that you're like, wow, 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:35.560 they're bigger than I thought. Usually has has run through 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:37.200 my head when I see a beaver. Yeah, I mean 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:40.400 sixty or thirty No, yeah, sixty five pounds is about 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.680 thirty ms. It's a big beaver. It is a big beaver. 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:46.480 And I had to convert to kilograms for at least 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:50.360 our friends in Canada because beavers their national emblem. They 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:53.600 have beaver on their nickel, which is amazing. Like this 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:55.760 just makes me love Canada all the much more, you know. 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.040 So for that sixty pounds, you're gonna be uh a 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:05.560 couple of feet long long. Um, that's without the tail. 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.080 You don't count the tail when you're measuring a beaver. Uh, 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:09.960 the tail will talk a little bit more about it. 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:13.960 But there anywhere from seven to twelve benches. If you're Eurasian, 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:17.120 you're about the same size. Mate. You can be a 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:21.080 little bit smaller bigger, Well, you can be a little 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:24.920 smaller on the I think the range is bigger. So 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:27.400 you can be down in the twenties poundage wise, but 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:31.360 up to the seventies poundage wise. Uh, and you you're 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.400 probably a little bit longer, and your skull and your 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:37.440 tail are going to be narrower, or your tails narrower 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:41.960 and your skull is smaller. So um, yeah, but that 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:44.600 tail is what everybody understands when they see a beaver. 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.559 Just like with a porcupine and its coils, a beaver 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:51.719 in its tail is they're just synonymous. Everybody recognizes a 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.320 beaver because of his tail, and also the tails helped 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:56.800 make it cute. Even though if you zoomed in and 0:04:56.839 --> 0:04:58.520 took a really close look at the tail, you'd be 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:03.200 like gross. You think, yeah, it's scaly, it's got sparse, 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:06.800 coarse hair associated with it. It looks like a black 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.960 jack that some old timey like roughs would beat you 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:13.080 up with. Um, And yet it's one of the most 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.120 amazing appendages any animal has as far. It's like a 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:20.600 Swiss army knife foot for tails. Yeah, they're very useful 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:23.960 in a lot of ways. They obviously if if they're swimming, 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:27.960 and beaver's, by the way, you can swim five to 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:31.200 seven miles an hour. They have a little web feet 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:33.800 they have they can close their ear holes and their 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.600 nose holes, and they can roll their film over their 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:40.960 eyeballs nictitating membrane. Yeah, it's amazing. Um. So if they're 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:44.080 going to be swimming, then that tail is gonna be 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:49.279 acting as a rudder um and as a propeller um. 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:51.839 It's also if they're on land, it's gonna act as 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.760 a little kickstand at times. Yeah, when they stand up 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:57.320 on their back legs, they use their tail to kind 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:00.640 of lean against short balance. It's a big one for sure. 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:03.479 They also, and this is a sure sign that you 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.320 have frightened slash upset a beaver. Um. They will slap 0:06:07.360 --> 0:06:10.680 the water with their tail in part to frighten you away, 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:14.080 to say like, don't mess with me, um, but also 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:17.159 to warn other beavers because um, like you were saying, 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:21.120 they're familial, they are actually fairly social animals and they 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:24.440 live in family units, so they would want to warn, like, 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:29.000 you know, the wife and the kids back at the lodge. Yeah. 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:31.360 And here's the thing. I spent a lot of time 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:34.520 at a lake here in Georgia, and I have heard 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:38.919 something which I thought was a beaver tail smash, but 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.599 I'm not sure because I didn't see it. I have 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:46.240 seen evidence of beaver eating tree stuff. Oh yeah, yeah, 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:48.880 and which we'll get to. And one day when I 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:52.279 was in the lake, I saw a mammal's head coming 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:55.200 toward me, and I don't know if it was We 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:56.919 also have river otter, so I don't know if it 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:59.800 was an otter or a beaver um, but either way 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:02.680 it was, it was a large head. And even though 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:05.080 I know that they weren't gonna come after me, when 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:08.800 that thing pops under the water, You're just like, where 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.800 where's he going, what's he doing? Where is he? Is 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:13.720 he coming at me or not? Were you swimming in 0:07:13.760 --> 0:07:15.640 the lake at the time. Yeah, I'll swimming in the 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:17.880 lake and I saw this large mammal had, you know, 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.120 dumped under and if it was, I'm not sure how 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:23.640 long beavers can hold their Fodders can hold their breasths, 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:27.280 but beavers can hold their breath for about fifteen minutes, 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:30.640 which is pretty remarkable. I thought. I think it's remarkable too. 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:32.640 I mean, it really just goes to show like just 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:35.800 how adapted they are for life in the water. And 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:38.400 they are mammals, so they have long so they need 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.160 to breathe air outside of the water. But yeah, the 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:43.480 fact that they can hold their breath for fifteen minutes, 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:46.360 that they have nictitating membranes that cover their eyes like 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:50.520 little goggles so they can see and work underwater. UM. 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:53.400 They spend a significant amount of their time underwater. In fact, 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:56.200 they're most protected in water. That's where they can move 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.040 the fastest. They can swim pretty fast, way faster than 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:02.560 they can waddle land. UM, and a lot of their 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:07.280 predators won't necessarily come into, especially deep water after them. 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:09.840 So when they're in the water, they're at there, they're 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:13.120 they're they're in their happy place most And imagine when 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:17.960 they dive for fifteen minutes and are swimming around, Uh, 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:21.200 what do you think those fish think, Oh, here comes 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:23.720 of beaver. I mean did they did they know? Or 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:26.040 they just like, what in the world is that big 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:30.840 hairy thing? Um? I would guess that they I would 0:08:30.960 --> 0:08:32.679 like to think they know. I like to think of 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:36.439 communities of animals or ecosystems just they know each other. Yea, 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:39.040 they know each other, they know each other's foibles. They've 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:43.120 come to accept one another. You know, they have their things, 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:45.920 they always kind of you know, they in the end 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:48.800 that when somebody, you know, like a human comes in 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:51.280 and tries to screw things up, they'll all band together 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.120 and you know, raise money for the community center so 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:57.960 that the developer can't buy it. So if you are 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.640 North American, be where you can live pretty much anywhere 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:06.719 in North America except for the desert. Because you want 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.679 water around, um, you're probably gonna be near pond or 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:14.360 lake or marsh or swamp or river. Um. Your Eurasian beavers, 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:16.920 I used to live all over Europe and Asia, but 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:21.200 they were hunted, over hunted because at one point in time, 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:25.520 wearing beaver pelts and beaver hats was like really high fashion. 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:31.040 So now they're only found in Germany, France, Poland, Scandinavia, 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:34.240 Southern Scandinavia, and Central Russia. Yeah, and a lot of 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:38.079 those are because they were reintroduced to the areas, Like 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:41.320 I believe Germany had to have their population reintroduced because 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:44.400 they were hunted to extinction. And how many beavers used 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:46.840 to be here, like four hundred million. That's the estimate, 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:51.360 is that in North America prior to Colombian contact that 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:54.800 they were there were about four hundred million beavers and 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:58.480 they were hunted down to near extinction within the hundreds 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:01.480 of thousands from what I saw. UM. And we're luckily 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:04.199 held back from the brink. And when I say luckily, 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:06.000 I don't just mean for the beavers, but I mean 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:10.600 for the planet as far as North America is concerned. 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:13.600 Because one of the things that we are still learning 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:16.800 but have come to realize, is that the beavers are 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:23.800 probably the most useful species on the planet. Um, because 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:27.319 they're one of the few species that alters their environment 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:30.560 as radically as they do. Yeah, what are they called? 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:35.199 They are a keystone species, stone species because when they 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:39.040 are present, biodiversity thrived, and when beavers are removed from 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:43.640 an area, biodiversity suffers. The presence of beavers makes life 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:49.199 better and richer for entirely other animals and species, just 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.480 because of what they do and how they do it. 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:54.480 All Right, that's a great place to take a break, 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.320 And I say, when we come back, we talk about 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.840 the two fundamental full crown on which beaver life is based, 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:23.160 the dam and the lodge. Okay, stop stop, stop stop, 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:30.680 all right, we're back. And there are a couple of things. 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:33.400 You know you've heard busy as a beaver. Uh, it's 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:35.680 it's I don't know if that's proven, but I think 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:39.320 it is almost universally agreed that that phrase came about 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:43.160 because beavers are in fact very busy and they work, work, 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:47.680 work all day long, building their homes and building dams. 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:52.200 Their homes are called lodges. And you've probably seen, if 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:54.480 you've ever been hiking and stuff in America, you've probably 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.880 seen a beaver lodge by a river or lake. It's 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:01.319 a little little dome out of sticks and grasses and 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:04.760 moss and mud. Maybe you thought a local which had 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:07.880 built it. Yeah, it does look like a little Uh 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:10.920 what do you call Which's houses? Which is house? I 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:13.520 think there's a cottage. Oh sure, I think there's a 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:16.240 different name. But which is house? Was a name for this? 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:18.800 I thought so? No, I don't know, I don't know. 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:22.000 I think so which house? I'm maybe I'm thinking of 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:26.720 Covin's house the Day which, No, there's a word. We 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:28.640 just I just watched the Which the movie again. I 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:30.400 think there's a word for it. Man, I love that. 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.080 That might be my favorite movie. We did a movie 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:34.560 Crush Round Table on that. By the way, it was 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:36.319 really good. It is a gooding. That's the guy who 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:40.360 did the Lighthouse, isn't it YEA God? Bless that? Man. 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.840 I can't wait to see his spiking movie too. Oh, man, 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:48.800 I can't imagine. Uh So the beaver lodge is um, 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:51.920 you know, about eight ft wide, a few feet high. 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.640 They're on the banks of these ponds are on lake shores. Uh. 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:58.440 They have this is one of my favorite parts. Many 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:01.199 of them have a little underwater backed or so it's 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:04.480 like sort of a ski in chalet if you're snow skiing. Yeah, 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:06.719 which makes sense because again, they spend so much time 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:10.120 in the water, but also protects them from terrestrial predators 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:12.559 because they can get into the water and escape when 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:16.320 a predators like at their door. Yeah. And uh, you 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:18.600 know this is their nocturnal they don't hibernate, but most 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:21.840 of this action is going on at night. Um, and 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:25.240 everyone pitches in the whole family. I don't think we 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:28.200 said yet. They live with their children until they're about 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.080 too And in a beaver lodge you might find a 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.120 mom and a dad who are monogamous mates for life, 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.720 and they might have their three two year old almost 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:40.160 two year old children, and then they might have their 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:43.840 little grand babies. Yeah, because when they have their their babies, 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:46.680 which are called kits, which admittedly is not as cute 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:51.199 award as porcupets, but they're cute. But dude, just baby 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:53.880 press pause right now. Everybody and go look up some 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:59.080 baby beaver pictures, little tails. They're cute, so they have 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:01.679 baby beavers in One of the reasons why they're so 0:14:01.720 --> 0:14:04.760 cute is because they stick around for so long, or 0:14:04.920 --> 0:14:07.120 they they stick around so long because they're so cute, 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.400 that's what I mean to say. Um, But they do. 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.040 They stay as part of the family unit and help 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:16.800 like work on the family lodge and dam um until 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:18.840 about two when they wander off, and then at three 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:20.840 they start to mate. But they build their own lodge 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:23.440 at age two, and from what I've read, it's usually 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:27.080 very clumsy. It's not in the best place necessarily, and 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:29.200 so they kind of learned as they go. But they 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:32.680 also learned from their family unit first, which I think 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:36.280 is super cute. It is um, I think we should 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.920 talk about damn though. I Mean, the lodges are are 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.480 cool and it's a great place to live if you're 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:45.600 a beaver, But the dams is where they really uh 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:49.480 that's where they get their their shining moment as a species. 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.200 That really helps out the environment because they help create 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:54.960 these wetlands, don't they. Yeah, So, so a beaver will 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:58.280 move into an area that's dry as a bone um 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:03.080 that's maybe crop land, that's maybe timberland. Um that is 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:06.000 not at all flooded. There's no pond or wetland or 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:08.280 anything like that. And they say, this can be better. 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:11.080 And so they find like a source of moving water 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:15.240 like a stream or um a brook, maybe a creek, 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:19.680 maybe a creek something like that, and they stop it up. 0:15:20.000 --> 0:15:23.760 They they build a dam and they build this damp 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.120 so that the water backs up behind it and floods 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:30.320 this area and turns it into a wetland. And they 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:34.240 do this not to irk humans or just for fun. 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:38.320 They do it because they're altering the ecosystem to better 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:43.240 suit themselves. Like I said, they survive much better when 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:46.240 they're in the water, They move faster, they can work faster. 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:51.600 So they actually make this ecosystem into an aquatic ecosystem 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:54.800 where before there wasn't an aquatic ecosystem. And they do 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:57.760 it all by by building this dam. And the way 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:01.600 that they build dams is magnificent in and itself. Yeah, 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:05.440 so you know you've got your damn basse the foundation 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:10.160 basically where uh you're gonna use mud and gravel that 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.120 you get from the stream, and you kind of work 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:14.280 together as a family and with your tail, and they're 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:16.760 pushing I say, we were beavers all of a sudden, 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:20.280 and you're pushing this mud and gravel up from the 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:23.600 bottom of the stream. And if let's say it's a 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:25.680 place where the creek is running a little bit too 0:16:25.720 --> 0:16:29.160 fast and there's too much flow, uh, they're gonna say, 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:31.240 you know what, We're gonna take these sticks. We're gonna 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:35.720 pile uh, these things up all along the bottom until 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:40.200 basically it's like it's like building from the ground up 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:42.880 until they're strong enough to to stay in place. Right. 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.040 But they're so good at using their hands, and they're 0:16:45.120 --> 0:16:48.000 so strong. You said, you know, sixties sixty five pounds 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:52.720 are about thirty. They're mostly muscle too. They're really strong 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:56.760 little little rodents, especially for being like herbivores. You know, 0:16:56.840 --> 0:17:00.840 they're like those vegan body builders. Um, they can take 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:04.560 they'll take sticks and like plant them in the bottom 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:08.320 of this stream or whatever and start forming a lattice 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:11.359 work that they we've in between and fill up with 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:16.480 mud to really stop up some you know, fast moving current. Um. 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:19.600 That that that like, that's the level of manipulation that 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:23.280 they're they're doing. They're they're building a dam that they eventually, 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:27.880 um successfully back up the flow of water from yeah, 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:30.560 which is I've tried to do that before and it's 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:34.160 hard to do. Um My buddy Scotty and I who 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:37.119 you know, we went camping once in California and it 0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:39.800 was when I was young and in the film industry, 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:42.040 so there's a lot of time between jobs, and we 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:44.600 just decided to stay and keep staying, and I think 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:46.760 we ended up staying for like eleven or twelve days, 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:50.919 and uh, we wanted to build a waterfall next to 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:54.000 our campsite, so it sounded better. So we spent days 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.040 and days with sticks and big rocks and trying to 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:00.399 reroute and change the river. And it was some of 0:18:00.440 --> 0:18:04.120 the hardest work I've ever done. Imagine doing that at 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:08.760 like forty eight inches long and only sixty pounds. So 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:11.040 they're they're not only building this thing up, they got 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:14.080 their little kits and their children helping, like bringing up 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:19.080 sticks and mud, saying paw mas is okay, and they say, yeah, 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:22.920 added to the pile. And then once they're done, they 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:27.120 they're like there's a periodic like inspections that go on 0:18:27.600 --> 0:18:29.639 because they got to make sure that it stays strong 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:32.600 because that current just keeps going and it's very easy 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:34.680 to wiggle the right stick loose and all of a 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:37.880 sudden it starts crumbling down. So they basically inspect these 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:40.879 things every so often and check it for leaks and 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:43.120 bring in mud and patch it up just like it's 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:46.040 like a human might do. Oh, I saw that they 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:48.760 do daily maintenance on it. That um. One way to 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:51.240 tell whether beavers are in the area is to to 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:54.840 find their damn, make it like a little minor hole 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.120 in it, and then go back and look the next day, 0:18:57.119 --> 0:18:59.400 and if it's patched up, the beavers are around there 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:02.200 like and and giving you the middle finger right exactly 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:04.879 like okay, yeah we're here, you've figured it out, Please 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:08.040 leave our damn alone. But yeah, these things are like 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:11.280 water tight for the most part, or they they allow 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:13.639 very little water through, or I guess from what I 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.040 can tell, as much water as the beaver wants through. 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:21.280 Like they're very willfully deliberately constructed structures that will turn 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:26.200 a dry area into a wetland. And when that happens. 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:27.879 One of the things that they used to build this 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.399 stuff with their trees around the area, and they can 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:35.240 they use their teeth. Those really really sharp, strong teeth 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.959 that I said are like kind of orange ish at 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:41.560 the very beginning of the episode, and they're very they're 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:44.240 orange because they have so much iron in them, which 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:48.239 actually gives them that much more strength. Yeah, they're up 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:53.920 to an inch long. They're super strong. They they actually 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:56.840 sharpen as they gnaw on trees, so it's not like 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:00.199 it'll dull their teeth out. It actually sharpens them. And 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:02.359 the other thing they're doing is they're eating that tree. 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:05.720 They're one of the few mammals that are maybe the 0:20:05.720 --> 0:20:10.840 only mammal that can actually digest cellulose. Well, porcupines can too, remember, yeah, 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:13.480 they can. They can digest cellulus because they probably have 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:16.880 a very similar kind of bacteria that helps helps digest 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:19.560 it for them. But they digest a lot of the 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:21.800 cellulus that they eat, and it's really hard to break 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:24.800 down normally for mammals though. Yeah, but like you know, 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.960 you said, they're essentially creating these wetlands, they're preventing erosion. Uh, 0:20:29.000 --> 0:20:31.600 they are helping to purify the water. Oh, let's let's 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:34.240 talk about what the dams can do. Okay, Chuck. I 0:20:34.240 --> 0:20:38.000 mean it's amazing there. It's it's like a little environmental 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:42.480 coalition that goes into the woods to make things better. Yeah. 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:44.760 So I think in the Wetlands episode, I said something 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:48.320 like like a beaver creates the equivalent of some like 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:52.479 a five million dollar wastewater treatment plan or something like that. 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:55.040 I could not find that again to save my life, 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:58.360 but I think that was roughly it. Um They they 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:02.160 create this this strung sure that creates the artificial wetland, 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:04.480 and in doing so, it filters the water because it 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:06.800 slows the water down so much that the stuff can 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:10.919 trickle down to the bottom. It turns a normal terrestrial 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:13.760 piece of land into a wetland, so aquatic plants come. 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:16.639 And they've also found out that not only does it 0:21:16.720 --> 0:21:20.280 filter water of like sediment and particles, it also is 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:25.200 capable of handling farm runoff fertilizer, which is really pernicious 0:21:25.240 --> 0:21:27.800 because you know, when all that fertilizer makes its way 0:21:27.840 --> 0:21:32.240 into two watersheds and wetlands, it creates algae blooms which 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:34.520 suck up all the oxygen and kill off a bunch 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:37.520 of fish, right, which is a big problem. They figured 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:42.840 out that beaver dams actually work against that by by 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:47.760 um fixing nitrogen excess nitrogen from fertilizer. It prevents it 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:51.000 from flowing. Bacteria chomps down on it and releases it 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:53.760 as nitrogen gas into the atmosphere, and the stuff the 0:21:53.760 --> 0:21:57.040 bacteria doesn't eat floats down to the bottom gets eaten 0:21:57.119 --> 0:22:01.159 up by aquatic plants, which when they die, lock it 0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:04.639 into the sediment. So this this farm runoff that's a 0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:08.320 huge problem as it stands, is actually mitigated by beaver 0:22:08.440 --> 0:22:12.120 damps they've recently found out. Yeah, and talk about just 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:16.880 what kind of um impact it has on who lives there. 0:22:17.359 --> 0:22:21.720 I mean, it's basically like an invitation to nature that says, hey, 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:24.520 we got a good scene going over here. If you're 0:22:24.600 --> 0:22:26.640 an invertebrate that doesn't feel like they have a home, 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:30.200 you're welcome here. Um. If you're a new species of 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:33.160 bird that didn't think that you would flourish here, time 0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:37.720 to change that attitude. If you're a duck or a goose, 0:22:38.359 --> 0:22:40.399 you can nest on top of our lodge because our 0:22:40.440 --> 0:22:43.560 lodge is super warm because it's full of beavers, and 0:22:43.640 --> 0:22:45.439