One Beaver's Passing

Christmas Eve morning, driving to Walmart for cheese and frozen butter beans, we came across this beaver lying stretched out dead on the road.  It looked like it had just lain down to take a nap and would be rising up directly and going on about his business.  It was still drizzling and his fur was wet with the rain, but other than that, he seemed untouched.  I got out to take a picture and the only thing wrong with him as far as I could tell was that he was dead.  His paws, tucked back behind him, just about broke my heart.  A magnificent creature, dead on the road.  Lots of folks around here hate beavers and would just as soon shoot it or run over it as look at it.  I'm not denying they can be a nuisance and cause problems with their dam building and tree gnawing, but they have a place in the world, just as we do.  An honest, self-reflective soul might note that we cause a lot more damage to the planet than the beaver.

Beavers are the largest rodents on this continent and other than man, they're the only ones that modify their habitat to suit them.  Strict vegetarians, they can weigh over 60 lbs, but mostly they weigh between 35-40.

The time was when there were no beavers in South Carolina; they'd been hunted down and eradicated by the early 1900's.  In fact, they were almost hunted to the edge of extinction in North America.  By the late 1800's, you'd have been hard pressed to find one in this state. For about 1/2 a century, no beavers lived in the state.  Finally, the craze for beaver pelts died down and with proper management the beavers have made a remarkable comeback, re-inhabiting their former range and becoming quite common.  In the winter of 1941, the National Wildlife folks released six in the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge.  All the beavers in the state are descendents of that group of six.

Some folks probably think that was a big mistake, bringing the beaver back.  However, beavers play an important part in the ecology of the forest.  The dams they build create habitat for a host of other animals and plants.  Deer forage on shrubby plants that grow where the beavers fell trees.Waterfowl use the beaver's pond as a nesting area and a migratory resting stop.  Ducks and geese actually build their nests right on top of the beaver lodge since it is warm and protected in the middle of the pond. Woodpeckers are attracted by the insects that come to feed on the trees that die from the rising water.  Later the holes made by the woodpecker will serve as homes for other wildlife.   Along the fertile edge of the marshy beaver built ponds, herons, raccoons, weasels and other animals hunt for frogs and other prey.  The wood duck has benefited greatly from the creation of nesting and brood rearing habitat that is a direct result of the beaver's efforts.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/beavers.html  This Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife site provides fascinating information about these remarkable creatures.

Graphic Side Note (rated for Mature Audiences--so if you are a young'un, quit reading):

I've always been puzzled as to why the gentalia of a woman was called a "beaver."  After doing a little research, the answer that seems most reasonable to me came from urban dictionary and was backed up by Wikipedia.  It seems credible but don't quote me on it.  "In colonial times it was thought that prostitutes spread venereal diseases through contact with their pubic area, so the women were made "bald" in that area for health reasons. However, their clients did not like that look and business began to suffer. Therefore, pubic wigs, called merkins, were manufactured for the prostitutes. These merkins were made out of beaver pelts. Hence the term beaver. Learned this on a historical tour of Philadelphia."  Could be totally out there and a complete fallacy, but maybe it's true.