{"id":7609,"date":"2026-05-15T00:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T00:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/?p=7609"},"modified":"2026-05-15T00:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T00:05:00","slug":"the-furry-gold-of-canada-the-beavers-50-year-legacy-the-walrus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rjbarrett.redirectme.net\/?p=7609","title":{"rendered":"The Furry Gold of Canada: The Beaver\u2019s 50-Year Legacy | The Walrus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Fifty years ago, Canada made the beaver an official national symbol. But long before that, this little animal was shaping rivers, driving trade, and quietly transforming the land. <\/p>\n<p>Wildlife ecologist Dr. Glynnis Hood and Jan Kingshott, director of animal welfare at Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, take us inside the beaver\u2019s world\u2014from its role in the fur trade to its work as an ecosystem engineer today\u2014and show why it remains one of Canada\u2019s most remarkable and resilient symbols.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Listen to the episode: <\/strong><br \/><iframe allow=\"autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *; clipboard-write\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"175\" style=\"width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.podcasts.apple.com\/ca\/podcast\/the-furry-gold-of-canada-the-beavers-50-year-legacy\/id1671819674?i=1000741668739\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Angela Misri: Canada has plenty of national symbols. We\u2019ve got the maple leaf, the mountains, the moose, but few are as unlikely or as influential as the beaver. For more than 400 years, this small, industrious rodent has powered the early fur trade, fuelled international commerce, and helped lay the economic groundwork for what would become Canada. And yes, we Canadians know beavers are famous for a little extra industriousness too. Let\u2019s just say their reputation isn\u2019t confined to the forest.<\/p>\n<p>Welcome to <em>Canadian Time Machine<\/em>, a podcast that explores key milestones in our country\u2019s history. I\u2019m Angela Misri. 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the beaver being officially recognized as Canada\u2019s national symbol. It\u2019s a milestone that gives us a chance to look beyond the symbolism and to reflect on our relationship with nature and the animals that have shaped these lands long before Confederation, because when a beaver moves into an area, everything changes. They build dams and create wetlands which are rich habitats that support plants, fish, birds, insects and even help buffer us from droughts and floods. They\u2019re ecosystem engineers, one of the few species on Earth capable of transforming a landscape on such a massive scale. <\/p>\n<p>So in this episode, we\u2019re not just celebrating an icon. We\u2019re exploring what the beaver has meant to Canada, culturally, historically and ecologically, and what it means to live alongside them today and to begin we\u2019re heading to Muskoka to a sanctuary that specializes in caring for injured and orphaned beavers. <\/p>\n<p>Jan Kingshott: My name is Jan Kingshott, and I am the director of animal welfare here at Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Muskoka, Ontario. <\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Jan\u2019s decades working with horses gave her a deep understanding of animal behavior, a skill she now applies to caring for Ontario\u2019s native species, which include more than 200 mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and of course, the industrious beaver.<\/p>\n<p>Jan Kingshott: We take in about 1000 animals a year for rehabilitation, and we actually specialize in beavers.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Beavers may be a symbol of Canada, but at Aspen Valley, they\u2019re living, breathing personalities. They\u2019re playful, persistent, sometimes stubborn, and always teaching Jan and her team something new.<\/p>\n<p>Jan Kingshott: We\u2019re probably one of the largest facilities in North America for beaver rehabilitation, and in Ontario, probably just one of few that can actually rehabilitate a beaver from infancy to release, which is two years. Typically, we have about 10 or 12 in the facility at one time, and the reason is, is because they have to stay with us for a long time in the wild. They wouldn\u2019t be dispersing from their family unit until they\u2019re two years old. And so of course, we want to replicate that. We don\u2019t want to put beavers out into the wild sooner than they should be. We want to make sure that they are going to go out there and thrive. So we\u2019ve had beavers that have come to us, that have been shot with arrows or been hit by cars and have broken limbs, and not all cases we can save them, but when we can, it\u2019s just amazing what they can some some of them can overcome. So those are the ones that kind of always stick out, I think.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: And after all that drama, arrows, cars and broken limbs, these little survivors get to start the next chapter of their lives somewhere a bit more spa, like the beaver nursery.<\/p>\n<p>Jan Kingshott: So as babies, because they require a lot of care and attention, they actually go into a nursery that is in the staff house, which is a separate section, and that way the staff can spend more time with that animal. And so that nursery has a bathtub for frequent swims, and they\u2019re just kind of set up, kind of in a home environment.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Almost that first winter is spent indoors, where they get constant care and plenty of swim time. But once the snow melts, the young beavers move to larger outdoor enclosures where they can explore more like they would in the wild.<\/p>\n<p>Jan Kingshott: I think we average about three to five beavers kits in us in a spring season. So they\u2019ll kind of name them like a theme, and then, yeah, the the adults that come in, whatever their personality is, kind of what they get named. So we\u2019ve had like Mad Max\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: With a name like Mad Max, you can imagine the attitude.<\/p>\n<p>Jan Kingshott: So they\u2019re all different. They\u2019re a lot of fun that way. So you can have the ones that come in injured, which are adults, and they\u2019re not happy, right? This is not where. They want to be. So they can be a little grumpy, and they can, you know, bluff, charge us and and make it difficult sometimes to work with them. But the younger ones, the orphans, when they come in at a very young age, they\u2019re quite needy, so we have to actually spend a lot of time with them, caring for them and nurturing them.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: The main beaver character in my zombie books is Mrs. King, who runs a household or a damn world, however you want to define it, of baby beavers. So she has a serious personality. She has some serious attitude, and she knows what she knows. So I encourage you to read about my personality rich beaver as well. But as Jan says, behavior is instinctive, especially when it comes to dam building that drive is baked into a beaver\u2019s DNA.<\/p>\n<p>Jan Kingshott: It\u2019s absolutely amazing, and thank God for their instincts, because it\u2019s not like something that we could ever teach them as rehabilitators, we can\u2019t teach a beaver how to build a dam or a bear to hibernate. Luckily, those instincts are there, thank God. And our job is really to let them hone those and practice those instincts. So when they come in, even as young babies, like 500 grams, they already are moving around and picking up sticks and moving them around their enclosure like they\u2019re just, it\u2019s so young. The instincts start so young. It\u2019s crazy, but it\u2019s it\u2019s fun to watch, that\u2019s for sure. And then as they grow, how much more they do that, and some are really intense about it, like they really, really like to just continually to build.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: And all that hands-on care isn\u2019t just about keeping them alive. It\u2019s about helping those family focused little critters stay wild while still learning to trust the humans who raise them.<\/p>\n<p>Jan Kingshott: This is a very family oriented species, so they\u2019re always with family. So when they come into our facility, we have to rehabilitate them. We have to spend a lot of time with them. And if we don\u2019t, they don\u2019t they don\u2019t do well, they don\u2019t thrive. So they actually need that connection and that bonding with us. So what we do is we really limit the amount of people that are handling them and that are raising them, and we limit it to two people, and therefore the the babies can bond to their caregivers, but not actually become habituated to people. They\u2019re a lot of work because they are so needy, they swim very early in life. So it\u2019s just like, like swimming constantly throughout the day, swim times, feed times.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: But getting to know beavers isn\u2019t just about feeding or swimming lessons. It\u2019s about seeing how they fit into the bigger picture of life on the land. Living alongside them can be tricky, but it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n<p>Jan Kingshott: We can coexist with wildlife, and especially we can coexist with beavers. And I know there\u2019s, you know, a lot of trapping, and people saying how much damage they do, but they actually are reshaping. You know, they\u2019re not destroying. So I think it\u2019s really important that that people are aware that, you know, we are able to coexist, and what they\u2019re doing, reshaping the environment is important.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Up close, you see what makes beavers more than just a national symbol. They\u2019re a reminder of resilience, resourcefulness, connection and a certain Canadian determination.<\/p>\n<p>Jan Kingshott: They\u2019re such an amazing animal. I mean, they\u2019re a keystone species, right? They they create wetlands. They do so much for the ecosystem. People have even said that they help fight climate change. So I mean, that\u2019s pretty cool for an animal to be able to do all that. So I think they deserve that credit, just because of what they can do, who they are.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Most of us think of beavers as cute, busy animals or zombie fighters, but they do far more than chew on trees. With Canada home to roughly 25% of the world\u2019s wetlands. Beavers shape the landscape, digging canals, building dams and creating habitats that support fish, birds, amphibians and even small mammals. Beavers have actually shaped Canada. And that impact stretches beyond just nature. Their fur drove early European exploration and settlement, and it shaped indigenous economies and became a symbol of Canadian ingenuity. Their likeness found its way onto the Hudson\u2019s babe company coat of arms, and has inspired iconic Canadian brands like roots. We\u2019ve even celebrated their charm in fried dough form, with the beloved beaver tail proving that we\u2019ll happily eat our national symbols. So to help us dig a little deeper into the history of the beaver in Canada, we\u2019re joined by Dr Glynnis Hood. She\u2019s a wildlife ecologist, Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Alberta, and the author of several books about beavers, including the beaver manifesto. Glynnis, welcome. <\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: Thank you. <\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Tell me about the inspiration behind this career choice. What have beavers come to mean to you?<\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: Personally, they have become an endless source of questions and curiosities. So back in the Edwardian times, people had curiosity chests and and they would gather all sorts of things from nature and try to figure them out or show them off to their friends. And every time I do one study on beavers, thinking, Okay, what else is there? There\u2019s 15 more questions that form in my mind when I\u2019m out there. And so when I started my PhD, it was actually on a completely different topic, although I was raised in the Creston Valley in British Columbia, where there are world renowned wetlands and lots of beavers, and that\u2019s where my heart was. I was studying something different, and things changed, and this huge opportunity came up to pursue a PhD on Beaver ecology. Instead, what<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Is the big opportunity you have to tell me more about that. What just what was the opportunity?<\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: My first topic wasn\u2019t working very well. And I really thought, Huh, I guess this isn\u2019t meant to be. And I went and saw one of my friends who was a prof, just to see how she was doing and maybe even say goodbye. And she said, You got any money? And I said, Oh yeah, I\u2019ve got research funds. And she says, What do you think about beavers and wetlands? And I said, sounds great. And so that was Dr Suzanne Bailey. We\u2019re still friends to this day, and a lot has come out of that PhD work that led to 25 years worth of exploration in these wonderful landscapes that beavers create.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: I love that you pivoted like that and were able to find something so inspirational that\u2019s continued to inspire you decades later, like that has got to be rare.<\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: Well and beavers cover so many aspects of ecology, but also human wildlife interactions. You might think, well, beavers enhance biodiversity. They certainly do. You go to a beaver wetland, you\u2019ll find way more aquatic, macroinvertebrates, different vegetation communities, sometimes fish rearing areas, different small mammal communities, riparian songbirds, amphibian communities. Well, that\u2019s the basis. But then you see what they do to those wetlands, and they engineer them, and they continue to engineer them, right until the minute that ice forms on the top of the pond for the winter, they are busy, and so they dig deep canals, and these canals can go over 100 to 200 meters away from the edge of the pond. And they do it all with their two little front feet. They can cut down trees that are just massive, massive. And they can do it in a night. They can build dams and flood entire valleys. They can build lodges and survive Canadian winters. They can burrow into banks if they have to, and survive rivers that go up and down, even in the wintertime with regulated rivers. And so they just have this way of creating an absolutely dynamic, productive and constantly changing environment.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Well, it\u2019s funny, because, you know, when we think about beavers, or at least the rest of us, when we think about beavers, we think they\u2019re cute, they\u2019re busy animals, but what you\u2019re talking about is an outsized role that they play in our ecosystems. Can you explain why beavers are so important for wetlands, wildlife and the environment more broadly?<\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: One of the key things is that they help maintain and create wetlands. And so wetlands are some of our most productive ecosystems on Earth. They\u2019re also pretty much one of our most threatened ecosystems on Earth. If you look at the decline in wetlands even, let\u2019s say in the province of Alberta, we\u2019ve lost over 70% of our wetlands since settlement by Europeans. In some areas of Canada, we\u2019ve lost over 90% if you think about what Montreal and Toronto looked like prior to settlement, there were wetlands there. Our coastal wetlands have really deteriorated, and we do have beavers that live along coastlines, not necessarily in the salt water so much, but they are just tremendously important in creating these systems to begin with. But when you look at a beaver pond versus just a pond without beavers in it, the pond without beavers in it looks often quite round, and that\u2019s its edge, its shoreline is round or similar. It might have some dynamics to it. If you look at a pond created by beavers, you\u2019ll see what looks like a neuron of the brain. There are all these little extension canals that are going out away from the pond, extending into those upland habitats, creating aquatic connectivity, interaction between the water table and the surface water, creating additional shoreline habitat. Well, we know that those interfaces between two habitats, those equal tomes or eco zones, are really important for biodiversity. That\u2019s where you find your highest biodiversity is where the desert meets the grasslands or the forest meets the the ocean. Ocean, you find tremendous biodiversity there. Well, in these beaver wetlands, they have dynamic and long shorelines. So when beavers are in these ponds and they modify them relative to that pond that never had beavers in them, their shorelines are, on average, over 575% longer than your average pond without beavers, and that\u2019s just an average. Some of them are over 2,000% longer if you measured the entire length of the shoreline. Because of these canals, the water is deeper. They have more volume in these ponds. And the neat thing about it is that during droughts, and we\u2019re in the middle of the third year of an extreme drought here in central Alberta, these ponds will be the first ones to refill once the rains come back. The other ones take quite a bit longer to refill because they don\u2019t have those canals that help focus water into them, and they don\u2019t have an active manager trying to keep that water in the ponds as well. And so even during flood conditions, the beaver dams themselves can hold back tremendous amount of water. Even if they break a little bit from the flood, they still hold back water. And Dr Sherry Westbrook saw that in the 2013 flood that was really problematic for Calgary and all of those downstream communities from the Canadian Rockies.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Yeah, I had friends who had apartments flooded in that it was terrible. It was it was a bad one. I have to ask, and this is an uneducated question, but I\u2019m gonna ask it anyway. What do the beavers make the canals for? Like I get why they are useful to us and diversity, but what are the canals for? For the beavers?<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Well, they\u2019re safer in water than on land. They\u2019re much more agile in water, so that offers protection. It also extends their territory a bit. It can connect one pond to another. In my area, we don\u2019t have a lot of streams, and so they can help connect wetlands. But it also makes these wonderful aquatic pathways up to their foraging areas. Because they are a semi aquatic mammal, they live in that intermediate zone between land and water, that real sweet spot evolutionarily, where semi aquatic mammals have found that perfect little niche where they can really thrive in water, and they also make use of land. And so when they go up and they forage, and they cut down a giant Aspen tree and take a stem off of it, they drag it along the ground, they get to the end of that canal, and then they can float that stem, pull it in their jaws as they\u2019re swimming back. And I\u2019ve actually seen them take part of the trunk of the tree in their mouth and pull that too. And just it helps with energy conservation for them, they don\u2019t use it as many calories up they are able to get that back to their lodge. So there\u2019s all sorts of uses for them. They\u2019re smart. I\u2019ve seen them foraging on the edge of the pond, and let\u2019s say a coyote comes by and they just jump right into those canals and swim away.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: So you say that you\u2019ve seen these things, do you still live alongside a beaver family in Camrose?<\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: Well, I\u2019m actually north of cameras, near a park called Michelin Lake Provincial Park. Been there, beautiful? Yeah, it\u2019s gorgeous. And lots and lots of beaver lodges around here. So I\u2019m surrounded by beavers. There\u2019s a family. If I were to have you over for a cup of tea right now, we could walk maybe 50 feet from my riding shed right now and take a look at their winter Lodge.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: You had me at Beaver surrounding and writer Lodge? There you go.<\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: Yeah. So I\u2019m surrounded by beavers. I can walk off my doorstep right into my study area.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: What is one thing that Canadians would be surprised to learn about the beaver?<\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: Well, I\u2019ll give you an example of one surprising thing I caught on trail camera, because I use a lot of trail cameras in my work as well. The beavers have dropped this giant tree. My trail camera caught it, saw the tree go down, and so of course they have to limb the tree and take all the branches off. Well, if I\u2019m a predator, I know that those beavers are going to keep coming back to that location, and I\u2019m going to think, all right, this is a perfect place to hunt. So the next thing that shows up on this camera is a coyote, a very healthy looking Coyote, and it walks up to the tree, and then you see it running back, and then it walks up again. It see it running back. And then the third set of photos, it\u2019s running away. And there\u2019s a beaver walking down the trail towards it with part of its fur, the coyote fur from its hind leg hanging out of its mouth, just looking like and I told you to never come back again. So even though they are a rodent, and yes, they\u2019re the second largest rodent in the world, next to the capybara in South America, they are tremendously capable of taking care of themselves, and they are not afraid to take on something that\u2019s trying to disturb them.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Well, speaking of predators, beavers were at the center of the fur trade, which drove European exploration, settlement and the shaping of the land, and obviously affected the lives of indigenous communities along the way. When we celebrate the beaver. As a Canadian symbol. What do you think people often forget about that history?<\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: Well, beavers really formed Canada. Modern day Canada, what we call Canada. I\u2019ve read one quote that said, if it weren\u2019t for beavers, there\u2019d be no Canada. So right back to when Cabot came in the 1400s he came over and of course, the cod fishery was the thing that people were exploring at that point, but there was some small exchange of furs. But it wasn\u2019t until Jacques Cartier came and started exploring that we really started to see this taking off what was going to become the fur trade. So he came in 1534 I believe, was one of his first trips, and he started to look at this potential for fur trading. And then by the time he came back, I think it was 1535, he came up to what is now the area around Montreal, at the St Lawrence, and started establishing more of a fur connection. But in the States, the same thing was happening with the Dutch East India Company with Henry Hudson. The Hudson River is named after him. And that area of New York, by, I don\u2019t know, 1620s they took about 400 pelts. And by 1635 they took over 15,000 pelts. And then by shortly thereafter, that whole area was exhausted of beavers. There were no more beavers left, and people kept pushing inward and inward. But in Canada, it really, really did spur on this exploration of Canada by Europeans, and it was for beavers. There were other furs involved, but beavers really were the the furry gold of Canada, and it was all in the name of a hat. These hats were really popular, the top hats and the felt hats that they made from beaver pelts. By 1510, so much so that there are two species of beavers left in the world, the North American Beaver, castor canadensis, and the Eurasian Beaver, castor fever. And by 1638, I think there are very few Eurasian beavers left, they were completely wiped out in most countries. There were still pockets in Russia and Finland and a bit Norway in some pockets in France. And so the Europeans who came over to North America already knew how to wipe out a species, and so they came, and they found this bonanza of beavers here. Now the fur trade continues on and on, and of course, we\u2019ve got various fur companies that start setting up here, and the best known one is the Hudson\u2019s Bay Company, which was established in 1670 and beavers were so important to them that by 1671 one year after its establishment, four beavers were put onto its coat of arms.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Yeah. So 50 years ago, Parliament passed the national symbol act of Canada, a one sentence Bill officially naming the beaver our national symbol. But interestingly, part of the push came because of the New York state senator who tried to claim the beaver as their state animal first. But as you say, long before that, the beaver already appeared on the Hudson Bay Company coat of arms and even on our first postage stamp. Given all that history, what do you think that 1975 moment actually changed for Canadians? Why has this little animal stuck in our imagination for so long.<\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: I think it\u2019s just very much part of our history, and it\u2019s part of our esthetic history as well. I mean, one of our most famous clothing businesses in Canada\u2019s roots, and they use the symbol of beavers. The CPR uses the symbol of beavers the Canadian Pacific Railway, which pushed the railway through all the way across Canada as a nation building project. We have the Royal Canadian Mint 1933 the nickel has a beaver on it. Guess what? It still does. And I\u2019ve gone to conferences in Europe, beaver symposiums, actually. And yes, we do have beaver conferences, and people laugh at me, and I think, well, they\u2019re really interesting. You should come sometime. But I actually is kind of just a shtick. I thought, well, I\u2019ll get a whole bunch of nickels and I\u2019ll bring them out and I\u2019ll give them to each one of the speakers, because I was moderating sessions and the like, and people were coming up just begging for these Canadian nickels because they had beavers on them. So I have never known a moment in my life when beavers haven\u2019t represented Canada. Been part of Canada has been a plane that I\u2019ve flown in in the north when I was in with Parks Canada up there, we flew in beavers and otters, iconic Canadian Bush planes. It\u2019s always been there and just seemed so right that beavers were our national symbol on March 24 1975 but for the whole country to adopt this buck tooth, furry rodent with a penchant for cutting down trees. And digging things up and flooding things is really something and that we still show that pride, whether we\u2019re at the Vancouver Olympics and have giant inflated beavers flying over top the Montreal Olympics had a mascot that was a beaver. It\u2019s just something that is, I think, permeated into who we are in many, many ways. And I think one of the key things too is that it didn\u2019t just involve the British. It didn\u2019t just involve the French. It also involved almost all indigenous peoples as well. And that was a trio that formed this early fur trade history in Canada, which is very different than what happened in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Yeah, because indigenous communities have known for centuries that beavers, or amic from the Algonquin, they\u2019re more than just an animal to them, and beavers shape the land, as you said, or bring water and teach lessons about working with nature. Can you share some of the ways that knowledge has shaped how we understand or work with beavers today?<\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: Well, there\u2019s certainly creation stories, and they\u2019re not mine to tell about beavers, muskrat and otter, how they help form the world. Even giant beavers, which were around up until about 10,000 to 11,000 years ago, they were about the size of a black bear, and they lived alongside our modern day beaver we have fossil remains that go up all the way up to old crow Yukon and all the way to northern Florida. And of course, castorides, ohioens is the scientific name, so castorides Being part of the beaver family, but ohioensis, meaning that that area around the Ohio and the Great Lakes really has a tremendous number of giant beaver fossils in it, and so you\u2019ll even get stories about giant beavers in Indigenous storytelling and oral histories. There are indigenous peoples on BCS West Coast that have beavers as clan names, and they appear on some of the totem poles as well. And so again, coast to coast. And now with climate change, we\u2019re getting beavers up to the Arctic as well. And so it wasn\u2019t necessarily something that was happening in the high Arctic or the Arctic when we first think about beavers in Canada, but it\u2019s something that\u2019s happening now with climate change.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: Now, in my head, I\u2019ve got like giant beaver versus black bear, like a Mothra fight. Oh, my God, that\u2019s That\u2019s amazing. So as we mark 50 years of the beaver as an official national symbol, what do you hope the beaver will come to represent for Canadians in the decades ahead, especially when it comes to conservation and our relationship with the natural world,<\/p>\n<p>Glynnis Hood: I would say resilience is a word that comes to mind. Here\u2019s a species, albeit tough, and ask any coyote how tough they are, but they\u2019re tough, but they were nearly wiped out in most many parts of Canada, like by the mid 1600s you weren\u2019t finding beavers anywhere near the St Lawrence area. By 1635, there were none near 12 Riviera, three rivers. And that kept happening. So they kept having local extinctions from the east coast all the way into the interior. I live in the beaver hills, misshay, and this is the heart of a lot of the fur trade activity in the Edmonton area. There were five Ford edmontons, and they were all chasing beavers around. But by probably about 1870 at the very latest, beavers were gone. There were no beavers in the beaver hills. They actually had concerted relocation and reintroduction programs happening in Elk Island and even up in Wood Buffalo National Park, where you get Fort Chipewyan, which was the absolute hub of the fur trade in the north, they had wiped out beavers in many areas of that park. It\u2019s 44,000 square kilometers, the size of Denmark, and they had to fly beavers from Prince Albert National Park to re establish beaver populations in areas where they were completely wiped out in that park. And so for me, beavers represent resilience. They also represent hope and creativity in addressing new challenges. Beavers have found ways to survive in hostile environments. They have found ways to thrive in marginal ecosystems and turn them into oases. They have found ways to make it into our hearts and minds as Canadians, even if people loathe them, they think about them. And they have found a way to get through a winter even during an extreme drought. I\u2019m watching it right now. This is the third year for drought here, as I\u2019ve mentioned, and the beavers in my pond have still found a way to make it through every one of those droughts. Surprisingly, it won\u2019t last forever if this continues, but they are still settled in for the winter with a good food cache. Rach and a well built Lodge. So I think it gives us a lot of hope for facing new challenges, getting the work done and looking forward instead of backwards, because if beavers look backwards, they\u2019d be appalled at what we\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n<p>Angela Misri: That\u2019s brilliant. Thank you. Thank you for listening to <em>Canadian Time Machine<\/em>. This podcast receives funding from the Government of Canada and is created by the walrus lab. This episode was produced by Jasmine Rach and edited by Nathara Imenes. Amanda Cupido is the executive producer. For more stories about historic Canadian milestones and the English and French transcripts of this episode. Visit the walrus.ca\/canadian Heritage. There\u2019s also a French counterpart to this podcast called <em>Voyages dans l\u2019histoire canadienne<\/em>. So if you\u2019re bilingual and want to listen to more, you can find that wherever you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\nif(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\nn.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\ns.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,'script',\n'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n fbq('init', '1090834961073306'); \nfbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fifty years ago, Canada made the beaver an official national symbol. 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