1 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Creature Future production of I Heart Radio. I'm 2 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: your host of Many Parasites, Katie Golden. I studied psychology 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: and evolutionary biology, and today on the show, Beavers. That's it, 4 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: That's what we're talking about. Just beavers, straight up beavers, 5 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 1: whole time, A hundred percent beavers a hundred percent of 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: the time. Present Beavers, Beavers Part one, Beavers, Part two, Beavers, 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 1: Part three, More Beavers. It's all about beavers, our favorite 8 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:36,239 Speaker 1: architect of the world. We're going to discover that not 9 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: only are they incredible animals just how they are constructed, 10 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: but how they construct the world around them and shape 11 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: the ecology and the environment, and they have had a 12 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:51,919 Speaker 1: surprisingly large impact on human history. Discover this more as 13 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: we answer the age old question will God get mad 14 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: at you for eating beaver tails? Joining me today is 15 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: writer for American Dad and co host of Quick Question 16 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: with Thorn and Daniel Sore and Booie. Welcome, Hello, Hello, Katie. 17 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: Thank you for having me. The way that you were 18 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: describing this episode, it made me feel like I was 19 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: walking down the street in nineties seventies New York and 20 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: just all these smut stores around me that are just 21 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 1: like beavers Part one. Beavers, Beavers everywhere, Beavers all the time. 22 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: That must have been what it was seven all beavers, 23 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: no questions, asked, Well, I'm talking about beavers because you 24 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: requested it. You asked for beavers. Yeah, I did. This 25 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: is uh, this is like I got I don't know 26 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: when it happened, but at some point my eyes were 27 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: open to the beaver and I was like, this is 28 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: the most important species in North America. I wouldn't and 29 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: I wanted to talk about it, and I had no 30 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: opportunity because no one wants to hear about beavers outside 31 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: of like these very specific circumstances. So I jumped at 32 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: the opportunity. When you gave me, you gave me an 33 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: animal to choose. Yes, this is the place for it. Yeah, 34 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: beavers are surprisingly important, and I think that they're maybe 35 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: like I don't know if goofy would be the right 36 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: word for it, but they're just very affable looking. They 37 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,639 Speaker 1: don't look like, you know, it's not like a jaguire 38 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: or a lion where you're like, oh, yeah, that's a 39 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: keystone species right there. But here they are sitting with 40 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: their little paddle tails and buck teeth nibbling on some twigs, 41 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: and you're like, you're just a beaver, what's the big deal? 42 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: They wait, they walk is very funny. They kind of 43 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: lumber around and they did their tails too heavy to 44 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: even pick up. They got to drag it when they swim. 45 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: They're kind of silly looking because they only swim with 46 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: their back legs. They're real fun. There's nothing elegant about 47 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: a beaver. They're kind of scary. Have you ever seen 48 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: one in person? No? I haven't. I've seen one. I 49 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: used to work on golf courses when I was younger, 50 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: and golf courses are like, well, beavers are the bane 51 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: of a golf course because they can flood areas of it, 52 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: and also they build a lot of the golf courses 53 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: in like these low lands, these like the low flat 54 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,360 Speaker 1: areas at the beginning of the bottom of like glacier ruins. 55 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: But um, they they are huge, like they're much bigger 56 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: than you expect, and they're terrifying looking because their teeth 57 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: are like this bright bright orange. Yeah. Yeah, they are 58 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: not the cartoon beaver with the chubby cheeks in the 59 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,919 Speaker 1: bright white teeth who looks small and cuddly. They're huge 60 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 1: they are hefty, and they have bright orange, sharp chisel 61 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: like teeth, which are as terrifying as they sound. To 62 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: be frank, like, you were right to be afraid of 63 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: the beavers. Don't let anyone shame you for being afraid 64 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,839 Speaker 1: of a beaver. There's been at least one fatality from 65 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: a beaver. A beaver, I believe, bit a man so 66 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: deep it severed his femoral artery and he died. Oh 67 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: my god, I think you're gonna tell me that a 68 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: beaver laid some sort of McCaulay colkinto with a had 69 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: a tree right right right, a sort of Rube Goldberg 70 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: device of trees and twigs and a pine cone, and 71 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: then just like a big boulder. Yeah. No, he just 72 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: bait him real good and he died from being bit 73 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: so bad. Yeah. I don't don't remember home alone entirely, 74 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: so to be fair, still could be that could have happened. 75 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,479 Speaker 1: I don't remember. I definitely don't mean to make light 76 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: of anyone's death. Every death is a tragedy, but God, 77 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: that must have been award you know. It's like it's 78 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,719 Speaker 1: not the most noble of death, like I was talking 79 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: about earlier. You get eaten by a jaguar or a lion, 80 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,479 Speaker 1: and you're like, he was malled to death by a line. 81 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: It's like, wow, okay, what a way to go out, 82 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 1: malled to death by a beaver. But you know, they 83 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: are a keystone species, so maybe that's a consolation prize. 84 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: Probably not. Probably not. Uh So, beavers are giant rodents. 85 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:04,480 Speaker 1: The are the second largest rodents in the world, beat 86 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: out only by the cappy bara. So yeah, they are. Yeah, 87 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 1: they they are rodents. They kind of maybe tricky a 88 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 1: little bit with the flat tail instead of the long, 89 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: thin tail, but they're absolutely rodents and gross when you 90 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: say rodents, I don't Yeah, I guess that's not. Like 91 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: that's not my favorite aspect of the beaver, that they're 92 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: part of that family. But I mean, I'm willing to 93 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,840 Speaker 1: live with it. But cappy barras are rodents and they're 94 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: adorable and sweet. I don't know, I kind of get 95 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: creeped out by cappy bars with it really strange to me. 96 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: I do like that, like other animals seem so um 97 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 1: disarmed by them that you always see like a bunch 98 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: of other animals around them, just like, yeah, I love 99 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 1: this thing, big stuffed animal, but I don't know. They're 100 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: all of them look like they like a Civil War 101 00:05:54,440 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: general to me, Yeah, well, colonel, looks like I'm going 102 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:07,840 Speaker 1: to eat some alfalfa. Ah. That's what they would say 103 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: all the time you were a kid. You're great. Improbably 104 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: this watering hole is full of gatas doesn't bother me none. 105 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: So uh. There are two species of living beavers, the 106 00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:30,479 Speaker 1: North American beaver and the Eurasian beaver the North America. 107 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:37,160 Speaker 1: The North American beaver lives in North America. The Eurasian 108 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: beaver lives in Eurasia. So the North American beaver is 109 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: longer with a wider tail, and the Eurasian beaver has 110 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: a thinner tail and a longer snout. I can't really 111 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: tell them apart, so they all look like beavers. I 112 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: was pretty excited when I suggested this to think, Oh, 113 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,040 Speaker 1: I wonder if there's a bet as accounts from when 114 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: they first came to the United States. And I was 115 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: assuming at this point that because I live in the 116 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: United States, there are no beavers anywhere else in the world. 117 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: And I was like, I wonder what it was like 118 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: for them to first encounter beavers, And so I was 119 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: like I'll look up Wiss and Clark and see like 120 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: they're accounting of it. And then I was like, oh, no, 121 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: they all knew what beavers were. Everybody knew what beavers 122 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: were for centuries because they're everywhere. But maybe, uh, something 123 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: that you might like to hear is that, certainly monks 124 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: that would be scribes they didn't know what beavers were, 125 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: and their interpretation of the beavers were extremely funny. Uh, yes, 126 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: I would like to hear. Yes, we we will talk 127 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: about that later in the show. Um, but just a teaser. 128 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: Monks didn't know how to draw beavers. They really, they 129 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,600 Speaker 1: gave it a they gave it the good old college, try, 130 00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: the good old monastery tribe. But no, no, didn't know 131 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: what a beaver was, didn't didn't really grasp sort of 132 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: the critical aspects of the beaver and how you would 133 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 1: represent what a beaver is. Um. So yeah, there were 134 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: there are definitely accounts of people who didn't know what 135 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: the beaver was and what to make of it. Just 136 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: some quick fun beaver facts. Beavers in the wild lived 137 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: to be about twelve years old, but they can live 138 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:23,559 Speaker 1: to be almost twenty in captivity. Most adult beavers weigh 139 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: around forty to seventy pounds, that's sevent they're they're they're 140 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: big guys. You know, they're hefty. Uh. They can reach 141 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: up to around four ft or one point two meters long. 142 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 1: So yeah, it is correct to fear the beaver. They're big. 143 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: They're really and like their their body is just like 144 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:50,520 Speaker 1: a big mound too. So when you see them, obviously 145 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:52,319 Speaker 1: the tail gives them some extra length and that's a 146 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 1: little unnerving to see a big leathery thing d behind them. 147 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 1: But like, they they're pretty tall when they get old enough, 148 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: like they're as tall as a little as like a 149 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: moderate moderately sized dog. Yeah. Yeah, In fact, old fat 150 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: beavers because they keep they can keep just growing almost 151 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: until they die. They can weigh up to a hundred 152 00:09:11,480 --> 00:09:16,840 Speaker 1: pounds or so. Yeah, I'm just I don't know why, 153 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,480 Speaker 1: but I just because beavers actually formed these like cohesive 154 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: family units where they're they're um um managma, what am 155 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 1: I trying to say? Monogau Yeah, and they will have 156 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,680 Speaker 1: like these you know, sometimes live with their extended families. 157 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,959 Speaker 1: I'm just imagining this like old like beaver patriarch with 158 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 1: like a stogie sitting on the front porch of the 159 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:44,560 Speaker 1: beaver lodge. Just this massive mound of beaver. It's like, 160 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: lift up, pep PEPs. Tale left a log under there 161 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: to chew on and I can't reach it. That's a 162 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: good little beaver, thank you. But speaking of large beavers, 163 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 1: an extinct species of be he was the giant beaver, 164 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 1: which was a bare sized beaver that lived in North 165 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: America during the Oh Boy pleased a scene around three 166 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: million years ago and went extinct around twelve thousand years ago. 167 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 1: So we definitely coincided with a giant, bare sized beaver. Uh, 168 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 1: which you know, you're it's fair to say you're maybe 169 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: a little bit cautious around normal sized beavers. Imagine a 170 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: bare sized beaver with the teeth and the tail and 171 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: just the beaver energy, but sized up, you know, to bear. 172 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:49,319 Speaker 1: I'm I'm looking at the skeleton of it and it's scary. 173 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 1: This is great. I want these now, this thing is Oh, 174 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: here's a woman posing next to a statue of one, 175 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: so I can get some real context here there. Uh 176 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: her their teeth are about this, like one of their 177 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: teeth is about the size of her face. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 178 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,679 Speaker 1: I mean, have you ever seen like a beaver with 179 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: just like a little twig that they sort of snap 180 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,680 Speaker 1: in half and easily chew through and get all the green, 181 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:19,080 Speaker 1: nice lipping tissue out of. Imagine that, but it's instead 182 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 1: of a twig, it's you. You a person. Yeah, this 183 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: thing could bite with through my legs one easy easy. 184 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 1: It could like flosce its teeth with your entire body, 185 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 1: no problem. Weirdly enough, it turns out humans survived rather 186 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: than the beaver, so when it was giant bare sized 187 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: beaver versus humans, we came out on top, which seems 188 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 1: improbable given that the the the bare sized beavers were 189 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 1: around six ft long or almost two meters, and could 190 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:55,439 Speaker 1: weigh up to two pounds or so. They're also semi aquatic, 191 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: just like their modern relatives. They could take a massive 192 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:02,320 Speaker 1: amount of oxygen and main underwater for extended periods of time. 193 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:05,200 Speaker 1: So you could be an ancient human living in North 194 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:09,840 Speaker 1: America just bathing in a river and then just a 195 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: massive bear beaver comes up out of the water and 196 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: looks at you with its bright orange teeth and beady 197 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,559 Speaker 1: little roading eyes. I mean, given how family oriented beavers 198 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: are and how like they need that sense of affection, 199 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 1: you could steal one of those baby beavers. I guarantee 200 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 1: at some point ancient man tried to domesticate and then 201 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: ride one tried to mount the beaver. Yeah, that probably happened. 202 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: Surely they would. There's no other reason to domesticate it. 203 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: I don't think other than maybe you could train, just 204 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,200 Speaker 1: train it. I am trying to think of like riding 205 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:49,439 Speaker 1: the beaver though it's like hi, ho beaver, and then 206 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 1: it's just sort of wattles, you know. Yeah, I guess 207 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: I don't know how fast these are not they probably 208 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 1: can't cover much ground. Not too fast, no, um, but 209 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:04,040 Speaker 1: you know you could like put your that would be 210 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: if you don't need to go too fast, you could 211 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:08,960 Speaker 1: ride the beaver and like set your kid up on 212 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:12,560 Speaker 1: its tail. Whole family to sitting on the tail you're 213 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,959 Speaker 1: on the beaver. You know, it's about the experience. You 214 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 1: don't get a beaver to go from a to beat. 215 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 1: I mean, you get a you get a beaver because 216 00:13:20,559 --> 00:13:22,960 Speaker 1: that's like your fun ride. That's when you take out 217 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,439 Speaker 1: for like a real spit right exactly exactly. And they 218 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 1: don't have like the upkeep of like a giant sloth, 219 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: So you know, it's it's a good option for for 220 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: a small family. I think, um, can I get you 221 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: in one of these bad boys today? Sore? And you 222 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: know what, I think? What do I have to do 223 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: to get you onto one of these bad boys right now? Uh? 224 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:54,120 Speaker 1: So yeah, it's brain was smaller proportionally to its body 225 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:56,880 Speaker 1: compared to today's beaver, so it was a lot dumber. 226 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:00,959 Speaker 1: So maybe that's why it died out. Uh. Humans might 227 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 1: have hunted it to extinction. I can't imagine, like wanting 228 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 1: to face a beaver in combat, but it's possible. There's 229 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:15,120 Speaker 1: not really evidence of that. Uh, but somehow they were there, 230 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 1: big and beavery and now they're gone. So who knows? 231 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: It is said the savor two tigers got him? I mean, 232 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: but I don't think they could, because it's sure saber 233 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: tooth tigers they got the big teeth, but beavers they 234 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: got even bigger teeth and just like they do rattling 235 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: their teeth together like sabers. That'd be fun to watch them. 236 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: Fascinating thing. So we go to the Libra tarpits is 237 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: here in l A and I go there frequently with 238 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,760 Speaker 1: my child, and uh, I learned a fascinating detail about 239 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 1: sabre tooth tigers. That is obviously tangential to this, but 240 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: I think could help inform how the sabre tooth tiger 241 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:58,480 Speaker 1: might have killed the beaver, which was they didn't grab 242 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: their prayer around the neck because like wily mamison stuff, 243 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: had so much fur and everything around their necks that 244 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 1: they weren't choking out there the same way like a 245 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 1: tiger or lion. Now, just like the easiest way to 246 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:09,920 Speaker 1: kill something is just cut off in socks, so like 247 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: they just bite hard enough to do that. But thet 248 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: same to tire couldn't do that because everything in the 249 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: ice age was so furry, like thick with with fat. 250 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 1: So they would just jump on its back whatever it was, 251 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: it's ground sloth or whatever, and they would dig their 252 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: teeth in as far as they could and then just 253 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 1: follow the animal as it bled out. So it's like 254 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: like a capri son, you just punch, punch a little 255 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: hole in it, suck out the juice, that's right, and 256 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: you just wait. Yeah, well, maybe maybe a saber tooth 257 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: tiger could just kind of do a capri son on 258 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 1: a giant beaver. I don't know. I wasn't there speaking 259 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: speaking of giant teeth though, beavers have some of the 260 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 1: most interesting impressive teeth in the natural world, and I'm 261 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:57,080 Speaker 1: talking about present day beavers. Beaver teeth constantly grow because 262 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 1: they do, indeed eat trees. This is one of those 263 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: things that like as a kid, I was like, they 264 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,280 Speaker 1: eat trees, And then when I was like a young adult, 265 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 1: I was like, there's no way beavers eat trees. That's 266 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: got to be a myth. And then now it's like, yeah, 267 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 1: they eat trees, you know. Uh, So like they do 268 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: tree bark um. They are herbivores. They eat a bunch 269 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,680 Speaker 1: of different types of plants, like aquatic plants, lily pads, cattails, rushes, 270 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:26,800 Speaker 1: They'll eat roots, leaves, ferns, human legs. Uh. They eat 271 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: tree bark and camby um, which is a fleshy layer 272 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: just under the bark. It's full of sugars um. They 273 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 1: use trees not just in their diet but in their 274 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:42,000 Speaker 1: construction project, which we're gonna talk a little more after 275 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: the break that's coming up. But um, before we talk 276 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 1: about that, the teeth, the teeth that allows them to 277 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: cut through all this wood. They are amazing. Their teeth 278 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: are constantly growing because of all the heavy duty chewing 279 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: they have to do. If they your teeth didn't constantly grow, 280 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: they'd wear their teeth down to useless nubs in like 281 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:09,680 Speaker 1: a month. I feel very um connected to beavers because 282 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: I actually clench and grind my teeth. It's like I 283 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: have bruxi is um So I'm just like constantly clenching, 284 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: and every time I go to the dentist, they're like, 285 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:21,359 Speaker 1: you're just gonna have like nubs for teeth if we 286 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: don't do something about this soon. Yeah, I guess I'm 287 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: a little jealous of all the I think like rats 288 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: are the same way, where their teeth just keep growing. Uh, 289 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: And that sounds great, I mean, because I'm constantly having 290 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 1: terrifying dreams about shattering my teeth or my teeth falling 291 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: out more and more tooth. Behind all of that, I 292 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:47,800 Speaker 1: feel so much better. I mean, just the prospect of 293 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: chipping a tooth now it seems like your screw you 294 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 1: won't survive, you can't eat anymore. Yeah. No, I mean 295 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,240 Speaker 1: that it is a problem for a lot of animals 296 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: if there's a problem with your teeth as a carnivore 297 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,119 Speaker 1: or a nerb of I mean basically anything that needs 298 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,760 Speaker 1: to use their teeth to eat, which is most animals, 299 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,880 Speaker 1: if your teeth go wrong, then you just you die 300 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: because you don't have any method of eating. So with beavers, actually, 301 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: if they are unable to wear their teeth down, they 302 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: can also die because if their teeth are misaligned and 303 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 1: they don't get that constant where their teeth still grow. 304 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 1: And so what happens is their teeth just grow and 305 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: grow and grow. And you know, have you ever seen 306 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: pictures of like gross, really long nails, and how like 307 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:39,640 Speaker 1: when nails get long enough they start to curl. It's 308 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:41,640 Speaker 1: the same thing that happens with their teeth. It just 309 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,919 Speaker 1: they grow until they start to curl and they can 310 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: actually grow up from their mouth and curl around and 311 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: like puncture their own skull, which is horrible awesome. And 312 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 1: so I I so I gave you a picture of it. Okay, 313 00:18:55,720 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: let's oh god, oh he's not long for this world. 314 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 1: That will just go right into his brain, right, I mean, 315 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: it depends where it hits him in his skull, but 316 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: probably yeah. I mean this one that kind of looks 317 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:11,879 Speaker 1: like it's getting him, getting him in the eye a 318 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: little bit, which is not great. Uh, there's no it's 319 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: also like, once that's happened, it's not very easy to 320 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:24,200 Speaker 1: eat or probably think with tooth in your skull. So 321 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,639 Speaker 1: if tooth in the school doesn't get him, probably the 322 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:30,960 Speaker 1: inability to eat well. So not not a great uh, 323 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:36,359 Speaker 1: not a good thing. This happens to uh any beaver 324 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: that has a condition known as malclusions. So yeah, beaver 325 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:47,679 Speaker 1: retainers would potentially save beaver lives. But for a healthy beaver, 326 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: their teeth will be worn down into a perfect tree 327 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:57,199 Speaker 1: cutting chisel shape because, like you mentioned earlier, sore and 328 00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: their teeth are bright orange, and that is because they 329 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:04,680 Speaker 1: are so rich in iron that they have this discoloration. 330 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 1: So their enamel on the front of their tooth is 331 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:14,439 Speaker 1: packed with iron, and on the other side of the 332 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:19,160 Speaker 1: tooth it's softer, just made of dentine. So as they chew, 333 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: it causes uneven wearing because the front wears slower than 334 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: the back, and that causes an angle to form, and 335 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,639 Speaker 1: then that way, their teeth are actually shaped like chisels, 336 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 1: and that chisel shape is much better at getting into 337 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:42,640 Speaker 1: wood and cutting into it like an axe. That's really cool. 338 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 1: So it's they're just basically you're creating a sharp edge 339 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: every single time, they's they self sharpened, they self sharpened. 340 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,359 Speaker 1: They're constantly growing and self sharpening. It's I mean, I 341 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 1: wish I had kitchen knives, but it was just beaver. 342 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: I guess that would be really good because then you 343 00:21:00,560 --> 00:21:03,919 Speaker 1: wouldn't need to sharpen them. You just uh, you know, 344 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:06,680 Speaker 1: I wouldn't need to get a new new beaver when 345 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:08,320 Speaker 1: it wears down. I guess you would need to get 346 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,480 Speaker 1: a new beaver like in twenty years when it dies. 347 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:13,119 Speaker 1: But no, that'd be great. Could you imagine how fast 348 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:17,120 Speaker 1: a beaver could like Julian a carrot perfect? Oh man, 349 00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:22,119 Speaker 1: it would be so quick. Yeah. I So there's a 350 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 1: documentary I think it's on PBS. It's on Nature where 351 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:27,959 Speaker 1: they that's the one where that maybe fall in love 352 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,760 Speaker 1: with beavers, And in it they're talking about how, uh, 353 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 1: every single night, like a beaver can chop down tons 354 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:35,639 Speaker 1: of trees. And I thought I thought it took a 355 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,680 Speaker 1: beaver very very long time to chop down a single tree, 356 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 1: like you think about the diameter of like a a 357 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: birch or something that's maybe a foot or twelve inches, 358 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 1: And it turns out that they could do that in 359 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: like four hours. Yeah. Yeah, nothing to them. Yeah, if 360 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: it's a small enough tree, they can sometimes fell like 361 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:57,120 Speaker 1: a more slender tree and just like fifty minutes. It's crazy. 362 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 1: Uh yeah, and they they will. The fact that each 363 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: individual beaver can bring down a tree so quickly means 364 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,879 Speaker 1: that they will have huge, huge impacts in their environment. 365 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:12,679 Speaker 1: You know, you imagine just one beaver being able to 366 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 1: take out multiple trees in a day, and then you 367 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,960 Speaker 1: increase that number two millions of beavers. They have just 368 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:26,679 Speaker 1: a massive, massive impact on the local ecosystem in what 369 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,000 Speaker 1: I considered to be a positive way. Maybe golf courses 370 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:36,399 Speaker 1: don't consider it to be a thing, but yeah, we 371 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 1: will talk about the way that beavers are one of 372 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 1: the world's most impressive environmental engineers. Right after, so excited, 373 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:55,639 Speaker 1: so excited. I so we we got a cat recently, 374 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: a little kitten, and uh I for the first time. 375 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: Put I haven't had a cat since I was a child. 376 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:05,120 Speaker 1: And I had to put fleet stuff on. Yeah yeah, 377 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:07,720 Speaker 1: that's like just these little drops. So I like push 378 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,479 Speaker 1: as she's eating and very calm, I pushed this the 379 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,879 Speaker 1: fur up. I put squirre it on and they're like, 380 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,120 Speaker 1: be careful not to get this in your cat's eyes. Dude, 381 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:16,880 Speaker 1: it's very bad if you get this in your cat's eyes. 382 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: So I squired it on there and I'm like, good done, 383 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: and I put pull my hands away and she feels 384 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:23,840 Speaker 1: something wet on her neck, so she immediately shakes and 385 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,399 Speaker 1: it goes right in my eye. And I was like, 386 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:30,720 Speaker 1: oh God. So I run to the to the sink 387 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 1: and I'm just splashing water in there, trying to get 388 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:35,680 Speaker 1: as much as I can in there. And then I 389 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 1: read the instructions again. It was like, if you get 390 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,240 Speaker 1: this in your eyes, hold the eye open and wash 391 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,840 Speaker 1: it for fifteen to twenty minutes. And I was like, oh, 392 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: the eyes gone. Then there's no way I could do 393 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,159 Speaker 1: this for fifteen or twenty minutes. And it stung and 394 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: it didn't feel great the rest of the night, and 395 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: then I went to sleep and I woke up in 396 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 1: the morning and my eye was crusted shut, like to 397 00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: the point where I like pull out of my eyelashes 398 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: and finally got it open and it was finding. But 399 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 1: I was like, there was a perilous moment where I thought, 400 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: that's it. That's it from my eye. At least you 401 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:11,200 Speaker 1: don't at least you don't have to worry about getting 402 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:15,720 Speaker 1: fleas in your eye though. That's that's a really nice 403 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:21,440 Speaker 1: silver lining, Kati, Yes, so so. And you know how 404 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,200 Speaker 1: Elon Musk is always talking about how he's going to 405 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:29,399 Speaker 1: terraform this, and he's going to terraform that. You know, No, 406 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:32,120 Speaker 1: but that seems like something he would say. It's like, well, 407 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:36,440 Speaker 1: just terraform Mars. We're gonna terraform, you know, I'm gonna 408 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: do some light terraform and over here, Uh, screw Alon Musk. 409 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:45,760 Speaker 1: The real terraform ers of the world are beavers. Uh. 410 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:50,160 Speaker 1: They have a complex social system and build structures that 411 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:55,080 Speaker 1: not only help them survive but shape the world around them. 412 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: So as we all know, I think I think I 413 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:03,520 Speaker 1: can comfortably say, as everyone knows, beavers build dams the 414 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,680 Speaker 1: kind of they're defining characteristic um other than the weird 415 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: tails in the big teeth. And they also build lodges, 416 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:14,400 Speaker 1: which are where the beavers live. The beavers don't really 417 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,200 Speaker 1: live in the dams. The dams are just to make 418 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:23,440 Speaker 1: their area of the water more comfortable for them. So uh, 419 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:30,400 Speaker 1: usually they will build in a freshwater area. Rivers, streams, ponds, 420 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:35,240 Speaker 1: and lakes are all candidates for beaver construction projects. Beavers 421 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:38,720 Speaker 1: will create a wooden fortress right in the body of 422 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: the water. And this fortress where they sleep and they 423 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,520 Speaker 1: you know, raise their young and uh stay warm in 424 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:52,679 Speaker 1: the winter, is called a lodge. So the dam is 425 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: basically just they don't like flowing water. One could say 426 00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,359 Speaker 1: they hate flowing water. They hate the sound of it. 427 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:03,720 Speaker 1: The sound of it drives them to start building a dam. Uh. 428 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 1: And the dam will slow the flow of water such 429 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:12,639 Speaker 1: that they have a nice serene, uh bucolic uh pond 430 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 1: for them to build their residence. We talked a lot 431 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:22,120 Speaker 1: about their incredible memorial artery chomping teeth, and they can 432 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 1: use these to carefully cut trees at a forty five 433 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:30,359 Speaker 1: degree angle so that they will fall down efficiently and 434 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,639 Speaker 1: in a predictable fashion. And they use a bunch of 435 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,920 Speaker 1: rocks as the base of their dam, and then they 436 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 1: use those rocks to way down the logs that they 437 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,960 Speaker 1: stack up, and uh they use muddy grass to patch 438 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: up the whole. So some real complex construction going on. 439 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 1: And while it doesn't completely stop the flow of water, 440 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,679 Speaker 1: it slows it down enough that building a lodge is possible. 441 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:05,359 Speaker 1: So beaver lodges are where they sleep where they seek shelter. 442 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,920 Speaker 1: Some of them can be fancier as a beaver ages 443 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:13,440 Speaker 1: and gets more experienced, like more construction experience, their lodges 444 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,320 Speaker 1: and damn building will get better and they might add 445 00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: in like a dining room, maybe a foyer. Uh you know, 446 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 1: maybe an alcove. Uh it's ah uh. So inside the 447 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:32,919 Speaker 1: lodge there's a raised floor above water levels, so they 448 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 1: actually stay nice and dry even though there's no entry 449 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:41,120 Speaker 1: point outside of the water. So under the lodge you'll 450 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:45,119 Speaker 1: have usually a couple of entrances, if not more, but 451 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,239 Speaker 1: you have to dive under the water and swim up 452 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:50,719 Speaker 1: through a tunnel to get into the lodge. And inside 453 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: it's raised up so they're dry. But nobody like unless 454 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: you're aquatic and willing to swim under this construction, you 455 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,400 Speaker 1: cannot get inside at the lodge, so that keeps them 456 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:07,359 Speaker 1: safe from most predators. And they also will create a raft, 457 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: which is a huge underwater mound of edible sticks and logs. 458 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:15,600 Speaker 1: It goes so deep underwater most herbivorous animals can't get 459 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:17,919 Speaker 1: to it. So during the winter, when a lot of 460 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:23,600 Speaker 1: animals are suffering from malnutrition or lack of resources, beavers 461 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,359 Speaker 1: are all set up. They have this great food supply 462 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:29,679 Speaker 1: that they can just kind of quickly exit their little lodge, grab, 463 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: go back in, warm up, have a little cute little 464 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,399 Speaker 1: beaver time where they snack on all the logs that 465 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:41,480 Speaker 1: they've stored up. Uh. And so the only exception is 466 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:45,800 Speaker 1: like a novice beaver may build a pretty pathetic lodge 467 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:49,440 Speaker 1: and damn on their first attempts. It's definitely learning process. 468 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 1: Usually young beavers will learn from the older generations, but 469 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,400 Speaker 1: it is sometimes a little bit pitiful, Like they'll put 470 00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 1: some sticks together and it immediately gets washed away, which well, 471 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,400 Speaker 1: they don't have to they don't always have to start 472 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 1: from scratch. I mean, they're like they'll find there are 473 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,959 Speaker 1: a lot of like um, abandoned beaver lodges. But then 474 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,400 Speaker 1: a young beaver can come along and be like, oh, 475 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: this looks like a nice fixer upper, and they can. 476 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:17,320 Speaker 1: And that's one of the reasons I like to beaver 477 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:21,200 Speaker 1: so much that I think that home renovation and monogamy 478 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:24,760 Speaker 1: are cool and that goes against the grid, and I 479 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,840 Speaker 1: think that if we can start telling everybody, hey, listen, 480 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:32,800 Speaker 1: these are actually cool aspects. These are character traits that 481 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 1: are really cool, then maybe everyone would think a little 482 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: bit more highly of the beaver. Who are you, Tim 483 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 1: Allen in the popular nineties sitcom Boam Improvement. Does that 484 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: answer your question? Um? Yeah, like they I guess they's 485 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,680 Speaker 1: some of the um abandoned ones that they've torn apart, 486 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 1: the lodges. They found wood in there. That's like a 487 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: thousand years like that. They just keep using these places because, 488 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 1: like he, the beavers leave it when they run out 489 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,800 Speaker 1: of food in a particular area. But then the benefit 490 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: of having this huge these like deep canals dug everywhere 491 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:10,320 Speaker 1: and like these swampy areas is that as soon as 492 00:30:10,320 --> 00:30:13,880 Speaker 1: a beaver leaves, that place just reflourishes with all kinds 493 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: of plants and stuff, and the next beaver can set us, 494 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: set up shop and eat all over again. You're absolutely right. 495 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 1: In fact, communal beaver dams and constructions can last for 496 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: many decades. In fact, in Canada's Wood Buffalo National Park, 497 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 1: beavers have constructed a damn about a half mile long, 498 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 1: so that's just about under a kilometer and it's so 499 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: large it can be seen from space, which I just 500 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 1: love that. We're like, oh man, the Great Wall can 501 00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,040 Speaker 1: be seen from space. Human constructions is just like beavers 502 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: are over here going like, hey, us to look at 503 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 1: what would made this out? Would check this out? Humans? 504 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: Forget about the beavers. Don't forget about us. You're trying 505 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,440 Speaker 1: to forget about the beavers again, didn't you trying to 506 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:11,120 Speaker 1: escape on your little spaceships? Not this time. You're not 507 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 1: helping me make the beaver cool? Just a cool voice. 508 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 1: Sure I've been doing it all wrong. So yeah, they 509 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 1: have been working on this construction since the nineteen seventies. 510 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: So this giant damn in would Buffalo National Park, it 511 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:38,440 Speaker 1: is uh from the nineteen seventies, if not older. And 512 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 1: given that beavers only live an average of twelve years 513 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:43,560 Speaker 1: in the wild, this is the work of about four 514 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:49,800 Speaker 1: generations of beavers. So yeah, just they are absolutely capable 515 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 1: of these massive, massive construction projects. Sometimes it's multigenerational, probably 516 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,560 Speaker 1: passed on from one family to the younger generation. Not 517 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:03,600 Speaker 1: only only can they make huge dams that will cause 518 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:07,680 Speaker 1: flooding and slow the movement of water, they can also 519 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: create canals to other ponds, rivers, and bodies of water 520 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:15,680 Speaker 1: like you mentioned earlier. And they do this mostly out 521 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,720 Speaker 1: of laziness because they don't as much as we think 522 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: it's cute to see them waddling on land, they don't 523 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:24,840 Speaker 1: like to do that. So they will build a canal 524 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:29,480 Speaker 1: from their pond to another body of water so they 525 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:35,600 Speaker 1: can easily just like zoom right to another source of food. Uh, 526 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:39,000 Speaker 1: just like a like a like a beaver hyperloop. Uh, 527 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:43,480 Speaker 1: you know, suck on it. Elon the beavers. I just 528 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 1: love that beavers are such a bane to rich people. 529 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 1: They're flooding their golf courses, They're ruining their walmarts. They're 530 00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:58,680 Speaker 1: constant reminder walmarts. Well they own the walmarts, right, we 531 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:02,320 Speaker 1: go to the walmarts, they on the walmarts. But yeah, 532 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: like I love that they humiliate Elon Musk because they've 533 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:09,680 Speaker 1: done everything Elon Musk says he's gonna do, but can't do. 534 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,360 Speaker 1: What are they So they they're just not great walkers, right, Like, 535 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:15,240 Speaker 1: they just don't walk well on land. So is it 536 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:18,960 Speaker 1: that they're underwater they're just safer? Is that? Yeah, they're faster, 537 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:24,640 Speaker 1: they're safer. Uh, it's easier, takes less you know, effort. So, 538 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:29,360 Speaker 1: like to pull wood and vegetation from another place, pulling 539 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:33,920 Speaker 1: it on land is a lot harder course, So that 540 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,200 Speaker 1: makes perfect sense. Yeah, it's way easier to carry a 541 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:41,520 Speaker 1: whole tree underwater. Yeah, to try drag it across the land. Yeah, 542 00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:44,080 Speaker 1: it's like a beaver interstate or I guess like inter 543 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:52,000 Speaker 1: inter pond, interpool, yeah, interpola. So all these beaver constructions 544 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,920 Speaker 1: have a massive effect on the ecosystem, which makes them 545 00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 1: a keystone species, which means a species of animal that 546 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:05,160 Speaker 1: has a disproportion effect on their ecosystem. So they are 547 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 1: the biggest architects of the environment other than humans, which 548 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:14,760 Speaker 1: you know, we have a disproportional effect on our environment. 549 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:19,800 Speaker 1: But unlike the beaver's, uh, we're not maybe taking into 550 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:23,680 Speaker 1: consideration biodiversity when we're doing it, not that the beaver's 551 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,319 Speaker 1: really like sat down and thought about it, like we're 552 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:29,400 Speaker 1: going to be environmentally friendly, Like we we want to 553 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:31,960 Speaker 1: build a dam, and we want to build a big 554 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: pile sticks in the middle of the pond, but we're 555 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:35,440 Speaker 1: going to do it in a way that's like helpful. 556 00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:40,360 Speaker 1: I do like that. That's it's almost not even fair, 557 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:44,319 Speaker 1: Like we are basically this not to get too philosophical, 558 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,200 Speaker 1: but but that we are basically this parasite that we 559 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:49,640 Speaker 1: treat the earth kind of like a host where we 560 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:53,560 Speaker 1: just sort of like take, take, take, and and the beaver, 561 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:57,000 Speaker 1: like the beaver is relentless, like it's just it's cutting 562 00:34:57,040 --> 00:34:59,719 Speaker 1: down trees all night. Face value of beaver does the 563 00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 1: sound great. It's damming up water so it keep water 564 00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,480 Speaker 1: can't get to certain areas. It's cutting it on a 565 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,120 Speaker 1: bunch of trees at night. It sounds like, oh, yeah, okay, 566 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:08,719 Speaker 1: I can relate to that. That's what people do too. 567 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:12,400 Speaker 1: But no, like what they're actually doing is with these damns, 568 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:15,239 Speaker 1: they're creating these floodplains, and they're creating these areas that 569 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:19,919 Speaker 1: now allow tons of other life to sustain. Like all 570 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:22,239 Speaker 1: these other species now are can come to this one 571 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:24,319 Speaker 1: area because now it's much more lush and green than 572 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:26,799 Speaker 1: it ordinarily would have been. Just a straight channel river 573 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:31,279 Speaker 1: or stream was like flowing through it. And they're so 574 00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:33,759 Speaker 1: good for the environment. Then they don't even eat the 575 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:36,279 Speaker 1: other animals either. They're just sitting there eating their sticks 576 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:39,480 Speaker 1: and they're content and in their big lodges in the 577 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:41,799 Speaker 1: middle of winter, they're like, oh, muskrats, would you like 578 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:44,000 Speaker 1: to come join us in our lodge? And the muskrats like, yeah, 579 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:46,439 Speaker 1: don't mind if I do well, family of rats, would 580 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:48,200 Speaker 1: you like to live in here too? And like these 581 00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:51,280 Speaker 1: other they just these they build these boarding houses essentially 582 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 1: for other animals. I'm just so mad, so mad that well, 583 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:58,279 Speaker 1: if it makes you feel any better. From the trees perspective, 584 00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:03,959 Speaker 1: the beaver is the world greatest villain. That's true. That's true. Yeah, 585 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:08,640 Speaker 1: beavers and lumberjacks. So yeah, you're you're absolutely right. They 586 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 1: create these huge wetlands single handedly, or like single potted 587 00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:23,239 Speaker 1: lee single yeah, single tailedly. It's hard to decide that job. 588 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:28,360 Speaker 1: All terrible puns here, folks. But yeah, So they raise 589 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:32,520 Speaker 1: the water table, so that means that there's more access 590 00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:36,800 Speaker 1: to fresh water above ground. In addition, their dams also 591 00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:40,200 Speaker 1: filter out pollutants and helps slow the loss of soil 592 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:45,520 Speaker 1: through erosion, and this can change the environment chemically, like 593 00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:48,479 Speaker 1: raising the levels of nitrogen in the soil, which makes 594 00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 1: it more fertile and increases the bio diversity of plant life. 595 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:58,320 Speaker 1: So beavers moving change up the water system and suddenly 596 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:00,680 Speaker 1: you just have all these new speech use of plants 597 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:03,200 Speaker 1: that are able to live there because the soil is 598 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:07,840 Speaker 1: much more nutritious, there's more access to water above the ground, 599 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:11,439 Speaker 1: accessible to plants and it's amazing. They just like make 600 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:16,560 Speaker 1: it verdant and full of plant life. Um. This also 601 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:21,920 Speaker 1: increases the number of aquatic life in the area, uh 602 00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:26,480 Speaker 1: that thrives in the calmer waters that beavers constructs, so 603 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:32,239 Speaker 1: things like snails and earthworms, dragonflies, frogs, even muscles, um. 604 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:35,040 Speaker 1: And then once you get all of these little critters 605 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:38,239 Speaker 1: into the pond, then that has a cascading effect of 606 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 1: inviting bigger animals in. So uh it increases like fish 607 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:48,240 Speaker 1: populations like salmon and trout, lots of birds, especially aquatic 608 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:51,399 Speaker 1: birds who love to come in and feast upon this 609 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:57,759 Speaker 1: like little biosphere that these beavers have created. Ah. And 610 00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:01,920 Speaker 1: uh it can even have like these really unexpected effects, 611 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:07,880 Speaker 1: like increasing bat populations because bats like to often feed 612 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,520 Speaker 1: around water, especially where you're gonna have a lot of 613 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:13,799 Speaker 1: insect activity, and so you'll you'll have this increase in 614 00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:16,080 Speaker 1: bat populations. And it's just it's like kind of a 615 00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:19,239 Speaker 1: jump to get from like beaver cuts down tree, puts 616 00:38:19,239 --> 00:38:21,000 Speaker 1: the tree in water, and now you have more bats. 617 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:26,280 Speaker 1: Uh yeah, what's the problem. How is that hard to understand? 618 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:31,279 Speaker 1: The beavers make bats beavers? Yeah, yeah, I mean, like 619 00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:34,320 Speaker 1: that's that's the thing right, So like bats like Batman 620 00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:42,399 Speaker 1: is really cool, but really Beaverman would be uh, would 621 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:47,600 Speaker 1: be able to defeat Batman right by the laws of nature, 622 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:52,279 Speaker 1: young Beaman. Yeah, I guess like beaver probably, I guess 623 00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:56,279 Speaker 1: in this analogy, I guess, um, you know what's his name? 624 00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:58,799 Speaker 1: I was gonna say Jeeves, but I know that's not right. 625 00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:05,240 Speaker 1: Batman's but alert Uh Alfred, yeah, Alfred right, yeah, Alfred, 626 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:08,799 Speaker 1: he would be Bieverman, right, because Alfred is the one 627 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:14,600 Speaker 1: who fostered uh Batman. Yes, so Batman, Bruce Wade wouldn't 628 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:19,520 Speaker 1: be here without without without biman ak Alfred, sorry, Bieverman. 629 00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:21,879 Speaker 1: Beverman can't believe I keep calling, keep blowing his cover. 630 00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:27,040 Speaker 1: It would be really funny to have Batman like putting 631 00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:29,280 Speaker 1: on his mask Era and like putting on his coal 632 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:31,960 Speaker 1: and being like, I'm going to get in the car, 633 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:35,319 Speaker 1: and Alfred's like, oh true, forgeting something, Master Bruce, and 634 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:38,239 Speaker 1: he's just dressed as a bes like, I don't, I 635 00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:41,279 Speaker 1: don't know. I think maybe not tonight. Could you could 636 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:44,360 Speaker 1: you at least lose the teeth no muster booth that 637 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:50,360 Speaker 1: is an integral part of my costume, and Batman just 638 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:52,160 Speaker 1: doesn't want to go out with takes him out a 639 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:55,279 Speaker 1: couple of times just to be like, well, it's like 640 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:56,880 Speaker 1: doing your ride along with a cop. Like he's going 641 00:39:56,920 --> 00:39:58,360 Speaker 1: to take him out just to let him see the 642 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,560 Speaker 1: sights and let him feel like he's being but like, really, 643 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:05,080 Speaker 1: Beaverman just kind of gets in the way. I'm the 644 00:40:05,239 --> 00:40:08,279 Speaker 1: terror who slaps in the night. Do you have a 645 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,120 Speaker 1: warn for this, Master Ruse, I told you not to 646 00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:15,440 Speaker 1: use my name most Bruce Batman Batman Master Bruce, I 647 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:22,919 Speaker 1: am so sorry, but yeah, Beaverman much cooler than Batman. Um. 648 00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:28,880 Speaker 1: They have just an enormous impact on the ecosystem. Uh yeah, 649 00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:32,160 Speaker 1: I mean, like anything that has an impact on the ecosystem. 650 00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:36,480 Speaker 1: They can have a negative impact on some species, so uh, 651 00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:40,320 Speaker 1: animals that would prefer a fast moving river to a pond, 652 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:44,600 Speaker 1: some migratory species of birds that want dense forests rather 653 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:48,240 Speaker 1: than wetlands. They'll have a negative impact on their populations. 654 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:53,600 Speaker 1: But in the balance, Beaver's increased biodiversity. So for every 655 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:57,000 Speaker 1: like species that is not pleased with what they've done 656 00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,560 Speaker 1: with the place, there's like five others who are like, yeah, 657 00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:01,719 Speaker 1: this is great, we love everything. Just being a big 658 00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:06,400 Speaker 1: old swamp. There's like when they want to reintroduce wolves 659 00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:08,759 Speaker 1: to an area in the United States, they're like, well, 660 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:11,479 Speaker 1: are their beavers there? It's like they need beavers there 661 00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:15,480 Speaker 1: first before like wolves can be reintroduced. It's it's like 662 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:18,239 Speaker 1: they're connected to every other species and it's like it's 663 00:41:18,239 --> 00:41:20,680 Speaker 1: like a big game of um seven six degrees of 664 00:41:20,719 --> 00:41:24,439 Speaker 1: Kevin Bacon where they all lead back to the beaver, 665 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:26,000 Speaker 1: but it just takes a little while to figure out 666 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,879 Speaker 1: how to get there. How many degrees do you think 667 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:34,600 Speaker 1: Kevin Bacon is from a beaver? I could figure it 668 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:38,560 Speaker 1: out just one, right, It's just Bacon to beaver directly, 669 00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:44,120 Speaker 1: there's no middleman. Yeah, I think it's probably true. Beavers 670 00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:49,640 Speaker 1: have a direct line to Kevin Bacon and him right now. Yeah, yeah, 671 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:52,400 Speaker 1: they've got He was like, you are you do you 672 00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:56,839 Speaker 1: like Kevin Bacon? You'll like, I can get you right 673 00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:00,919 Speaker 1: and riding with Kevin Bacon. I could fite him over. 674 00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:04,720 Speaker 1: We could be here by two o'clock. He loves swimming. 675 00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:11,279 Speaker 1: I'll just put some put some logs on stoven. He'll 676 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:17,320 Speaker 1: come right over. Yeah. So yeah, it's there an amazing 677 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:21,880 Speaker 1: example of how it is definitely possible to drastically alter 678 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:27,000 Speaker 1: the environment without causing a total collapse of the ecosystem, 679 00:42:27,040 --> 00:42:30,560 Speaker 1: which is something beavers have done. But humans, you know, 680 00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:35,440 Speaker 1: m you know, we we got we got a few 681 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:40,880 Speaker 1: light issues with our like punching a hole in the 682 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:43,319 Speaker 1: ozone and papers are like, oh, you don't want to 683 00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:48,080 Speaker 1: do that. Actually you don't know that beaver. Maybe some 684 00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:50,920 Speaker 1: more species will really like this. No, that's not I'm 685 00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:55,080 Speaker 1: pretty sure. No. Have you thought about maybe just putting 686 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:59,080 Speaker 1: some sticks in the water. That's pretty nice. We tried 687 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:04,200 Speaker 1: and it was bull beaver. Well, when we get back 688 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:06,840 Speaker 1: right after the break, we're going to talk more about 689 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:11,920 Speaker 1: the relationship between beavers and people, and stay tunned until 690 00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:14,200 Speaker 1: the end of the episode because we will be revealing 691 00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:18,520 Speaker 1: the answer to last week's Mystery animal sound contest and 692 00:43:18,640 --> 00:43:25,880 Speaker 1: giving you a whole new mystery sound to ponder over beavers, beavers, 693 00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:30,279 Speaker 1: and some people. Yeah, so, beavers have had a very 694 00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:35,839 Speaker 1: complex relationship with humans, going back to ancient times. We 695 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:40,040 Speaker 1: have often used beavers towards our own twisted ends, or 696 00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:42,600 Speaker 1: thought of them as pests due to the flooding that 697 00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:46,520 Speaker 1: they can cause, which I think it's sad. I like beavers, 698 00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:51,839 Speaker 1: we hunted almost extinction. Yeah, I think that's I know 699 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:55,960 Speaker 1: it is sad, right, it's pretty sad. Uh. If you 700 00:43:56,120 --> 00:43:59,080 Speaker 1: have listened to some of the older episodes of this show, 701 00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:02,840 Speaker 1: or if you've send to Alex Schmidt's great podcast, secretly 702 00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:07,040 Speaker 1: incredibly fascinating the episode on vanilla, which I'm biased towards 703 00:44:07,080 --> 00:44:08,800 Speaker 1: because I was actually the gift on that one because 704 00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:11,520 Speaker 1: he knew how much I wanted to talk about beaver butts. 705 00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:16,240 Speaker 1: You may note that beaver anal glands secrete a musk 706 00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:22,560 Speaker 1: that can be used as artificial vanilla flavoring. Yum, yum, yum. 707 00:44:22,560 --> 00:44:26,320 Speaker 1: Give me some of that. But just imagining a farmer 708 00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:29,800 Speaker 1: waking up in the morning, you know, the sun's rising. 709 00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:32,200 Speaker 1: He goes out to the barn. It's filled with beavers. 710 00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:36,000 Speaker 1: He gets out a little tiny pale. It's like, all right, chompers, 711 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:42,960 Speaker 1: it's your turn just expressing those glands. All right, let 712 00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:45,040 Speaker 1: me just get right in here, choppers. I know, I 713 00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:49,719 Speaker 1: know it's uh, and they makes such fundtle noises to 714 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:57,280 Speaker 1: beavers do kind of like a Yeah, in medieval times 715 00:44:57,920 --> 00:45:02,560 Speaker 1: people mistook the beaver's anal glands for their testicles, and 716 00:45:03,239 --> 00:45:07,239 Speaker 1: because in medieval times, actually people did want to use 717 00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:14,839 Speaker 1: that anal secretion called castoreum for a variety of things, uh, perfumes, 718 00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:20,919 Speaker 1: vanilla flavoring, probably an aphrodisiac. I actually don't know that. 719 00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:24,160 Speaker 1: It's just most animal parts, most like weird animal parts 720 00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:27,239 Speaker 1: where we're like, let's eat this. It's usually something like 721 00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:30,080 Speaker 1: oh yeah, this, this will set them move some beaver 722 00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:34,920 Speaker 1: anal gland juice. Uh is that what castor oil is? Then? No, 723 00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:41,800 Speaker 1: castor oil is from castor seed, I believe, whereas castoreum 724 00:45:42,560 --> 00:45:46,520 Speaker 1: is the beaver butt juice. So but yeah, in medieval 725 00:45:46,520 --> 00:45:50,800 Speaker 1: times they thought castoreum came from beaver testicles, and so 726 00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:55,359 Speaker 1: there was a myth about beavers chewing off their own 727 00:45:55,400 --> 00:46:00,480 Speaker 1: testicles so they wouldn't be hunted. And gosh, many monks 728 00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:08,399 Speaker 1: sure tried hard to draw this happening. They really did try. Uh. 729 00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:10,600 Speaker 1: One guy said it like good enough for us put 730 00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:13,480 Speaker 1: in the books. Yeah, I draw it. Yeah, I mean 731 00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:16,040 Speaker 1: so I shared this with you. Sort of course it 732 00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:18,200 Speaker 1: will be in the show notes. But it is a 733 00:46:18,239 --> 00:46:21,279 Speaker 1: picture of a hunter on a horse, you know, majestic, 734 00:46:21,960 --> 00:46:28,040 Speaker 1: beautiful stallion, and then a beaver. Uh it looks I 735 00:46:28,080 --> 00:46:33,400 Speaker 1: don't know, kind of like a dog. Yeah, And it 736 00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:36,520 Speaker 1: is chewing its own testicles off. That's the important part. 737 00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:41,240 Speaker 1: Its tail isn't quite what one would consider a beaver 738 00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:47,960 Speaker 1: tail to be. These kind of long, elegant lap back legs, 739 00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:52,200 Speaker 1: some kind of like sharp ears and yeah, then like 740 00:46:52,239 --> 00:46:54,440 Speaker 1: a little kind of like a whiff a whiff of 741 00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:57,200 Speaker 1: a tail. Yeah, I guess they're trying to show that 742 00:46:57,280 --> 00:47:01,200 Speaker 1: it's flat. It's not. There's there's not a lot of 743 00:47:01,239 --> 00:47:03,319 Speaker 1: beaver connection I'm seeing to this. And this is a 744 00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:08,600 Speaker 1: theme if you just google like medieval beaver drawing. Uh 745 00:47:08,880 --> 00:47:12,160 Speaker 1: not many people past the test of you know, is 746 00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:15,399 Speaker 1: this a beaver to the to the credit of the monks, 747 00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:18,279 Speaker 1: I don't think they understand genitals generally, because there's something 748 00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:20,160 Speaker 1: strange going on with the horse as well. And not 749 00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:23,560 Speaker 1: that I'm like that's the first thing, right, kind of 750 00:47:23,600 --> 00:47:26,880 Speaker 1: sounds like it, but you know, go on the horses. 751 00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:30,280 Speaker 1: The horses genitals in this picture are also very confusing. 752 00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:32,719 Speaker 1: There's a lot of like curls. It's a little bit 753 00:47:32,719 --> 00:47:37,040 Speaker 1: of a sort of looks more like a note signature 754 00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:39,560 Speaker 1: or something on a piece of music. It's not really uh, 755 00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:43,360 Speaker 1: you know, and not I'm not you know, not to 756 00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:46,560 Speaker 1: say like I would have preferred them to have lovingly 757 00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:52,080 Speaker 1: crafted a very realistic horse apparatus. But you know, yeah, 758 00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:54,640 Speaker 1: and they do have an interesting idea for because like 759 00:47:54,640 --> 00:47:57,239 Speaker 1: the beaver is chewing off its own testicles, but the 760 00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:04,560 Speaker 1: position of it is like not quite physically speaking, since 761 00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:08,799 Speaker 1: making a testicles stone look qui, they look more like 762 00:48:08,920 --> 00:48:14,319 Speaker 1: laby a major Yeah. It actually you know what, if 763 00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:17,479 Speaker 1: you didn't know they were testicles, it kind of looks 764 00:48:17,520 --> 00:48:22,239 Speaker 1: like an attempt to draw the big beaver teeth. Yeah, Oh, 765 00:48:22,320 --> 00:48:24,520 Speaker 1: that's the most beaver aspect. You're absolutely right, that's the 766 00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:27,319 Speaker 1: most beaver aspect of this entire picture. Right, But those 767 00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:32,359 Speaker 1: are in fact actually testicles. Maybe that's why maybe they 768 00:48:32,360 --> 00:48:36,799 Speaker 1: thought their teeth were testicles. Man, med medieval guys must 769 00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:41,040 Speaker 1: have been really sick with something, so like it's like, yeah, 770 00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:43,759 Speaker 1: that's what that's what they're looking down. Yeah, that's what 771 00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:47,480 Speaker 1: a normal testicle looks like. That's what how they became monks. 772 00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:50,440 Speaker 1: They realized early on, this can't be right, this can't 773 00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:54,759 Speaker 1: be right. I'm just gonna go to a monastery. I 774 00:48:54,800 --> 00:48:57,440 Speaker 1: don't think this is right. I'm not gonna put any 775 00:48:57,440 --> 00:49:01,280 Speaker 1: more thought into it. This is just can't be it. Yeah, well, 776 00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:04,000 Speaker 1: in fact, you know, the not only do beavers not 777 00:49:04,120 --> 00:49:06,880 Speaker 1: chew off their own testicles. Testicles have nothing to do 778 00:49:06,920 --> 00:49:09,640 Speaker 1: with castrium. It is just the anal glands, the musk 779 00:49:09,760 --> 00:49:14,400 Speaker 1: that they use for territorial marking. Nevertheless, people throughout history 780 00:49:14,480 --> 00:49:18,480 Speaker 1: have tried castoreum for a number of uses for the 781 00:49:18,520 --> 00:49:23,280 Speaker 1: treatment of ailments such as vertigo, flatulence, epilepsy, sciatica, hiccups, 782 00:49:23,280 --> 00:49:27,160 Speaker 1: and toothaches. Uh. None of these I believe have ever 783 00:49:27,320 --> 00:49:30,920 Speaker 1: been like backed up by any data that it works. 784 00:49:31,239 --> 00:49:34,640 Speaker 1: It was also thought to be useful to treat toxic 785 00:49:34,840 --> 00:49:40,680 Speaker 1: womb syndrome uh and hysteria in women, which were very 786 00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:44,719 Speaker 1: very real diseases and not things doctors just made up 787 00:49:44,719 --> 00:49:48,480 Speaker 1: to explain when like your wife didn't want to cook 788 00:49:48,560 --> 00:49:52,200 Speaker 1: dinner for you every night. Uh. I just love I 789 00:49:52,200 --> 00:49:54,439 Speaker 1: don't know, I love all the weird names we gave 790 00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:58,200 Speaker 1: to like women just generally not being super happy with like, 791 00:49:58,520 --> 00:50:03,440 Speaker 1: you know, just women star like, Yeah, get the general 792 00:50:04,040 --> 00:50:10,520 Speaker 1: displeasure of the system that was built for them. I'm saying, Oh, 793 00:50:10,560 --> 00:50:12,800 Speaker 1: I do think I might like the right to vote. 794 00:50:13,080 --> 00:50:16,000 Speaker 1: Sounds like you've got a case of womb with legs. 795 00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:24,040 Speaker 1: The case of the flying womb. Yeah, because wandering wounds 796 00:50:24,080 --> 00:50:27,239 Speaker 1: syndrome was another one which I don't I guess they 797 00:50:27,239 --> 00:50:32,000 Speaker 1: thought the womb went somewhere where it's not supposed to. 798 00:50:32,440 --> 00:50:37,120 Speaker 1: But yeah, so apparently, uh, beaver anal beaver anal glands 799 00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:40,200 Speaker 1: good for um, the disease that women would get when 800 00:50:40,200 --> 00:50:44,359 Speaker 1: they were less than happy with medieval life. Um. So 801 00:50:45,400 --> 00:50:48,360 Speaker 1: probably the beaver butt juice doesn't help with most of 802 00:50:48,360 --> 00:50:51,120 Speaker 1: these ailments. But it does have a chemical composition that 803 00:50:51,160 --> 00:50:55,360 Speaker 1: includes solicilic acid, which is from their tree bark heavy diet, 804 00:50:56,200 --> 00:50:59,640 Speaker 1: which does make it somewhat chemically similar to aspirin. So 805 00:51:00,160 --> 00:51:05,319 Speaker 1: maybe there were some legit uses for it. But disclaimer, 806 00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:09,000 Speaker 1: like I wouldn't go around huffing beaver butt instead of 807 00:51:09,040 --> 00:51:13,360 Speaker 1: just going to the pharmacy and getting an aspirin. Although 808 00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:15,400 Speaker 1: the way things are going now, I just feel like 809 00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:17,040 Speaker 1: that's going to be the next thing. Right. It's like, 810 00:51:17,160 --> 00:51:22,000 Speaker 1: first horse butt medicine, now beaver butt medicine for like, 811 00:51:22,239 --> 00:51:26,680 Speaker 1: you know, for just anything, any weird thing we can 812 00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:29,520 Speaker 1: try to put in our bodies. Uh, as long as 813 00:51:29,560 --> 00:51:34,879 Speaker 1: it doesn't come in like, you know, a pharmaceutical bottle. Yeah, 814 00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:36,759 Speaker 1: as long as the Western medicine didn't create it. I 815 00:51:36,800 --> 00:51:38,879 Speaker 1: think that this is a good good thing to put 816 00:51:38,880 --> 00:51:42,279 Speaker 1: away in your brain if you're ever in a hatchet situation. Yeah. Yeah, 817 00:51:42,560 --> 00:51:45,080 Speaker 1: so you're out there in the world and you got 818 00:51:45,120 --> 00:51:48,680 Speaker 1: a headache by the beaver, give it a shot. When 819 00:51:48,719 --> 00:51:51,239 Speaker 1: you survived the ordeal, come back and tell us. If 820 00:51:51,239 --> 00:51:54,000 Speaker 1: a beaver choose off your legs and it really hurts, 821 00:51:54,160 --> 00:51:57,200 Speaker 1: grab that beaver and rubb its butt against your face. 822 00:51:57,920 --> 00:52:02,680 Speaker 1: You know, it's only fair beaver causes the problem. Yeah, 823 00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:05,240 Speaker 1: just like, look, you took my legs, now I'm taking 824 00:52:05,280 --> 00:52:09,120 Speaker 1: your butt. Glance. Um. This is just kind of a 825 00:52:09,120 --> 00:52:12,919 Speaker 1: fun little thing. In medieval Europe, beavers were not even 826 00:52:13,040 --> 00:52:19,280 Speaker 1: really considered mammals given their aquatic nature, so their leathery, scaly, 827 00:52:19,440 --> 00:52:22,759 Speaker 1: fish like tails were not considered to be red meat. 828 00:52:22,920 --> 00:52:26,759 Speaker 1: They thought this is probably more like fish. So the 829 00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:30,600 Speaker 1: Catholic Church allowed people to eat beaver tails during Lent. 830 00:52:30,960 --> 00:52:36,120 Speaker 1: What a weird detail that they allowed to stay through history. 831 00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:40,200 Speaker 1: Someone thought to write that down at some point. Yeah, 832 00:52:40,480 --> 00:52:43,279 Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, we can eat beaver tails those that's 833 00:52:43,320 --> 00:52:47,360 Speaker 1: pretty cool. I just love that. The Catholic Church just 834 00:52:48,200 --> 00:52:51,200 Speaker 1: like all these parishioners going like, well, what about beaver tails. 835 00:52:51,440 --> 00:52:53,319 Speaker 1: What do you mean what about beaver tails? Well, they're 836 00:52:53,320 --> 00:52:56,640 Speaker 1: not really red meat right there, kind of fish. Yeah, 837 00:52:56,680 --> 00:53:02,120 Speaker 1: I guess, so you can eat beaver tails. What about 838 00:53:02,160 --> 00:53:05,279 Speaker 1: the fish part of the beaver. Yeah, the fish part 839 00:53:05,320 --> 00:53:09,000 Speaker 1: of the beaver is fine. Eat that. What about its head? No, no, 840 00:53:09,239 --> 00:53:15,640 Speaker 1: just the tail, that's the mammal part. What about its balls, Yes, okay, 841 00:53:15,680 --> 00:53:19,799 Speaker 1: you can do that. Obviously it's balls. I'm so sick 842 00:53:19,840 --> 00:53:26,040 Speaker 1: of answering these questions. Uh so. Yeah. Beavers were a 843 00:53:26,080 --> 00:53:29,120 Speaker 1: major force in the history of North America, both before 844 00:53:29,280 --> 00:53:33,480 Speaker 1: and after European colonization. Obviously, aside from the fact that 845 00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:38,520 Speaker 1: they created these verdant oasis is of biodiversity that was 846 00:53:38,680 --> 00:53:41,480 Speaker 1: very good for humans to be able to go and 847 00:53:41,640 --> 00:53:45,839 Speaker 1: fish and live off the land. Uh. Beaver meat was 848 00:53:46,000 --> 00:53:49,680 Speaker 1: very popular among many American Indian tribes and nations due 849 00:53:49,680 --> 00:53:52,640 Speaker 1: to the fact that they remain well fed even in winter. 850 00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:57,240 Speaker 1: So uh, you know, they have that larder of logs 851 00:53:57,440 --> 00:53:59,960 Speaker 1: under the water that they have access throughout the wind 852 00:54:00,719 --> 00:54:03,360 Speaker 1: throughout the winter, so they stay nice and fatty, whereas 853 00:54:03,680 --> 00:54:06,400 Speaker 1: other animals might struggle more during the winter. So for 854 00:54:06,520 --> 00:54:10,399 Speaker 1: a hungry human, finding a beaver a nice plump beaver 855 00:54:10,560 --> 00:54:13,920 Speaker 1: during the winter would be a real real windfall. Now, 856 00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:20,080 Speaker 1: after European colonization, the fur trade was a major driver 857 00:54:20,520 --> 00:54:25,440 Speaker 1: of colonization and expansion. In fact, it was so profitable 858 00:54:25,480 --> 00:54:28,520 Speaker 1: and so popular that it was the cause of the 859 00:54:28,560 --> 00:54:32,400 Speaker 1: Beaver Wars also known as the French and Iroquois Wars 860 00:54:32,840 --> 00:54:36,960 Speaker 1: from around sixteen hundred to seventeen hundred. If you're wondering, like, well, 861 00:54:37,080 --> 00:54:40,120 Speaker 1: why were beaver pelts so popular? Were people just going 862 00:54:40,200 --> 00:54:43,880 Speaker 1: around with like furry hats all the time? Uh, you 863 00:54:43,920 --> 00:54:46,880 Speaker 1: could do a lot of modifications to beaver pelts. So 864 00:54:47,120 --> 00:54:50,560 Speaker 1: they would actually make top hats out of beaver pelts 865 00:54:50,600 --> 00:54:54,000 Speaker 1: by removing the guard hairs so it didn't look like 866 00:54:54,040 --> 00:54:57,040 Speaker 1: a fluffy beaver coat. They would, you know, remove all 867 00:54:57,080 --> 00:54:59,760 Speaker 1: the guard hairs and so you'd have this like tough 868 00:55:00,040 --> 00:55:03,840 Speaker 1: but very shiny like material that they could make a 869 00:55:03,880 --> 00:55:07,920 Speaker 1: fancy top hat. And so that's totally worth nearly driving 870 00:55:08,080 --> 00:55:11,359 Speaker 1: a species to extinction and taking over the land of 871 00:55:11,400 --> 00:55:14,400 Speaker 1: people who already lived here. Ah, Yeah, to get your 872 00:55:14,440 --> 00:55:19,000 Speaker 1: shiny hats. Kind of what it boiled down to the 873 00:55:19,080 --> 00:55:22,319 Speaker 1: beaver pelt was there are a bunch of different hats 874 00:55:22,360 --> 00:55:24,960 Speaker 1: you can make like, um, the remember the Napoleon's type 875 00:55:24,960 --> 00:55:27,359 Speaker 1: of hat, like that kind of hat like there they 876 00:55:27,680 --> 00:55:30,400 Speaker 1: structurally held up very well, like they'd stick stick up 877 00:55:30,440 --> 00:55:32,040 Speaker 1: off the top of the head very well. And it's 878 00:55:32,040 --> 00:55:35,120 Speaker 1: just kind of like this nice felty material and hats 879 00:55:35,160 --> 00:55:40,080 Speaker 1: were I guess really important. Yeah, it was like we're like, 880 00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:44,319 Speaker 1: we went to war for hats. It's weird. We like, 881 00:55:45,120 --> 00:55:49,040 Speaker 1: you know, maybe this is oversimplifying it, but we drove 882 00:55:49,600 --> 00:55:53,759 Speaker 1: the Native American people from their homes partially because it's like, 883 00:55:53,840 --> 00:55:56,680 Speaker 1: we can make a lot of money out of hats. 884 00:55:56,680 --> 00:55:59,799 Speaker 1: So yeah, I saw it. When I did look up 885 00:55:59,840 --> 00:56:02,560 Speaker 1: lou Sin Clark, I was amazed to see how much 886 00:56:02,760 --> 00:56:05,520 Speaker 1: there was, how much they had written about the beaver, 887 00:56:05,960 --> 00:56:08,720 Speaker 1: and it turned out that, like Jefferson, there's just tons 888 00:56:08,719 --> 00:56:10,080 Speaker 1: of it. First of all, they did eat it a lot. 889 00:56:10,160 --> 00:56:11,799 Speaker 1: The it was like their favorite thing to eat along 890 00:56:11,920 --> 00:56:16,560 Speaker 1: the way. And then they also, uh, they talked about 891 00:56:16,560 --> 00:56:19,120 Speaker 1: it a lot because I because I guess jeff Jefferson 892 00:56:19,200 --> 00:56:22,640 Speaker 1: was really interested in the fur trade, and like that 893 00:56:22,719 --> 00:56:24,439 Speaker 1: was part of the reason that you sent them out 894 00:56:24,480 --> 00:56:26,560 Speaker 1: there through this huge exploration, not only to see how 895 00:56:26,600 --> 00:56:28,080 Speaker 1: far the rivers go, to see how much land they 896 00:56:28,080 --> 00:56:30,200 Speaker 1: had a mass but they were like, no, we need 897 00:56:30,200 --> 00:56:31,680 Speaker 1: to set up our own fur trade, and so we 898 00:56:31,719 --> 00:56:34,200 Speaker 1: need to find out how many beaver we have. Yeah, 899 00:56:34,280 --> 00:56:36,799 Speaker 1: this is this is like one of the things that 900 00:56:36,920 --> 00:56:39,640 Speaker 1: is frustrating to me about how like American history is 901 00:56:39,680 --> 00:56:42,560 Speaker 1: taught in schools, because like I think, now it's not 902 00:56:42,640 --> 00:56:45,879 Speaker 1: being whitewashed as much, but it's like, you know, when 903 00:56:45,880 --> 00:56:47,839 Speaker 1: I was a kid, it was like, yeah, we we 904 00:56:47,920 --> 00:56:51,319 Speaker 1: needed to find a place to escape religious persecution, and 905 00:56:51,320 --> 00:56:54,120 Speaker 1: then so that's why we all we have America now. 906 00:56:54,160 --> 00:56:56,040 Speaker 1: And then as you learn more about it, it's like 907 00:56:56,120 --> 00:56:59,239 Speaker 1: we really wanted to kill a bunch of beavers and 908 00:56:59,320 --> 00:57:06,200 Speaker 1: turn them into ass and and so we like so 909 00:57:06,320 --> 00:57:09,960 Speaker 1: we like drove them nearly to extinction, like did a 910 00:57:10,000 --> 00:57:13,480 Speaker 1: genocide just so we could have our cool hats. All right, yeah, 911 00:57:13,480 --> 00:57:16,720 Speaker 1: they're like, we want to kill all these beavers, but 912 00:57:16,760 --> 00:57:21,000 Speaker 1: there's all these people in the way. Just move them 913 00:57:21,040 --> 00:57:26,440 Speaker 1: or kill them, I guess. Yeah. Yeah, it's uh yeah, cool, cool, 914 00:57:26,760 --> 00:57:31,160 Speaker 1: cool history. Love. It really really fun than when you're 915 00:57:31,200 --> 00:57:33,439 Speaker 1: in elementary school and you're like, all right, now you're 916 00:57:33,520 --> 00:57:40,360 Speaker 1: the pilgrims, right, fun now fun? Yeah. So yeah, due 917 00:57:40,400 --> 00:57:44,480 Speaker 1: to the fur trade, beavers faced near extinction. In the 918 00:57:44,560 --> 00:57:48,720 Speaker 1: eighteen hundreds, beavers were nearing extinction in North America and 919 00:57:48,800 --> 00:57:53,000 Speaker 1: in Europe. The Eurasian beaver population at one point dwindled 920 00:57:52,960 --> 00:57:57,800 Speaker 1: to only about one thousand individuals, So we were very 921 00:57:57,880 --> 00:58:01,040 Speaker 1: close to losing the best the mole in the world. 922 00:58:01,120 --> 00:58:05,360 Speaker 1: And I'm not even being sarcastic, like without beavers there 923 00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:10,520 Speaker 1: would be a lot less biodiversity, a lot of ecosystems collapsing. 924 00:58:11,120 --> 00:58:13,960 Speaker 1: So after the fur trade became less popular in the 925 00:58:14,040 --> 00:58:18,720 Speaker 1: nineteen hundreds, beaver populations recovered. So now there are over 926 00:58:18,760 --> 00:58:22,520 Speaker 1: one million beavers in Europe, so not they didn't recover completely, 927 00:58:22,600 --> 00:58:26,640 Speaker 1: but they did improve greatly. And in North America there 928 00:58:26,680 --> 00:58:30,240 Speaker 1: are over fifteen million beavers, so that is quite an 929 00:58:30,240 --> 00:58:35,600 Speaker 1: impressive recovery. Uh. Yeah, ecologists know the importance of beavers 930 00:58:35,640 --> 00:58:40,160 Speaker 1: as architects of biodiverse, fertile areas. In uh A Kadian 931 00:58:40,240 --> 00:58:44,040 Speaker 1: National Park in the US, in Maine, the reintroduction of 932 00:58:44,120 --> 00:58:47,280 Speaker 1: beavers to the area doubled the amount of wetlands in 933 00:58:47,440 --> 00:58:53,160 Speaker 1: only fifty years. So they're just incredible. Like when we 934 00:58:53,200 --> 00:58:56,120 Speaker 1: talk about like, oh, we want to tear a form mars, 935 00:58:56,120 --> 00:58:59,080 Speaker 1: like Okay, put a bunch of beavers on Mars. Then 936 00:59:00,440 --> 00:59:02,240 Speaker 1: it always rubs me the wrong way when it's like, yeah, 937 00:59:02,280 --> 00:59:04,160 Speaker 1: we gotta go colonize Mars. It's like, could we just 938 00:59:04,240 --> 00:59:06,920 Speaker 1: like focus on one plan at a time, you know, 939 00:59:07,960 --> 00:59:10,760 Speaker 1: I'm amazed that they also areas where they have a 940 00:59:10,800 --> 00:59:13,160 Speaker 1: lot of drought. Like a way that you fix that 941 00:59:13,280 --> 00:59:16,440 Speaker 1: is you just send beavers. Yeah, like they can fix it. 942 00:59:16,560 --> 00:59:19,520 Speaker 1: Then they solve the problem of drought, which is crazy 943 00:59:19,600 --> 00:59:22,680 Speaker 1: because you know, you're not getting any more rainfall or anything, 944 00:59:22,800 --> 00:59:26,280 Speaker 1: but because they dig such deep canals and the and 945 00:59:26,360 --> 00:59:33,000 Speaker 1: when they raise the water table that also helps. It helps. Yeah, 946 00:59:33,040 --> 00:59:35,520 Speaker 1: so like the water sticks around a lot more and 947 00:59:35,720 --> 00:59:42,280 Speaker 1: it's just love. I did too. Beavers are They're pretty cool. 948 00:59:42,480 --> 00:59:44,840 Speaker 1: I feel like we talk a lot about like, oh, 949 00:59:44,960 --> 00:59:48,720 Speaker 1: we could bring back the mammoth or like maybe more reasonably, 950 00:59:48,800 --> 00:59:51,240 Speaker 1: like we could bring back the passenger pigeon, which is 951 00:59:51,280 --> 00:59:54,240 Speaker 1: not as crazy an idea, but it's like maybe we 952 00:59:54,280 --> 00:59:58,640 Speaker 1: should just slow down and start putting beavers in more places, 953 00:59:58,760 --> 01:00:01,400 Speaker 1: you know, like just calm down a little bit, start 954 01:00:01,520 --> 01:00:04,520 Speaker 1: on beavers, like before you know, we go to the 955 01:00:04,640 --> 01:00:07,800 Speaker 1: mammoth or the passenger pigeon, because One of the problems 956 01:00:07,840 --> 01:00:11,120 Speaker 1: with de extinction is that we got rid of the 957 01:00:11,160 --> 01:00:15,880 Speaker 1: eco system that originally supported passenger pigeons, let alone of 958 01:00:15,960 --> 01:00:20,400 Speaker 1: mammoth Like, we do not have the same territory for 959 01:00:20,560 --> 01:00:23,560 Speaker 1: mammoths to be able to thrive. I don't know if 960 01:00:23,560 --> 01:00:28,520 Speaker 1: you've seen North America recently, but it's not exactly a 961 01:00:28,640 --> 01:00:32,360 Speaker 1: mammoth haven. Uh So, like we always like these like 962 01:00:32,440 --> 01:00:34,960 Speaker 1: cool ideas, and then if you're like, could we just 963 01:00:35,080 --> 01:00:38,680 Speaker 1: put more beavers everywhere, you're like a boon nerd, you know, 964 01:00:38,760 --> 01:00:44,720 Speaker 1: but no, seriously, we should be putting beavers everywhere. We 965 01:00:44,840 --> 01:00:46,880 Speaker 1: are still we are sort of yeah, we're I mean 966 01:00:46,880 --> 01:00:49,400 Speaker 1: they're doing some of that, that's which is great. Yeah, 967 01:00:49,760 --> 01:00:53,600 Speaker 1: just the humble beaver. It's like, you know, Canada doesn't 968 01:00:53,680 --> 01:00:57,120 Speaker 1: seem as dorky now, does it with all their beaver emblems. 969 01:00:59,400 --> 01:01:03,160 Speaker 1: They really do. Yeah, they're they're embracing of weird animals 970 01:01:03,160 --> 01:01:06,959 Speaker 1: like the loon and the beaver. Is really inspiring to me, Yeah, 971 01:01:07,480 --> 01:01:10,080 Speaker 1: because like they're willing to look past the silliness of 972 01:01:10,120 --> 01:01:12,800 Speaker 1: the animal be like, look, this animal is important. Can 973 01:01:12,840 --> 01:01:15,800 Speaker 1: we all just be adults about this? Yeah? I wish 974 01:01:15,920 --> 01:01:17,960 Speaker 1: you know, because like in the us for like, oh, 975 01:01:18,080 --> 01:01:20,600 Speaker 1: Paul Eagle, that's so metal, and it's like, yeah, no, 976 01:01:20,720 --> 01:01:23,600 Speaker 1: I mean bald eagles are really cool. I love bald eagles. 977 01:01:23,960 --> 01:01:31,680 Speaker 1: But yeah, probably we should have gone with a beaver, honestly. Uh. 978 01:01:31,720 --> 01:01:33,560 Speaker 1: And there's I don't I don't know if you are 979 01:01:33,600 --> 01:01:36,720 Speaker 1: you are you planning to talk about the like areas 980 01:01:36,720 --> 01:01:38,760 Speaker 1: that are now flooding and everything because of beavers, like 981 01:01:39,280 --> 01:01:43,200 Speaker 1: residential areas that are flooding. No talk about it. Oh, 982 01:01:43,240 --> 01:01:48,000 Speaker 1: so this is very exciting that beavers are You're excited 983 01:01:48,040 --> 01:01:51,640 Speaker 1: for people being flood into beavers. Yeah, well, because you 984 01:01:51,680 --> 01:01:54,120 Speaker 1: know when we hunted the beaver to almost death, that 985 01:01:54,320 --> 01:01:55,960 Speaker 1: all of a sudden there are all these new like 986 01:01:56,280 --> 01:01:58,520 Speaker 1: the place where beavers I'll live the most. If you 987 01:01:58,560 --> 01:02:01,440 Speaker 1: can picture like a glacial region where a glacier went 988 01:02:01,480 --> 01:02:04,040 Speaker 1: through an area, there's mountains on both sides and then 989 01:02:04,040 --> 01:02:07,280 Speaker 1: there's a huge like horseshoe valley in the bottom of it, 990 01:02:07,320 --> 01:02:09,600 Speaker 1: and that's like where beavers thrived. And when we killed 991 01:02:09,600 --> 01:02:12,000 Speaker 1: off all the beavers, that just became grasslands, like dried 992 01:02:12,000 --> 01:02:14,360 Speaker 1: out grasslands, and everyone was like, oh, this is the 993 01:02:14,360 --> 01:02:16,320 Speaker 1: perfect place to build a city. This is the perfect 994 01:02:16,320 --> 01:02:18,400 Speaker 1: place to build a town, and and that's where like 995 01:02:18,400 --> 01:02:20,880 Speaker 1: golf courses go, that's where ranches go, because there's so 996 01:02:20,960 --> 01:02:24,480 Speaker 1: much fertile and it's all fertile because beavers made it fertile. 997 01:02:25,480 --> 01:02:28,400 Speaker 1: And so then when beavers are reintroduced or beaver numbers 998 01:02:28,400 --> 01:02:30,880 Speaker 1: start coming back, they're building damns and anywhere that they 999 01:02:30,880 --> 01:02:34,120 Speaker 1: hear water. And so when they're doing that, all those 1000 01:02:34,160 --> 01:02:41,080 Speaker 1: areas are flooding again. Everyone's like what takes the beavers? 1001 01:02:41,080 --> 01:02:42,400 Speaker 1: And the beavers will do it in a night to 1002 01:02:42,600 --> 01:02:45,560 Speaker 1: like people will go out there. They're like, culverts are 1003 01:02:45,560 --> 01:02:48,160 Speaker 1: a big problem underneath roads where beavers hear the water 1004 01:02:48,160 --> 01:02:50,520 Speaker 1: in the culvert, they damn up the culvert and it 1005 01:02:50,640 --> 01:02:53,640 Speaker 1: just floods the road. And so the next day people 1006 01:02:53,640 --> 01:02:57,360 Speaker 1: will come and like remove all the dam and overnight 1007 01:02:57,400 --> 01:02:59,720 Speaker 1: the beavers will just build it again. Such hard work. 1008 01:03:00,040 --> 01:03:02,840 Speaker 1: I love this. I mean, like I feel a little 1009 01:03:02,880 --> 01:03:07,080 Speaker 1: sympathy for just like regular people living there. But on 1010 01:03:07,240 --> 01:03:11,240 Speaker 1: the other hand, this is rad It's the radical change 1011 01:03:11,360 --> 01:03:14,800 Speaker 1: that like we need in politics. Uh. I feel like, 1012 01:03:15,520 --> 01:03:18,080 Speaker 1: you know, there's a lot of arguments of like how 1013 01:03:18,120 --> 01:03:20,960 Speaker 1: how do you actually protest capitalism? I think just being 1014 01:03:21,040 --> 01:03:26,440 Speaker 1: a beaver, you know, there's a there's a guy in Ontario. 1015 01:03:26,480 --> 01:03:28,400 Speaker 1: I think he's on Ontario. He's just this French Canadian 1016 01:03:28,400 --> 01:03:31,160 Speaker 1: guy who his for a long time. His job was 1017 01:03:31,200 --> 01:03:33,800 Speaker 1: basically like, you gotta get the beavers out of this 1018 01:03:33,840 --> 01:03:36,520 Speaker 1: one particular town or this area. And he was him 1019 01:03:36,600 --> 01:03:38,760 Speaker 1: hunting and killing beavers for a while and trapping them, 1020 01:03:38,760 --> 01:03:40,720 Speaker 1: but he's trapping other things because it's really hard to 1021 01:03:40,760 --> 01:03:43,440 Speaker 1: trap a beaver. We end up catching like different herons 1022 01:03:43,480 --> 01:03:45,440 Speaker 1: and things like that. And he was getting really depressed 1023 01:03:45,440 --> 01:03:47,280 Speaker 1: by it. And then he was like, there's gotta be 1024 01:03:47,320 --> 01:03:49,400 Speaker 1: a way to work with the beaver. And he figured 1025 01:03:49,440 --> 01:03:52,920 Speaker 1: out that if he any area that was like a 1026 01:03:54,160 --> 01:03:56,720 Speaker 1: potentially could become this wetland area and they would end 1027 01:03:56,760 --> 01:03:59,760 Speaker 1: up flooding houses and things, he would put in the 1028 01:04:00,080 --> 01:04:02,640 Speaker 1: darts of what could be a great beaver dam, but 1029 01:04:02,720 --> 01:04:06,360 Speaker 1: with pipes at the bottom of it so that and 1030 01:04:06,360 --> 01:04:09,520 Speaker 1: then he would put um noise. He put it anywhere 1031 01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:11,959 Speaker 1: that he wanted the dever the beaver to build a damn. 1032 01:04:12,240 --> 01:04:14,360 Speaker 1: He just put a CD player that it was playing 1033 01:04:14,360 --> 01:04:17,880 Speaker 1: the sound of water, yeah, because they're they're actually triggered 1034 01:04:17,920 --> 01:04:20,840 Speaker 1: by the sound of flowing water. To start construction of 1035 01:04:20,880 --> 01:04:25,160 Speaker 1: the dam and then they're triggered. But the sound of leaks, 1036 01:04:25,200 --> 01:04:27,480 Speaker 1: so like if the dam is leaking, they'll go in 1037 01:04:27,600 --> 01:04:30,440 Speaker 1: and locate where the sound is coming from. It's like 1038 01:04:30,680 --> 01:04:32,320 Speaker 1: I hear the sound. I hear the sound. I need 1039 01:04:32,320 --> 01:04:36,120 Speaker 1: to pack more sticks where the sound is. It's a 1040 01:04:36,200 --> 01:04:37,960 Speaker 1: quote of living in a house with like a leaky faucet, 1041 01:04:37,960 --> 01:04:39,520 Speaker 1: where it's like I can't stand it. I won't, I 1042 01:04:39,560 --> 01:04:42,880 Speaker 1: won't live here having a beaver in the house and 1043 01:04:42,960 --> 01:04:44,920 Speaker 1: just just like a leaky faucet and you wake up 1044 01:04:44,920 --> 01:04:48,000 Speaker 1: and there's just a bunch of sticks in there. But 1045 01:04:48,320 --> 01:04:50,120 Speaker 1: by putting the pipes at the bottom of it, what 1046 01:04:50,200 --> 01:04:52,160 Speaker 1: he can do then is that once they build the 1047 01:04:52,240 --> 01:04:54,280 Speaker 1: dam in that area, if the water table ever gets 1048 01:04:54,280 --> 01:04:56,360 Speaker 1: too high, he just basically opens up the bottom one 1049 01:04:56,400 --> 01:04:58,320 Speaker 1: of these pipes and like lets out a bunch of 1050 01:04:58,360 --> 01:05:00,520 Speaker 1: the water and they can close it right back. That's 1051 01:05:00,600 --> 01:05:09,600 Speaker 1: perfect bottle and sell that nice good beaver water, beaver 1052 01:05:09,800 --> 01:05:15,800 Speaker 1: purified water. Just the tiniest bit of beaver piss. Yeah, 1053 01:05:16,000 --> 01:05:20,440 Speaker 1: just the little just a little chef's kiss of beaver piss. 1054 01:05:21,640 --> 01:05:24,040 Speaker 1: But I love that he's like figured out how to 1055 01:05:24,680 --> 01:05:27,920 Speaker 1: how to work with them. No, it's we have to. 1056 01:05:28,280 --> 01:05:31,200 Speaker 1: We we got to learn to live with the beaver. 1057 01:05:31,600 --> 01:05:38,640 Speaker 1: That's like, it's it's so important to recognize the importance 1058 01:05:38,640 --> 01:05:41,160 Speaker 1: of beavers because you know, we we talked about like, oh, 1059 01:05:41,280 --> 01:05:44,280 Speaker 1: it increases bio diversity and this is good for the environment. 1060 01:05:44,320 --> 01:05:48,120 Speaker 1: I think sometimes people get this perception that we're not 1061 01:05:48,160 --> 01:05:50,160 Speaker 1: really part of the environment, so we don't have to 1062 01:05:50,520 --> 01:05:52,360 Speaker 1: you know, it's like, oh, it's nice in theory to 1063 01:05:52,440 --> 01:05:54,680 Speaker 1: care about it, but you know, we're not. You know, 1064 01:05:54,880 --> 01:05:58,000 Speaker 1: when we're talking about biodiversity that doesn't really impact humans, 1065 01:05:58,640 --> 01:06:02,880 Speaker 1: but it does. Oh it kind of kids. Yeah, oops, 1066 01:06:02,960 --> 01:06:05,320 Speaker 1: we're kind of you know, we're all we're in it. 1067 01:06:05,520 --> 01:06:09,040 Speaker 1: We're in the environment. Uh. Also, yeah, now that it 1068 01:06:09,080 --> 01:06:13,280 Speaker 1: has actual like monetary um consequences, people are like, oh, 1069 01:06:13,320 --> 01:06:16,160 Speaker 1: maybe beavers aren't so bad that they're like these ranches 1070 01:06:16,200 --> 01:06:19,040 Speaker 1: where there are droughts and then they're looking for anywhere 1071 01:06:19,040 --> 01:06:21,440 Speaker 1: to put their cattle that actually has water, and so 1072 01:06:21,520 --> 01:06:24,880 Speaker 1: like they'll find other ranches where they know that beavers 1073 01:06:24,920 --> 01:06:26,960 Speaker 1: have like a presence there, and they're like, Okay, can 1074 01:06:27,000 --> 01:06:28,800 Speaker 1: we send our cows to here ranch for a while 1075 01:06:29,320 --> 01:06:32,040 Speaker 1: to go graze and eat and everything, because they're like 1076 01:06:32,080 --> 01:06:36,200 Speaker 1: they're saving these ranches, there by creating water tables that 1077 01:06:36,240 --> 01:06:39,040 Speaker 1: are a little bit higher, and again fighting against drought. 1078 01:06:39,240 --> 01:06:41,520 Speaker 1: It is kind of sad though, that it comes down to, 1079 01:06:41,640 --> 01:06:43,880 Speaker 1: like we have all these droughts and like the sky 1080 01:06:44,040 --> 01:06:46,800 Speaker 1: is orange and we're like, maybe we made a mistake 1081 01:06:46,920 --> 01:06:50,080 Speaker 1: trying to kill off the beavers. I'm not trying to 1082 01:06:50,120 --> 01:06:54,200 Speaker 1: turn the beavers into half. It was fun, I'll admit that, 1083 01:06:55,520 --> 01:07:02,640 Speaker 1: though they were so shiny. Well before we go, UM, 1084 01:07:03,000 --> 01:07:07,160 Speaker 1: I do need to reveal the mystery animal sound from 1085 01:07:07,280 --> 01:07:11,120 Speaker 1: last week. So every week for this new season, I've 1086 01:07:11,120 --> 01:07:14,520 Speaker 1: been playing a little game with you the listener and 1087 01:07:14,600 --> 01:07:17,640 Speaker 1: you the guest, where I play an animal sound and 1088 01:07:17,720 --> 01:07:22,200 Speaker 1: you've got to guess who's talking, and if you answer correctly, 1089 01:07:22,320 --> 01:07:24,720 Speaker 1: and you write to me at Creature Feature Pod at 1090 01:07:24,800 --> 01:07:28,320 Speaker 1: gmail dot com, Creature feature pot on Instagram, or Creature 1091 01:07:28,440 --> 01:07:33,280 Speaker 1: feet Pod, that's eight that's something very different on Twitter, 1092 01:07:33,440 --> 01:07:36,880 Speaker 1: I will read aloud the names of the first three 1093 01:07:36,920 --> 01:07:41,320 Speaker 1: people to guess the sound correctly. So, uh, as of 1094 01:07:41,440 --> 01:07:45,560 Speaker 1: recording this podcast, actually nobody has guessed the right answer 1095 01:07:45,600 --> 01:07:50,000 Speaker 1: to last week's mystery animal sound, which is a first. Uh, 1096 01:07:50,040 --> 01:07:53,200 Speaker 1: everyone's been pretty good at guessing things. So I raised 1097 01:07:53,200 --> 01:07:57,640 Speaker 1: the difficulty level a little bit and um, maybe raised 1098 01:07:57,640 --> 01:08:02,040 Speaker 1: a little too high because a tricky one. This is 1099 01:08:02,080 --> 01:08:06,240 Speaker 1: a tricky one. Um, I will just before releasing this 1100 01:08:06,280 --> 01:08:09,320 Speaker 1: all oh, keep checking so if somebody giveses it right, 1101 01:08:09,360 --> 01:08:13,160 Speaker 1: I will answert it. Here. Hello, it's Katie. I'm speaking 1102 01:08:13,160 --> 01:08:15,160 Speaker 1: through a robot since I had to add this in 1103 01:08:15,240 --> 01:08:18,839 Speaker 1: last minute. Bee boo boop. Nobody guess the right animal, 1104 01:08:19,040 --> 01:08:22,880 Speaker 1: but good hustle everyone, bee beep, death to humans. Just kidding. 1105 01:08:23,360 --> 01:08:25,599 Speaker 1: So just to remind you and for you to listen 1106 01:08:25,640 --> 01:08:28,559 Speaker 1: to sore in, here is the sound from last week, 1107 01:08:28,800 --> 01:08:31,920 Speaker 1: and the hint was you do not want to get 1108 01:08:32,000 --> 01:08:41,280 Speaker 1: in a knife fight with this guy's yeah, oh yeah, yeah, 1109 01:08:42,320 --> 01:08:45,400 Speaker 1: all right, so that was the sound. So do you 1110 01:08:45,439 --> 01:08:49,000 Speaker 1: have any guesses? Yes, it's the frog that can uh 1111 01:08:49,760 --> 01:08:52,760 Speaker 1: can send its own bones through its skin. That is 1112 01:08:52,880 --> 01:08:57,800 Speaker 1: so interesting because I had been bowling on last week 1113 01:08:58,320 --> 01:09:01,760 Speaker 1: and he guessed the same thing, and gosh, darn itt, 1114 01:09:01,760 --> 01:09:07,040 Speaker 1: but you're both wrong. It sounds like megafauna. It sounds 1115 01:09:07,040 --> 01:09:12,600 Speaker 1: like something big. Maybe it is something big, but you 1116 01:09:12,640 --> 01:09:14,760 Speaker 1: want to hear what the answer is, Sorer, you got 1117 01:09:14,800 --> 01:09:21,760 Speaker 1: any more guesses? Alright? The answer is cassowary so I 1118 01:09:21,800 --> 01:09:27,960 Speaker 1: should have known that. Oh God, I'm an idiot. I 1119 01:09:28,040 --> 01:09:29,840 Speaker 1: love the cast wary. I will go to the zoo 1120 01:09:29,880 --> 01:09:31,599 Speaker 1: just to see the cast a wary because they're so 1121 01:09:31,680 --> 01:09:37,040 Speaker 1: piste off all the time. They're angry, angry animals. So 1122 01:09:37,200 --> 01:09:41,880 Speaker 1: castwaries are large, flightless, blue faced ornerary birds with a 1123 01:09:41,920 --> 01:09:45,280 Speaker 1: five inch long dagger like toe claw they can use 1124 01:09:45,360 --> 01:09:48,360 Speaker 1: to stab you. They grew up to six ft tall, 1125 01:09:48,400 --> 01:09:50,640 Speaker 1: which is about one eights and they way up to 1126 01:09:50,760 --> 01:09:54,600 Speaker 1: one and thirty pounds which is about fifty eight. You 1127 01:09:54,680 --> 01:09:57,960 Speaker 1: do not want to get into a fight with a cassowary. Uh. 1128 01:09:58,000 --> 01:10:03,480 Speaker 1: They are big living dinosaur wars. They will destroy you easily. 1129 01:10:03,560 --> 01:10:06,200 Speaker 1: They're the closest thing we have to a velociraptor in 1130 01:10:06,240 --> 01:10:09,880 Speaker 1: the modern world. And they have this prehistoric plate on 1131 01:10:09,960 --> 01:10:12,720 Speaker 1: the top of their heads, so confusing and weird. The 1132 01:10:12,840 --> 01:10:17,960 Speaker 1: cask yes, and they are unlike testicles hanging from their neck, 1133 01:10:18,000 --> 01:10:21,280 Speaker 1: which is also very strange, like these wattles whatever those are. 1134 01:10:21,680 --> 01:10:26,040 Speaker 1: And they are uh, super territorial, so like they're ready 1135 01:10:26,080 --> 01:10:28,400 Speaker 1: to kill anything. People get killed by these things in 1136 01:10:28,400 --> 01:10:30,160 Speaker 1: New Guinea all the time because at the water to 1137 01:10:30,240 --> 01:10:33,160 Speaker 1: a cassewary's territory. They'll just come and eviscerate you with 1138 01:10:33,200 --> 01:10:36,200 Speaker 1: their toe. Yeah, yeah, yeah, they live in a New Guinea. 1139 01:10:36,240 --> 01:10:39,439 Speaker 1: They also, of course live in Australia. Australia has always 1140 01:10:39,479 --> 01:10:42,679 Speaker 1: got to have a little taste of some of the 1141 01:10:42,720 --> 01:10:47,560 Speaker 1: most dangerous animals. Um and they produce the lowest frequency 1142 01:10:47,720 --> 01:10:52,080 Speaker 1: bird call in the world. In fact, sometimes they're rumbling. 1143 01:10:52,320 --> 01:10:56,360 Speaker 1: Territorial call is so low it's beyond the range of 1144 01:10:56,479 --> 01:10:59,280 Speaker 1: human hearing. Sometimes it's one of those things where like 1145 01:10:59,479 --> 01:11:02,679 Speaker 1: young like kids can hear it, but adults can't because 1146 01:11:02,680 --> 01:11:05,200 Speaker 1: as we get older, our hearing gets worse and worse. 1147 01:11:05,800 --> 01:11:08,080 Speaker 1: So like sometimes like a young person will be able 1148 01:11:08,120 --> 01:11:12,080 Speaker 1: to hear the sound better than an older person. Uh 1149 01:11:12,880 --> 01:11:17,640 Speaker 1: but yeah, so you know, it is of part of 1150 01:11:17,680 --> 01:11:21,400 Speaker 1: the reason that they can produce this lot very loud 1151 01:11:21,520 --> 01:11:25,320 Speaker 1: and low frequency. Is that prehistoric thingy on your their 1152 01:11:25,320 --> 01:11:28,840 Speaker 1: head that you describe, It's called a cask. It is 1153 01:11:28,880 --> 01:11:32,479 Speaker 1: a hard, keratinist, thin like protrusion on the top of 1154 01:11:32,520 --> 01:11:35,760 Speaker 1: their heads that is hollow with some sort of fibrous 1155 01:11:36,280 --> 01:11:41,479 Speaker 1: tissue on the inside that helps amplify these terrifying calls. 1156 01:11:42,080 --> 01:11:44,519 Speaker 1: It's yeah, it is definitely one of those things I mean, 1157 01:11:44,600 --> 01:11:47,760 Speaker 1: birds technically are dinosaurs. We don't really think of them 1158 01:11:47,800 --> 01:11:51,519 Speaker 1: as dinosaurs. Um. But when you think about like a 1159 01:11:51,600 --> 01:11:55,080 Speaker 1: t rex or a velociraptor and you hear a cassaware, 1160 01:11:55,120 --> 01:11:59,240 Speaker 1: you're like, oh yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, that's a dinosaur. Yeah, 1161 01:12:00,280 --> 01:12:04,080 Speaker 1: the relationship is much much clearer. You think about like, well, 1162 01:12:04,120 --> 01:12:07,519 Speaker 1: would it really be too scary to live in dinosaur times? 1163 01:12:07,640 --> 01:12:10,600 Speaker 1: And you come face to face with the cassowary, and 1164 01:12:10,640 --> 01:12:14,479 Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, no, it'd be bad. It's suck pretty hard. 1165 01:12:15,720 --> 01:12:17,880 Speaker 1: I encourage anyone to that knows that they have a 1166 01:12:18,000 --> 01:12:19,880 Speaker 1: zoo nearby with the castowary at it is to go 1167 01:12:19,960 --> 01:12:22,320 Speaker 1: see that zoo in that cast a wary, because they 1168 01:12:22,360 --> 01:12:24,679 Speaker 1: look like they want to murder everybody there. They're never 1169 01:12:24,840 --> 01:12:27,120 Speaker 1: at any point or they like that's fine, I'm just 1170 01:12:27,160 --> 01:12:28,680 Speaker 1: in this. Like all the other animals come to some 1171 01:12:28,720 --> 01:12:30,559 Speaker 1: sort of resignment where they just sort of sit there 1172 01:12:30,560 --> 01:12:32,920 Speaker 1: and they accept there in this cage, not the cast wary. 1173 01:12:32,920 --> 01:12:35,000 Speaker 1: The castowary will pace and look at you like it 1174 01:12:35,000 --> 01:12:37,600 Speaker 1: wants to kill you, because it does. Haven't forbid, I 1175 01:12:37,640 --> 01:12:40,360 Speaker 1: haven't forbid. You have other animals that like, are wild? 1176 01:12:40,560 --> 01:12:43,519 Speaker 1: Are the wild? At the zoo. Like somebody squirrels or 1177 01:12:43,560 --> 01:12:47,559 Speaker 1: peacock's getting these individual cages. You will be in luck 1178 01:12:47,600 --> 01:12:50,040 Speaker 1: because the cast wary will chase that and try and 1179 01:12:50,120 --> 01:12:54,639 Speaker 1: kill it. It's incredible. Yeah, yeah, it's uh. They are 1180 01:12:56,120 --> 01:13:00,600 Speaker 1: I think the most murderous uh animal in terms of 1181 01:13:00,680 --> 01:13:02,720 Speaker 1: I don't even know if they have the highest kill rate. 1182 01:13:02,760 --> 01:13:07,519 Speaker 1: I don't think so. That's probably like the small black 1183 01:13:07,560 --> 01:13:14,240 Speaker 1: footed cat or something. But they certainly have the intent. 1184 01:13:14,680 --> 01:13:19,040 Speaker 1: I think the most, the most blood lust of any 1185 01:13:19,080 --> 01:13:25,160 Speaker 1: animal I get just radiating off of a cassowary. I've 1186 01:13:25,240 --> 01:13:27,360 Speaker 1: changed my mind. No longer the beaver fan. I want 1187 01:13:27,360 --> 01:13:33,280 Speaker 1: a cast a wary. Between getting shipped by a cassowary 1188 01:13:33,760 --> 01:13:38,360 Speaker 1: foot and getting my femoral artery severed by a beaver tooth, 1189 01:13:39,080 --> 01:13:42,479 Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know what's what would be worse, 1190 01:13:43,960 --> 01:13:49,680 Speaker 1: but so uh, we have another mystery sound for you 1191 01:13:49,680 --> 01:13:53,360 Speaker 1: guys to try to guess for next week. Here is 1192 01:13:53,560 --> 01:13:57,160 Speaker 1: a hint for this one. They may sound like a ringwraith, 1193 01:13:57,439 --> 01:14:02,080 Speaker 1: but these passionate fellows have something other than Frodo on 1194 01:14:02,200 --> 01:14:17,880 Speaker 1: the mind. Yeah all right, so that's that's nice. That's cozy, 1195 01:14:19,720 --> 01:14:23,920 Speaker 1: relaxing nature sound. I love to relax with some nature 1196 01:14:24,000 --> 01:14:31,000 Speaker 1: sounds like right before going to bed. And just so, 1197 01:14:31,120 --> 01:14:35,400 Speaker 1: so when you got any guesses for who's talking, Yeah, 1198 01:14:35,439 --> 01:14:37,720 Speaker 1: I gotta guess. I'll bleep you out if you get 1199 01:14:37,760 --> 01:14:41,200 Speaker 1: it right, So don't hold back. Zebra, it might be 1200 01:14:41,240 --> 01:14:43,800 Speaker 1: a will to be I think it's a zebra. It 1201 01:14:43,960 --> 01:14:46,320 Speaker 1: is not a zebra. I guess I probably shouldn't have 1202 01:14:46,360 --> 01:14:48,280 Speaker 1: said that, but I guess that's another hint it's not 1203 01:14:48,320 --> 01:14:55,080 Speaker 1: a zebra. So there you go, but very good guess. 1204 01:14:55,200 --> 01:14:58,799 Speaker 1: Uh uh. And of course I will reveal the answer 1205 01:14:59,000 --> 01:15:02,920 Speaker 1: to the guests used talking contest next Wednesday on the 1206 01:15:02,960 --> 01:15:06,160 Speaker 1: new episode of Creature feature. Soar, and thank you so 1207 01:15:06,240 --> 01:15:09,680 Speaker 1: much for joining me today to talk all about beavers. 1208 01:15:09,800 --> 01:15:12,280 Speaker 1: I feel like we could talk for hours about beavers. 1209 01:15:12,320 --> 01:15:14,920 Speaker 1: Just there's just so much to say. There's so much 1210 01:15:14,960 --> 01:15:19,479 Speaker 1: to say about the noble beaver. But so, where can 1211 01:15:19,520 --> 01:15:22,519 Speaker 1: people find you to give you all their beaver takes? 1212 01:15:23,880 --> 01:15:25,880 Speaker 1: You can find me. Uh well, First for you can 1213 01:15:25,920 --> 01:15:28,920 Speaker 1: listen to my podcast with Daniel O'Brien. Um. We talked 1214 01:15:28,920 --> 01:15:32,959 Speaker 1: about animals very rarely, so if you're having an animal overdose, 1215 01:15:33,040 --> 01:15:37,720 Speaker 1: you can come and visit. Sounds dumb and boring you 1216 01:15:37,800 --> 01:15:41,920 Speaker 1: can visit uh Quick Question with Soren and Daniel and 1217 01:15:42,560 --> 01:15:44,680 Speaker 1: you can also find me on Twitter at sore and 1218 01:15:44,800 --> 01:15:47,519 Speaker 1: Underscore Ltd. If you want to send in your guesses, 1219 01:15:47,560 --> 01:15:49,479 Speaker 1: like I said earlier, you can write an at Creature 1220 01:15:49,479 --> 01:15:54,080 Speaker 1: feature Pot at gmail dot com, Creature feature Pot on Instagram, 1221 01:15:54,080 --> 01:15:58,400 Speaker 1: Creature feet Pot on Twitter. That's eighteen. That's something very different. 1222 01:15:58,479 --> 01:16:01,479 Speaker 1: And if you are in join the show and you 1223 01:16:01,520 --> 01:16:04,760 Speaker 1: want to leave a rating or review, I do so 1224 01:16:04,920 --> 01:16:08,160 Speaker 1: appreciate it. I read all the reviews and they warm 1225 01:16:08,240 --> 01:16:12,200 Speaker 1: my heart. Uh and yeah, thank you so much for listening. 1226 01:16:12,640 --> 01:16:15,719 Speaker 1: And thanks to the Space Classics for their super awesome 1227 01:16:15,760 --> 01:16:19,080 Speaker 1: song ex Solumina. Freat show features a production of I 1228 01:16:19,280 --> 01:16:22,519 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts like the one you just heard, 1229 01:16:22,640 --> 01:16:25,920 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or Hey, 1230 01:16:25,960 --> 01:16:28,679 Speaker 1: guess what where have you listen to your favorite shows? 1231 01:16:28,840 --> 01:16:32,960 Speaker 1: I don't judge, it could be anywhere. I um it's 1232 01:16:33,200 --> 01:16:34,920 Speaker 1: That's not my place to tell you where to listen 1233 01:16:34,920 --> 01:16:38,160 Speaker 1: to your podcast. See you next Wednesday.