Well Dam: Beavers on the Move

Happy Friday, Missians!

We finally made it to the weekend.  And what better way to celebrate the weekend than by hanging with beavers??  Yes, I know--there are much better ways...but since you're here, anyway, you may as well give it a read.  (PS, I know this was supposed to come out yesterday, but I was being interviewed about my book, so my mind was all over the place in preparation for that); but better late than never, so here we go...

Today's Beaver Facts are courtesy of Mental Floss:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/62316/11-fascinating-facts-about-beavers

1. They used to be giant

Although they didn’t have the characteristic flat tail, giant beavers of the Ice Age, known as “Castoroides,” looked remarkably similar to their modern descendants—just much, much bigger. They grew to be up to 8 feet long and 200 pounds and lived a semi-aquatic life.

2. They secrete a goo that smells like vanilla

In fact, it’s sometimes used in vanilla flavorings. Castoreum is a chemical compound that mostly comes from a beaver’s castor sacs, which are located under the tail. It is secreted as a brown slime that's about the consistency of molasses and smells like musky vanilla. It’s an FDA-approved natural flavoring.

3. Their dams can be enormous

The world’s largest beaver dam stretches 850 meters deep in the thick wilderness of northern Alberta. It was discovered after being spotted on a satellite image in 2007, but scientists believe multiple generations of beavers have been working on the dam since the 1970s. Last September, explorer Rob Mark became the first person to ever reach the dam.

4. Beavers are romantics at heart

Or at least they're monogamous. Dams are usually started by a young male looking for love or by a mated-for-life new couple. A whole beaver family will live in a single dam—mom, dad, young kids, and yearlings.

5. They once traveled by parachute

In 1948, new human inhabitants of western Idaho began to clash with the local beaver population. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game wanted to put these threatened beavers in a nearby protected area, but they didn't know how to get them there. Elmo Heter of Idaho Fish and Game devised an ingenious solution: By using surplus parachutes from World War II, the department could drop boxes of beavers down from planes. After some careful calibrations, 76 beavers made the skydive into the basin, and all but one survived the fall.

6. Beavers do not bite off their own testicles

This one may sound obvious, but up until the 1100s, people thought that beavers did. The myth originated in ancient Egypt and reappeared in the bestiaries of medieval Europe. The story went that beavers knew hunters were after them for the valuable castoreum oil in their testicles. This myth was not terribly difficult to disprove, largely because beaver testicles do not hang outside their bodies.

The above "fact" is so bizarre.  I'd never even heard of that, or thought it was a thing.  Thank goodness it's not true.  Ouch!

To check out the other five Beaver Facts be sure to click the link above and continue reading on Mental Floss.  And be sure to check back here on Monday for another May Mythical Beast post.  This time we'll be discussing Elementals.

Until next time,

This is your host J,

signing off...