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Call for questions: BEAVERS (Patreon)

Published:
2024-11-17 22:50:31
Imported:
2026-06

Content

I have a few interviews with critter experts coming up, like a field ecologist and wildlife tracker who studies beavers. Let's talk these chonky rodents, their orange teeth and flat tails, the things they build, the stuff they spray. What questions do you have about beavers?

Deadline: Tuesday, November 19 at 5pm PST

 

Comments

Timmy H.

Okay why do we call them beavers 🦫

Mykenzie King

Why is the beaver Canada’s national animal?

Yuri

What do they spray???? 😬

Timmy H.

Favorite beaver joke?

Kayla Whyte

What makes their teeth red/orange?

Talia Dunyak

Miss Rogers told us in fifth grade that there used to be "beavers as big as bears." True or flim flam????

Eli “the Fish Guy”

How much do we know about the evolutionary history of beavers? Has their lineage always been tied to the water? Also, what are their diets like?

Hannah Beyl

How far will they range from water for logs?

Matt Ceccato

How many dams will a beaver build in their lifetime?

Iso Partee

How much to beavers alter their environment? What’s the largest dam they have made???

Chrysalis Ashton

Is it true that baby beavers can die of sadness when separated from their moms?😢

joesyourmom

Yayyyyyyyy beavers!!! Slow water is good water. Is there a real future for beaver restoration anywhere near our i industrialized water ways?

L. Wink

How likely is it that an average person has eaten a product made from beaver? (Aka Castoreum…or other products)

Aubrey Nelson

How quickly can they build a damn? I feel like it’s always exaggerated in movies and cartoons.

Raja

Yes! I'll have lots! I teach about beavers all the time (outdoor educator), but don't actually know how they get that oil out of themselves that they comb through their hair! How does that all work?? (Raja rhymes with papaya)

Wetland Warrior

I used to intern for a wildlife rehabilitation center and we were taught that beavers don’t develop right if they aren’t loved and cared for? Like normally you don’t allow much contact with the wildlife in care, but they said you had to hang out with baby beavers a ton and cuddle them or they wouldn’t be able to build a lodge when they grew up. Is this true??

Erin Bagley

What is the substance used in food that comes from beavers? And why?

Mallory Avery

Is dam building instinctive or learned? Or, more likely, how much of it is instinctive and how much is learned? Do they all instinctively build dams, but then they have "cultural" differences in how or where they build them, what materials they prefer to use, specific elements, etc.?

mish the fish

so many questions. please talk about the beaver lady in the hudson valley who lived with beavers in her house. how can we as citizens help the beaver population? do they need our help? how sustainable is the pelt trade?

Sheepan

Why why why WHY is their anal gland secretions used in perfume? what does it even SMELL like?

Iso Partee

I’ve seen videos of beavers in humans home making dams out of household objects—how strong is their instincts to create dams??

Wendy Fick

What all do they use their tails for? Just as a rudder while swimming, or is it a multitasker?

Olga Kolesnikova

Ooh this is exiciting! Have you seen angry beavers on nickelodeon? All of my beaver knowledge as a child came from that show so I probably need some major re-educating 😆

Cheryl Buettner

Has anyone studied the engineering elements of a beaver dam? Are there any architectural patterns that have been observed or is just a damn big pile of sticks?

Katherine Aaron

Do the tails have any other use besides warning other beavers?

Raja

Was Europe REALLY running low on beavers back when they were making those hats? Seems hard to believe with their multiplying prowess...

Seán Thomas Kane

How are beaver reintroduction efforts differing between urban & rural settings? We see some along the Missouri & Kansas Rivers in Downtown Kansas City. - Also, Ben Goldfarb’s book “Eager” is a great read on this topic. I interviewed him recently.

Fiona Blum

OH MY GOD!! I have been waiting for this one. I have two questions (is that even allowed?). “Beaver Deceiver” devices? Opinions? Do they really work? Are the beavers outsmarting us? It seems like they might be. Also why do they build more than one dam? What’s the point? Who gave them permission to do so?

Jo

Hi! I had a natural history professor who said that beavers smash the ice with their head to create a path for them to swim and come up to breathe during the winter months. My Dad (who is a lifelong trapper) claims that he's never seen this. It's been an ongoing debate for him and I and at this point idk who's right.

Curtis St.Pierre

Hot Dam, this’ll be good. As a Canadian who builds houses for a living, I would like to ask how they design their homes? Do they have beaver blueprints? Do they just make a pile and then burrow into it? Also how do they make them so durable that they can stop the flow of a small river? (First time question asker)

Raja

Who is their most effective predator? (In North America)

Mara Schoner

How do beavers affect watershed quality? How do their dams support salmon? How are they essential to healthy forests?

Julia Lorraine

I know their teeth grow continuously and they chew wood to keep them from growing into their brains. Was this an evolutionary benefit since they use the wood to create dams?? Also - I know they are monogamous for the most part, but do they have babies every year or a limited amount over their relationship?

Camille Charlebois

Beavers!!! Please tell me more about beavers in Argentina and what the current situation is!

Guido

Is it true that their teeth are orange because they contain iron oxide? If yes, does it strengthen them?

Charlotte Parkinson

Why are they so DAM cute? Sorry, couldn't resist. What's the max size of a tree they fell or munch on? And is anything in place to deter them from specific trees?

ValBeListening

Do they have favorite trees they like to chomp down? How long does it take to chomp a tree down?

Alie Ward

We're talking with a different castorologist for this episode but we have a great episode on road kill with Ben!

Natalie Mastick

FINALLY! Are beavers specialists to certain species of trees? Are there any examples of mutalism between beavers and tree species? Oh man I love beavers I'm so excited for this ep

Anna Thompson

If a beaver successful dams a creek or such into a marsh/lake do they move or do they stay and maintain that dam for a while?

Jason Kopas

What about castoreum? I've heard it's used from everything from artificial vanilla flavoring to leather tanning. First, is this stuff used? Second, if so how is it really used? Third and most importantly, if so is it's extraction sustainable and not a threat to beavers in captivity or the wild?

Taylor campbell

I just really want to know what they get up to during the day? or night are beavers nocturnal? are they rodents?

Potato Puffer

Their butt gland secretion is used as a food flavoring?! Wtf?

Abbi Lawson

I was reading the other day about beavers using rivers for refrigerating fresh leaves under the ice during the winter! I would love to hear more about how they use their dams for living in, on top of how they build them

Jennifer & Randy Le

Can you answer a question from my husband. He would like to know about beaver butt gland juice usage in candy. Is this something that is done?

Meaghan Ratcliffe

what role do beaver dams play in the local ecology? do they ever make it worse or do they have some sixth sense for where they should build dams? i met someone who’s job it was to build dams where beavers had stopped doing it to preserve the land and i was totally bewildered by it

Julia Telesz

Allie, we need to talk about vanilla flavoring.

Emily Gilbert

So a Canadian here. Since beavers are protected here they have to be specially removed; but why does it take so long?! I rember living near a town that had a beavers messing up the river and local eco system near by and it was taking forever for them to be removed. I don't know all the details but I do rember some of the locals getting frustrated enough to talk about dealing with the problem in a less than nice way. I've heard that that slowness with relocating protected animals is an ongoing problem for multiple species and locals will get fed up and do something themselves.

Noel Dietz

Are nutria a threat to beaver habitat? And why will Beavers always be cooler than Ducks?

Mariann

Is there a town in the Pacific Northwest named after a man who took part in almost killing all beavers for some reason? Is that true or false?

Courtney Peterson

What is their family life like? Do the parents care for the young for a long time or do they kick them out of the dam after a couple weeks?

Abbi Lawson

How does introducing beavers into waterways help with flood management?

April Carter

What's the best thing we can do to help beavers?

Lizzy Martinez

Are there more female beavers than male, or vice versa? And do they stick with partners their whole life or no?

Katherine Vela

When do the kiddos leave home and how do they decide where to build their new home? Also what does their fur feel like? Is it soft, wirey, coarse?

Jacob Elsbree

I’ve never seen a beaver before but I see their chew marks everywhere! Where do they go?

Charlie Moore

First time question ask!! Has them being re-introduced into the wild in the U.K. worked? Also, why are their teeth soooooo orange?

Verena Runstadler

How do they feel about humans? Are they curious about us?

Ryan Martin

ARE YOU TALKING TO COURTNEY DEAN?!

OnyxMonolyth

How does a beaver’s jaw force compare to tigers and alligators?

rowantree

I loooooooove beavers omg!!! What ecosystem services do they provide and are they a keystone species everywhere or just in some places?

Melissa DeWoskin

Oh Alie. How this email gave me great joy. I heard that beavers contribute significantly to the ecosystems where they live?

Ash Micklewright

BEAVERS!!!!!! Studying these gorgeous rodents was my first wildlife field job at 18 <3 Biggest beaver ever recorded? Why are they so cute? Is there a human bone these strong little chompers couldn't get through? If Lance McNew or Torrey Ritter are being interviewed, shout out to them!

Isabelle Leclerc

What are your thoughts about the beaver being such the Canadian symbolic equivalent of the Bald Eagle for the US?

Sydonie S.

I seem to always see signs of beavers but never the beavers themselves. When are they most active? How can I increase my likelihood of seeing them?

Mariann

Are Beavers, Nutria and Capybara all related?

Peregrine

Hello Alie and guest! There are lots of beavers in my city! I often see them and their buildings by the river when I walk my dogs. Being in an urban environment with limited natural space, what is the best way to cohabitate with beavers? I’ve heard people complaining about how they take down so many trees along the trails, and some people say we should just relocate them. It’s tricky because this is their home, but it also sucks that their habitat is so restricted by the city!

Leah Dietrich

what’s the business with their anal glands being used for vanilla flavoring?

Emily Gilbert

OMG! I just looked it up turns out we can hunt beavers. I guess I just assumed they're protected because of all the fur trapping stuff I learned about in third grade and they're on the freaking nickel. My childhood is a lie! There is something weird about removing the dams though?

Dr Kasey

Castoreum. The substance produced in a beaver gland, the scent of which has been likened to vanilla flavoring and its often used in perfumes. I gotta know who, how, and why humans know about it and extract it.

The Bloated Toad

Around how long will Beaver Dam last after the beaver passes away? And do beavers use the same dam for their whole life.

aguycalledshane

How did they become so associated with Canada when they're all over North America?

Adam Foote

My mom asked if they mate for life? Is a beaver lodge a family group? Which kids inherit the lodge?

Hailee Kirby

Ooo I always wondered what the inside of their dams looked like. I always imagined it like the beavers house in the narnia movie. Do they have rooms? Do all dams look the same? How do they get in? Can I crawl in one?

Sarah Moore

FIRST TIME QUESTION ASKER!!!! FTQA!! I have been subscribing to your patreon for 2 years and have been saving my first question for beavers LOL. I wrote you a message a while ago about this in more detail. A few years ago I was camping in Colorado and I observed (through binoculars) a group of beavers swimming around and playing with a duck. I don't know how else to describe it, but they were all swimming around doing little splashes and twirls and playing. Maybe I'm projecting, but it looked like they were all having so much fun. So my question is - am I crazy? Do beavers play? And if so, is it possible they'd ever play with another species??

The Bloated Toad

Why do baby beavers sound like human babies? ITS TO DARN CUTE!

Chandler Witherington

How do you feel about the late 90s Nickelodeon show Angry Beavers? I LOVED it as a kid and rewatched it several years ago as an adult and it did not hold up lol

Bethany J

Do they really hit their tails against their dam / use it to pack in mud whilst building? Or have I been lied to by movie animators…

The Bloated Toad

How does the Eurasian beaver deal with the freezing cold climates it lives in?

Sydney Cooper

first time question: Do they really use beaver anal glands to make artificial raspberry flavoring, and if so who figured that out?

NJ Baker

Is it true that the sound of running water drives them mad?

Erin White

Yes, can we please discuss castorum and the whole glandular-perfume-raspberry thing?

Quincey Robisheaux

Why do they build dams around or nearby roads and public crossings?

Andy Guarnaccia

How intricate can beaver dams be? Basically how accurate is the house from Angry Beavers?

The Other Maya

OMG I LOVE THEM. Capybara could never. Literally never ever. Complex family structures, planning and geometry, my question is what don't I know about them, ie: What don't you see on nature shows? How do they find a mate? Are they as pair-bonding as I think they are? I look at the hidden camera footage inside their lodges and I think "that's an animal that loves". For my money they're right up there with bats and snakes and spiders and crows for misunderstood loveable badasses and I think that makes them goth AF. *In my mind: They're the goths that stay home and knit, and are really good at baking, and also they don't write poetry but they can recite it on cue. I. Love. Them.

Erin White

Okay, so I know that in the past here in the US we used to try to prevent wildfires by chucking parachuted crates of beavers out of planes in areas we wanted more wetlands in. I also then heard that solo beavers didn't like this move, and you had to round up the whole family and drop them in together in order for this to work. Can you shed some light on our paratrooping beaver buddies?

Erin Everton

Are there any other animals that engineer their shelter to this extent? If it’s effective at keeping them safe you’d think more animals would do it, or maybe they are and I’m just not noticing them the same way I notice a beaver dam? It just seems so energetically expensive 🫢

Erin Everton

Another thought….how often do beavers drown? Will a large storm event knock a dam out? Or is the structure proofed against flooding pretty well?

Andrea Devlin

Can you please explain the ADORABLE sound that the babies make?? 🥰

daniel schmaniel

what do they taste like? which part tastes best?

EmiTheStrangest

There used to be a family of beavers who had a dam in the creek by my parent’s house growing up. But I only got a glimpse once or twice! When were they ever out? How many lived in there? WHY WAS IS ABANDONED? I miss them…

Joe Porfido

I heard Beavers are extending their range back into California, is that true and do you see it continuing?

daniel schmaniel

favorite movie about or just featuring beavers? have you seen "hundreds of beavers"?

Pavka34

How chill are beavers really? A neighbors dog got into a fight with one and wound up in the Vet ER, barely surviving. To be clear the dog was a Rottweiler. A laid back rottie but still, not a small dog.

Sam and Katie

We'd like to know what do they eat. Do they eat any of the bark from the trees they use for their dams? Also, are they soft?

Gigi Owen

I've been SO curious about beavers and their capacity to change entire landscapes and ecosystems. I've been learning about how we could work with beavers beneficially to help combat environmental degradation from climate change and land use impacts in riparian areas. But I've also heard complaints about how destructive beavers can be to landscapes and that they are a nuisance for some. What are some of the pros and cons of collaborating with beavers to revitalize riparian areas?

tinko

Been waiting for this one! How do they get into position to sit on their tails like that? Also are they wonderful creatures or terrible like we found out with otters?

Sam

Are they sneaky awful like otters are? Cute but deadly?

Tabitha Dell’Angelo

Ok, I’m going to recommend another book for you. If it’s the person you are interviewing (again) we are clearly friends from a past life. Lucy Cooke wrote a book called The Truth About Animals and it’s a must read. The chapter on Beavers is ballicious!

Michael Kovens

Are beavers considered terrestrial or aquatic mammals? Why do they build dams? Do they really live in them? How accurate was the old Nickelodeon show “Angry Beavers”?

Pavka34

Okay, I am a middle schooler at heart (sue me). But how did the beaver become associated with lady private parts?

Piper Warnick

How good is the representation of beavers in the anthropomorphized characters of Mr and Mrs beaver in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe?

Amanda

Do baby beavers instinctively know how to build dams? Or do they learn from their elders?

Piper Warnick

What parts of the world are they native to? Are there places that they have become naturalized or are even invasive?

Spencer Aldridge

This isn't a question, but please bring up merkins with the ologist!

Smoked Gouda

The world’s largest Beaver Dam/ housing complex in Alberta. How long did it take to build? How many beavers? How many generations? Why is it set up like a housing development? How do the beavers keep the peace? Do they have a graveyard? Why did they create it?

Pavka34

Are beaver dads good fathers? Still have recovered from the horror that is otter reproductive practices.

Amanda

Do they eat their dam building materials?

Lisa Gorman

Do they have different styles of building dams and lodges in different places? Like can you tell the difference between a beaver lodge from the northeastern US and the western US by looking at it?

John Bochanski

Two questions from my kids: can they breathe under water (or how long can they hold their breath?) and how long do their teeth get? And one more, do they ever get splinters?

Lisa Gorman

Those videos of zoo beavers bringing piles of giant sticks into their enclosures are so cute, but watching them makes me wonder if the beavers are actually super frustrated that there's nowhere suitable to build dams and lodges. Can I continue to watch these videos and enjoy them or is this actually sad?

Lisa Gorman

How much of beavers' building skill is innate vs. learned?

Amanda

How can we thank them for all the ecological and environmental benefits they provide?

Andrea Levinson

I am BEGGING you to ask about the parachute reintroduction efforts from the 40s

Mouse Paxton

Are there still invasive beavers in South America? I saw a documentary on it once as a child and still think about them slowly moving north sometimes. Are they trying to get home? What's up with getting some sort of chemical from their butt glands?? Why is 'beaver' slang for vulva?

Dr. Niki

I came here to beg for this as well

Julie W

I'm very interested in the use of their scents from their tail glands. Also, so many property owners hate their havin g them on their property. Is there a way to live in harmony? What is the best way to do give beavers space and not have them take over?

the ren you know

Why did the beavers near my house chew all the bottom layers of the trees away but not cut them down? Aren't they destroying a potential food source by eating the Cambium layer, eventually killing the tree anyway?

Addie Cappello she her

So cute! I saw my first real live beavers last summer while doing some bat surveys! They swim so cute 🥰 Do Beavers have increased keratin or similarly structured elements in their teeth to be able to gnaw wood without breaking them? I’ve also noticed that beaver-chewed wood seems to have a “gleam” to it- like it’s extra shiny and smooth. Are there chemicals in beaver saliva that assist with this so they don’t get tongue splinters? Can you please ask the ologist to talk about the structure and construction of their dams? Again, as a wildlife biologist, I hear a lot of people griping about the “damage and disruption” beavers cause when they dam things up. Do you have any suggestions for improving human-beaver relations? Especially when it comes to the unfortunate timber industry in the PNW. I’d like to have an arsenal of positive contributions that beavers provide to share with those who think they’re just nuisances. (My argument is that they were here first, but that doesn’t get me very far professionally 🙃) thank you!!!

Steven Raimi

This is not my first question, it's the first I've shared. With some shame, here's the windup, then my pitch:

Levin Dotimas

How do they figure out when/where to build dams?? (FTQA here!)

Time Dr., Phd

Great topic! A lot to chew through now doubt. I understand there used to be giant beavers. Did they build giant dams or build bigger lakes / have a bigger impact on their ecosystems than our current types? Similarly but in the opposite direction, do we know why there's not tiny species of beaver that chew up saplings to damn little streams? Is "beavers" too evolutionarily new, or is something keeping the group from diversifying?

Steven Raimi

Nooooo! Hit Enter before the review and polishing!!!!

Lexi Gutshall

How did the fur trade change the course of history for beavers?

Amber McIntyre

Beaver castoreum…in our foods. Why?!? What is the “taste” of the goo that beaver butts secrete and what does it have to do with vanilla and raspberry flavoring?

elfmangirl

I'm a first-time question asker who is delighted we'll be learning more about beavers. Does each beaver have a unique scent? What is the beaver social system like? How do baby beavers get socialized? How do beavers select mates? Is there ever beaver "divorce"? Tell me everyrhing about their beaver brains.

Jani Rounds

Please ask about the beavers parachuted into wilderness areas in Idaho! Why, how, what did they do?

Caitlin Morrison

Is a dam ever completed or is there always work to be done?

Matt Thompson

Is the sound of flowing water really enough to make beavers want to start damming?

Liv

omg i just did a short presentation on beaver habitat and id features! i learned that beavers are considered crucial for wetland restoration. are humans manipulating this at all? or is this just a natural result of beavers and their behaviours and we just need to be extra grateful for them? also, other than wood ducks, what animals depend on beaver made habitat?

Steven Raimi

Got it now - that key Submit when I'm going for a blank line, sooooo. When I was too young to get it, I was puzzled at the meaning of a lot of the advertised t-shirts. I'd say there were a raft of them touching on this word. I thought of one example that's vivid and positive, but less crude (I hope!) merely insultingly sexist:

Riley M

How do beavers learn to build dams? Is it an innate knowledge and desire they're born with, or do they have little lessons for baby beavers to teach them proper infrastructure? Coming from an engineer who had to take way too many math classes to learn this stuff

Addie Cappello she her

I think of them every time!!!!! We use the phrase “beaver on bath day” every time our dogs get a bath and are unhappy about it 😂

Daniella Napolitano

I read somewhere once that beavers are on average heavier than coyotes. Is this true? How big/bulky can they get??

Matt Thompson

Has the ologist seen the Cinematic Masterpiece that is Hundreds of Beavers?

Riley M

Also, can beavers really kill a person? I've heard that people have died from beavers biting their legs and severing their femoral arteries. Is there any fact to this, or just old wives tales?

Addie Cappello she her

Omg I need to know this answer because I am vegan and have raspberry extract in my baking cabinet 🤢

C dB

Is it true beavers create the largest mammal made thing seen from space?

The Other Maya

Yo, this - is it farmed, lab made, or wild harvested and do beaver fans need to boycott?

Zyz

Beavers eat wood, right? I know ruminants like cows have complex digestive systems to eat cellulose, and that's just for grass, so I imagine wood is even tougher to digest! How do beavers manage it? Do they have multiple stomach chambers like ruminants do?

Nathan Marion

Do we...or DO WE NOT use chemicals from beavers anal glands for flavoring in processed foods ?

The Other Maya

I also need to know if beavers play, because my heart tells me this is true and my brain needs to know if it's ok to believe that or not.

Tyler Williams

I’m a biology teacher. I had a biologist from the wildlife and fisheries department in Mississippi come talk to my class and she told us something about the fur trade. It was like PETA made a big deal out of it and made faux fur to stop the killing of the animals. But she was saying that it basically made the price of the fur go down so people stopped hunting them and now they’re causing problems here. Wondering if you could elaborate on that because I found it super interesting. She said they are still being hunted but now people are having to pay people to kill them instead of consumers paying for their fur. Anyways. Sounded cool to talk about.

The Other Maya

Ok also: are they nocturnal or did I make that up?

Robin Stumbo

giant beavers: were they beavers or muskrats or some secret third thing? do we know?? either way i love them. i also hope you talk about alternate stable states and how beavers influence forests/wetlands because they are so cool!! beavers 🤝 humans on being ecosystem engineers

winn

How long does it take one to bring down a tree?

Ninja Squirrel

FTQA What does the tail taste like and is it true that at one time this was a highly sought after delicacy?

winn

What is their tail made of and also what does it feel like to touch it?

winn

What do you think of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver from Narnia?

Adam Weaver

How gnarly are those teeth? I've heard that they are reinforced with iron, is this true?

Meg

Why do beavers smack their tails in the water when you get close to them? Is it to warn their beaver friends? Is it to warn their potential predator frenemies away? Are they just scared? Must know thanks

Raja

True!

Will

Why were beaver pelts so highly prized that we almost hunted them to extinction? Is it true that if beavers don’t gnaw on things enough their teeth will grow too long and pierce the top of their mouth and kill them?

Lauren Otto

How can cities and beavers live together peacefully? When i was 11 or so i got on local news calling for my city to stop trapping beavers that had moved into the creek system in my backyard. The city stopped and for a couple of years after that we had a flooded ravine with blue herons, wood ducks and fish where i had never seen fish before. As an adult i do kinda get beavers blocking and flooding an entire culvert is maybe not great for road structures. Where’s the middle ground?

Lauren Otto

Also why is beaver a euphemism?

Brenna Hull

Is it true that we use beaver booty secretion for artificial vanilla flavoring? If so, who first tasted beaver booty juice and was like “you know what this would be great with? Ice cream.”

SJ Rantzen

What is the structure of the dam? Do they pack mud in? Also, southern hemisphere-ian question, how common are they? Where do they sit on a scale of rat to capybara in terms of prevalence in suburbia?

Sonjabird

Are beavers really in ice cream?

Anne Dullmaier

What animals do they like to share their habitat with? Who are their friends? (Also I screamed „Bobr Kurwa!“ because internally, I’m a teenage boy with too much screen time)

Rebecca Morrison

FTQA: What is it about beavers and their fur that made them so popular for trapping and trade?

Christi Sullivan

How long can beavers live without any predators? I live in Minneapolis just outside of downtown and we have a beaver living the creek that runs through our neighborhood (and has taken down close to 2 dozen trees in the last 6 years). Besides cars, there are no real predators - how long can we expect our neighborhood beaver to be around? Ps we love him, it’s the highlight of our walks to see him swimming around with the ducks and geese.

Rachel Prestayko

Have humans ever eaten beavers? Canadian here who eats BeaverTails all the time (a pastry). I told my grandmother once I had BeaverTails over the weekend, and she was shocked and asked if it had any bones (poor Granny, Alzheimer's hit her hard). But really, did humans ever eat them and also do their tails have bones?!

Rachel Prestayko

I've heard of a gland that excretes something used in the base of perfumes/colognes. Is that true?! If so, what function does it serve in beaver physiology?

Shirley-Luz Enombo

Best beavers in pop culture? Looking at you, Narnia beavers? Also how do they not destroy their teeth?

Saira (‘Sarah’) Manns

YES. I randomly came across an old documentary recently (can’t remember what it was called) and they showed how beavers react to the sound of running water and actually built a dam over the top of an old CD player left playing overnight and it was SO COOL

Alexandra Rambo

Has the strength of their teeth been measured and what are they comparible to? Also, why does Earl of Gramilkin get a question on every episode and this like my fifth time trying. 😤but also🫶🏻

Rachel Prestayko

How big of a tree can a beaver take down? How strong is their bite, jaw strength or whatever metric is used? Do they use fresh trees or fallen trees to build with?

Jeanette-o-saur

Follow up: How dry/wet is it inside? Are they right out of the water or not too fussed if there's an inch of water in their bed?

J Shay

How did the beaver pelt trade start and why were they so popular? How did it affect their population? Also, how does (do) the expert(s) feel about the Angry Beavers cartoon?

Eric Masterton

Recently I was walking alongside a river near my house and there were all these trees that beavers had fallen and there was no dam and no den. How far do they travel to do their thang? Why would they do that?

Jeanette-o-saur

Hi, Canadian geologist who had to occasionally deal with a beaver threatening the health of a road we really needed. We always hired a trapper because they have a license to hunt/trap a beaver. Also when you live up north, trappers aren't that hard to find and will make full use of the animal rather than just killing it. There are special licenses that allow non-trappers to kill a nuisance beaver, but I've never been in that situation. Note that there's some law variation provincially, presumably based on how well the beaver population on doing

Caitlin O'Malley

Charlie O (age 8) would like to know, “Why do beavers build dams?”

Caitlin O'Malley

Douglas O (age 10) would like to know, “Are all blueprints in the beavers’ minds the same?”

Rachel Prestayko

Are beavers related to platypuses (playpusi...?)? If not, why is their tail so similar?!

Ashley Marrs

what is a baby beaver called? what is a group of beavers called?

Aurora Cullen

I’ve heard beavers will clap their tail on the top of water, why?

Eating dog hair for a living

Are beavers and woodchucks the same animal? If they are then... how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Jason Lowenthal

Please don't ruin beavers the way you ruined otters!!!!!!

Andrea Marie Squirrel Tree Roggero

Super weird timing! One of my favorite small/exotic animal rescues, and the only other Patreon account I follow, The a Pipsqueakery, just rescued an extremely emaciated beaver last week I think and they’ve been working with her to get her healthy again 🖤

Kieran H

Are nutria detrimental to beavers’ habitats? Do they compete for food/resources/territory, etc? It’s always a disappointment when I think I’ve spotted a beaver but it was just a nutria :(

Stratford Abbott

Can you elaborate and share the importance of beavers in their ecosystems and how can we enjoy the swimming furry chainsaws we share the planet with ?

Nan Harrold

What’s your favorite medieval-period misconception about the beaver?

Ayla Macko

What do they do about mouth splinters?!

Curtis St.Pierre

That actually happened in 2013. Pretty sure it was the only time it was recorded.

Elizabeth Davis

Do beavers mate for life? Also, how long do they stick around in one place after they've taken down all the trees in an area? Is their work considered damaging or beneficial? Finally, how many "beaver" jokes do you plan to fit into the episode and have you ever heard of Winona's Big Brown Beaver by Primus?

LeighAnn Oettinger

Will they really kill a dog by drowning it? This makes me sad, and afraid.

Timmy H.

Did you enjoy the how I met your mother beaver song or was it offensive?

Jackie G

Do beavers really poop sawdust? I used to volunteer at a nature center and there was a beaver pond on one of the nearby trails. We were told to use this as a fun fact to use to engage with people. I was never clear if it was true or just kinda half true. Either way I can tell you is a great way to start a conversation with kids.

Kimisha Cassidy

What's the difference between beavers, muskrats, otters, etc.? How do I know which one I've seen?

Rowan Doyle

Could you discuss the classification of beavers as fish during Lent? I'd love to hear more about how that became a ruling :)

Stephanie Coombes

Asking for a friend. If a beaver is sick, do the other beavers bring a stick into the lodge so they can chew and keep their teeth in check?

Katie Murray

Have they always had teeth that can do all they can do? Or do we think they evolved for that?

Casa Reed-Dean

FTQA: Are beavers the answer? My husband is a fish biologist and feels that in terms of habitat restoration and protecting rivers and the species that live in them, beavers are the answer. Is this true and are beavers also just generally the answer?

Allie Brown

Why are the babies so so so cute

Allie Brown

How long can they hold their breath?

Allie Brown

Describe their tail in detail please? I don’t understand

Jen Rigney

FTQA: I know that the fur trade was the main driver of the beavers' near demise, but did hunting for food ever have much of an impact? I've heard the Catholic church at one point "declared them fish" for the purpose of letting all those voyageurs eat them during Lent, but how often did that happen?

Brent

Have you eaten a beaver.

Shannon Strom

FTQA: I read that beaver’s flooding of lands can protect that area from forest fires, save animals and plants, and help rebuild the ecosystem after a fire more quickly. Should we think of them as nature’s little miracles against global warming?

Ashley Tweeten

Is it true that artificial vanilla flavoring comes from the castor gland of a beaver which is near the anus? I have also heard rumors about this magic goo being used in the perfume industry!?

Voxothoth

What did they evolve from, and when and why did damming become a thing? Also, do any other animals do anything similar to damming?

burke Stansbury

From Lucas, age 15: I've heard that beavers teeth never stop growing. Is that true, and how is that possible if beavers are constantly chewing wood to build dams, their homes, etc.

Alice Munn

Why do they want to stop water ????

Katie Bauer

What’s inside those flat tails? Are there bones? Cartilage? Or is it just a fleshy pad of some sort?

Wildlife Tech Grace

I saw someone asked about “mouth splinters.” Do beavers have a special lining in their throat and mouth to protect from splinters? Or is it just really thick? Kind of like giraffes or camels. Do beavers have sort of a hard pallet?

Derek Eidem

How did they evolve to have that paddle like tail and why don’t other aquatic rodents have them?

Wildlife Tech Grace

I saw in a documentary once that when beavers are building their dams they place tree trunks/branches at very specific angles to reinforce the dam? What are the specifics that make up a dam? And is each dam unique in how it is built, or are all of them generally the same blueprint?

Katie Murray

How did beaver come to be a euphemism for female genitalia?

Katie Bauer

How many beavers live in a lodge?

Katie Murray

Thoughts on Mr and Mrs Beaver in The Chronicles of Narnia?

Connor they them

What is up with the anal gland thing? Is it true that it used as artificial vanilla? If so how was that discovered?

Sam Danielle

Seconded! Like, how in the HECK does one discover that???

David Dwin

i run a kayak club, and see these wonderful creatures pretty often, but we are always in awe. i’ve read that one of the reasons why their teeth are so hard, and kind of orange, is a very high concentration of iron. Does that mean that if you had a really strong magnet, you could catch some beavers? 😂🦫

Consistent Calamity

How many are there really in the world total?(including all species)

Shannon O'Grady

I’m so excited. Went on a hike recently and saw so many trees taken down from beavers. There were a bunch of big trees they took down but left there. What do they do with really big trees they take down? Do they break it up into pieces or get friends to help carry it 😂

Shannon O'Grady

My fiancé says he is so excited and has so many questions about beavers. Are they related to otters? Are they friendly? What do they eat? Do they eat wood? Do they eat fish? Why are they so cute? When do their babies go into the world? Are they in the dam? Why do they dam at all? How are their teeth so strong? Sorry for all the questions Alie and team were just very excited.

Dorit

Webbed feet! Why?

Kate Noonan

I heard there are beavers in the UK and Ireland, I always thought they were only in America, are they the same species?

Kate Noonan

Are beavers super buff because they cut down HUGE trees and then have to take them to their dam/house, surely the trees are super heavy!!

Smiley Kylie (she/her)

Is trapping beavers for their fur harmful for other animals? And if so, what animals are they most harmful for? ☺️😁

OneHappyPuppy

* I know they have been reintroduced to the UK. Are there other places they were extinct but have been repopulated as well?

Chuck Meriam

Are there insects that threaten woodlands, like the emerald ash borer here in Ohio, that indirectly threaten beavers?

Smiley Kylie (she/her)

I live on traditional Nez Perce lands and one of my favorite stories I’ve heard consists of beaver and coyote tussling on the snake river and beaver claws the sides of the river which is how the columnar basalt formed (obviously a butchered and shortened story). Are you aware of any indigenous stories that you’d like to share? ☺️🦫

Lacey Ireton

I was told that beavers are particular about their life partners Do they mate of life? Do they look for specific traits in their partners? Tell us about their love lives.

Nicole O

FTQA: Has anyone tried to domesticate beavers? Or to use them for some kind of human gain?

Waldrand

1. We’ve seen beavers use rocks in their dams here in Southeast Minnesota. How cool is that? 2. How would the beaver population have shaped the landscape and landcover prior to the beaver hat bonanza and European settlement of North America? 3. I don’t understand the vagina reference. Beaver? Please explain.

smellmyhead

In the PNW at least: SALMON! Salmon may swim upstream to spawn in fresh water, but they won't/can't actually spawn unless that water is moving verrry slowly. Beaver dam -> pooling/ponding, slow/still water -> a nice place to start a family. If you're a salmon.

Björn Fredberg

How friendly are they? Videos I've seen seem to indicate that they are the cuddliest, but those teeth... they would fuck. you. up.

Björn Fredberg

How fast are they at swimming? Is all that chonk just for show?

Aaron Wood

FTQA: what’s with the tails? What are they made of, and why are they so flat and wide?

Ben and Ford

I've heard that beaver anal glades taste/smell like something (almonds?) and you can get some sort of flavoring from it, is this true?

Yasmine Alu

why do they dam??! why not just build on land

Waylo

What is the best movie about or includes beavers?

Waylo

Beavers teeth do not appear to be anything like the teeth of a saw blade. How do they work so effectively? And could we learn something from their teeth/technique that could be applied to the technology that we use?

Waylo

I understand that beavers use their hearing more than site - and the sound of running water tells them that a damn needs to be repaired. I have seen examples of fooling beavers into building a damn by playing a recorded sound loop of running water. Has this technique ever been employed to encourage beavers to build damns where we want them built?

The Project Project

So... How much of the North American landscape is the way it is because of the actions of beavers over millenia? How much has their extirpation changed, and how much of their work can still be seen in the shape of the land?

Ronja Regen

FTQA: I once found a dead beaver that got hit by the tree that he himself (or herself) had been chewing on. Do beavers have any sort of instinctive orientation to not let that happen usually? Also, do they have a death culture? Thanks 💕🤝

Gene Genoar

3: Excellent question. I believe the slang use of beaver for vulva (rather than vagina), is referencing furriness. With current fashion, one might not know it from personal observation, but both women and men have fur down there.

Dorothée Berghaus

I heard beaver mums often die from exhaustion because they’re literally do everything for their babies and get them without breaks in between 😳

Gene Genoar

FTQA. How do their dam dens not get mildewed out from the moisture they're constantly bringing in?

Felipe Jimenez

I would like to know more about their tail slapping and communication. Is it similar to what we do in Morse code?

Euan Munro

Beavers have recently been reintroduced here in Scotland. I'm sure we'll hear lots about the ecological benefits that beavers and their dams, but what happens in that transition when they first show up somewhere?

Valerie Kirby

I don't have a question but just want to say that I watched the episode of Nature about beavers like 6 times and have been talking about it for about 10 years. Carry on

princenocturnal

FTQA. Are they cuddly animals? Do they like the snuggles? Asking for my brain on a bad day so I can zone out to pleasant made-up nature scenarios.

Leila Laco

Here in London UK beavers are being reintroduced to nature reserves in the outer suburbs and I'm wondering what are the most urban established beaver populations in North America/worldwide? Do they cope close to cities or do they much prefer quiet countryside?

Elizabeth Edwards

I read that there are only two species of beavers and that they are nearly identical. Is this true or did I misremember?

Björn Fredberg

How intelligent are they? Can they learn tasks, similar to a dog?

Donia Conn

Do they have a favorite tree to build with, and do individual beavers have individual preferences?

Adam Foote

How much chonk is muscle and how much is fat? I want to know how squishy they are!

Rowan Ridley

Forestry technician here, I want to know why they insist on chewing halfway through a tree and then leaving a precarious swaying death log?! Finish the job, bro!

Ceri Tully

My college instructor told us that there is a special beaver gland that food scientists remove some extract from that tastes like vanilla, and that they use this extract in things like vanilla ice cream and label it "Naturally Flavoured". Is this true or flim-flam?

Zandra Lea

Um, wasn’t the Great Wall of China made by mammals? (Us!)

Zandra Lea

FTQA: my wife and I often see adult beavers when we’re out in our canoe. Why do we never see any kits? How long do they take to mature? Tell us all about the tiny little fuzzballs!

Tania Wiest

FTQA, What exactly IS castoreum and why is it so damn tasty?? How does it taste like vanilla and fruit?

Moose

Why are they SO hard to eradicate in Patagonia in Chile and Argentina?! Around 50 were introduced in the 1940s in Tierra del Fuego on the Argentine side and have done insurmountable damage to the ecosystem since.

Zandra Lea

Archie Belaney aka Grey Owl (possibly the first Pretendian) adopted a pair of beaver kits who lived in his house

GhoulNextDoor

I was always enchanted by their homes as a kid, I imagined they had a beautifully furnished cozy living room down there. What are their dens actually like and how do they keep them warm and dry enough?

GhoulNextDoor

How much have they shaped the landscape historically? Felling trees and shaping the flow of water seem like such big tasks!

GhoulNextDoor

How do they get the trees where they need them to be? Do they calculate where they’re going to fall or are they compact powerlifters ready to carry a forest away?

Kira Simon-Kennedy

Thoughts on beaver-bombing (unauthorised releases) ? It's caused quite a controversey in the UK. Also in France there's a "mouvement d’alliance avec le peuple castor" to amplify life with the beaver people led by artist Suzanne Husky who paints beautiful watercolors of beaver ecologies.

Amanderlander

How long can they hold their breath? Can their babies swim automatically or do they need to learn how to swim? Does the inside of their den have "rooms" or is it just one big cavernous den? Also, do they have multiple escape/emergency exits in there? Do they work in teams to move logs or solo? Do they only have one family per den or is it a co-living situation?

Elaine Wong

Is it true that other animals overwinter in the dams?

PopsicleEmperor

How did humans realize we could use castor oil from beavers?!

Danae Owens

Is castoreum really used for artificial vanilla? And if so who was the first psycho to taste it?

Pattie Larson

How best do humans and beavers co-exist?

Pattie Larson

How many different species of beaver are there?

Katie Biardi

Why do/did people not like them? Especially since we build our own dams ... seems very ironic that we tried to get rid of them and then basically took over their ecological niche.

Matt Hirschl

If humans disappeared from the planet tomorrow, how would you predict beavers would impact the world?

Daniel Camacho

Sooo who taught them trigonometry?? And when they're making dams is there like a master architect, project manager, foreman?? Do they rent a conference room and plan out their budget with investors?? Basically is there some sort of social structure/hierarchy when making a dam

Raelee Grimm

Do they really cohabit with muskrats? How’s that work? Or is it flimflam? How cool is it that the beaver is the NY state mammal?! All other states must be so jealous.

Raelee Grimm

Adding: has the ologist heard of Beaversprite. Growing up near it I was always fascinated.

Ty Sundquist

Is it true that vanilla flavoring used to be made with beaver anal sent glands? How and why would anyone make the discovery that beaver butt tastes like vanilla?!?!

Juliette

Not necessarily a question but I just want to learn as much as possible about these incredible creatures. Specifically, I would like to hear more about their ability to transform basically any location in a wetland. I also want to learn about their team work.

Madison Woofter

To piggy back off of this, are they living with other beavers outside of their immediate family? Or if they don't have a mate do they keep to themselves? I always imagine them as just one beaver chopping down trees and making dams but are they more social than that?

Aver

How is climate change/human development effecting beaver populations and habitats? Beavers seem like a keystone species in many freshwater ecosystems and losing them would be a dam shame! (Also assuming your beaver expert is still in Bozeman, stop by the history dept if you are on campus! Enjoy the snow!)

Emily Totero

I feel like beavers are a pretty iconic North American mammal. Do they live in other climates/continents? Also I know the fur trade truly decimated beaver populations in the States. How did their disappearance affect different ecosystems, especially with their ability to modify landscapes? Related, have we seen notable changes in areas where they were reintroduced?

Meagan Walker

How do they carry the mud for their constructions?

Meagan Walker

I also want to know if they live with muskrats!

Meagan Walker

How warm are their lodges in the winter?

Meagan Walker

How do they keep their ice holes from freezing solid?

Meagan Walker

I’ve heard them making adorable grunts (also featured in the classic film “Men with Brooms”) but what other noises do they make?

Meagan Walker

How do they not get soaked through???

Richard

Our neighbors once found a beaver on their front porch here in South Austin, Texas. Are beavers expanding back to their old territories? What can we do to be more beaver-friendly?

Sam Blue

ftqa! what in the fuck is up with beaver butts and vanilla

Colby Evans

Grew up in the desert southwest, so never had any direct exposure until a recent east coast trip. The tree stumps they leave are EXACTLY like the cartoons told me they'd be. Sorry, no question

Teresa Gleason

How are their populations doing? Can they be found in all of the lower 48? What about Alaska? What is their family structure?

Brita Goldstein

I want to know more about their tails! What are they made of? What do they feel like?

Richard

Could re-introducing beavers across the North American landscape reduce our exposure to droughts? Would it make us more likely to flood? How resilient is a beaver dam to climate change, both drying and excess rainfall?

Olga

do beavers in different regions have different dam styles?

G-Sharon

why, of all animals, did beavers become associated with the lady bits?

Therese Enders

Let's Learn Everything did a beaver segment and talked about the beaver bombing. I'd definitely love to hear more about it! Related: parachuting beavers in the western US. That was a government plan, I believe, but it was still amazing.

Rebecca King

Why is the beaver associated with the vagina?

Rebecca King

How long to they spend raising their young?

Rebecca King

Do they really share their lodge with muskrats?

Rebecca King

Is their lodge really impenetrable by bears?

Duncan Koblas

How can they carry trees several times their size to their dams? Do they try to knock the tree towards the water so that they can tugboat it through the water? Could they drag me if I was just laying on the ground!!

Gene Genoar

Ooo! Update. Separate conversation suggests it's because vaginas process wood.

Ani Gee

How much do you like the song "Wynonas big brown beaver"? But really, how did beaver become my lady parts nickname?

Ani Gee

Have you seen the movie Zom-beavers? And how much do you love it? 🤩

Autumn Nicoson

What is a beaver's role as an ecosystem engineer?

Lindsey Wallace

Have you ever had a beavertail from Canada? (they are elite)

Lindsey Wallace

do any other animals dam like beavers do? how unique are they with their housing techniques?

Tristyn Vaughan

Beavers, their butts, and vanilla...how did we get here?

Gemma

so excited for this episode! I am an educator at a small local history museum in Alberta, Canada, and we teach kids a lot about beavers through our programs!! What’s one thing you wish more people understood about beavers?

Gemma

are their pelts unique to beavers?

Gemma

have you studied in the BeaverHills Biosphere? (hi from there!!)

Gemma

how do their teeth not break off from all that work??

Gemma

what policies and practices did we employ to bring beavers back from near extinction?

Gemma

how are eurasian beavers doing? are they alright over there?

Gemma

are beaver top hats responsible for the establishment of the settler colonial state of canada?

Gemma

GIANT BEAVERS! WHERE DID THEY COME FROM, WHERE DID THEY GO??? did we ever live among them??

Gemma

not a question, but i hope you guys speak on the settler colonial idea of beavers as pests versus traditional ecological knowledge understanding beavers as ecological keystones!

Gemma

are beavers brains similar to eusocial insects in their building of dams/lodges?

Gemma

Not a question, but please pass on the chapter ‘The Watershed Body: Trans and Queer Moves in Beaver Collaboration’ from the book ‘Underflows: Queer Trans Ecologies and River Justice’ by Cleo Wolfe Hazard!! Their work is amazing!!

Heather Ehrgott

Who figured out that beavers have vanilla compounds in their secretions? Did someone lick a beavers butt?

Ingrid Felsl

How do we balance beavers in sensitive habitats? For example, I live near calcareous fens, which are rare in my area. The county was excited that beavers were active again in the area, but they ended up removing the beavers, citing destruction to the sensitive fen habitat.

Coloradokeith

Was it safer to drink from mountain streams before the beaver came back?

Ingrid Felsl

What is it like to be a beaver? Are they social? What are their quirks? Do they play tricks on one another?

Morgan

I’d love to hear more about what the landscape of North America was like prior to the over-trapping of the beaver

Morgan

As a trans person that works in habitat restoration, THANK YOU for the rec!! :D

Julia L

Why are they building so much!??????!!!!

Shayna Sessler

What would make beavers abandon a pond they’ve lived in for several years? A wetland I frequent used to have beavers and I miss them! We had a couple of summers when the pond almost dried up and they would create channels in the mud that probably saved a lot of other creatures.

Shayna Sessler

I hear that Catholics classified it as fish?

Deborah Gray

Does the sound of running water actually trigger beavers to make dams?

Paul Duren

My son spent some time volunteering for the Tulalip Beaver Project, north of Seattle. They relocate "nuisance" beavers from the suburbs and ag land, and relocate them in watersheds where they will help restore salmon spawning habitat. Until this project began, it was illegal to relocate a beaver in Washington state--your only option was to kill it. But the Tulalip tribe insisted on their treaty rights, which include harvesting salmon, leading to this program. I'd love to hear discussion of Native American perspectives on beavers, and on how beavers create habitat for many other species. I'd also love to hear about how people can reduce conflicts with beavers, through thoughtful development and land use practices.

Jojo Emerson

What’s the biggest beaver dam ever documented? Where was it? How was it so successful?

Jim

Why is the November full moon called the beaver moon. (alternatively, why is the beaver named after this moon). What do beaver's eat (seems I recall they relish bark of the aspen tree) and do they have any special digestive adaptations. Do beavers winter in their lodges or somewhere else and do they hibernate.

Jim

How were the beaver top hats, from the pre-elightenment days, made. What I heard was that they make a felt from the beaver hair which was particular good for this as it has little hooks on it.

Colleen Denny

FTQA. What's the deal with "natural flavors" supposedly coming from somewhere near their anal glands?

Andy Pepper

I love seeing footage of night vision cameras inside beaver lodges, but how the hell do you get a camera into beaver lodge?!

Zoë Dunham

First time question asker and Aspiring wildlife biologist here! I was wondering where are beavers native to and are they considered an invasive species in certain areas? I hear about damage they do to certain properties and wondered if they can harm areas they aren’t supposed to be in. Also how does one get into researching beavers? (Also I love your show you inspired me to change my major from nursing to wildlife biology so I too can be a nerdy ologist like all my pals on here)

Heidi heidistrohl@mail.com

My 6 year old wants to know, why do beavers build dams in the water instead of a structure on the land?

Olivier Calas

Do Beavers have natural enemies ?

Sarah Chaney

I remember hearing that beavers are invasive and a huge nuisance in southern Argentina/Chile - why were they brought there and what problems do they cause?

Britney J.

Do they still use their poop juice for vanilla flavoring?

Keely Chavez

Were JUST discussing November moon in our fam too

Keely Chavez

Yeah? I remember they said that about the capybara, because the indigenous people wanted to keep eating it, and the church wanted to convert them.. so... (Thanks Alie! The more you know!)

Keely Chavez

Yeah Alie, you brought it up, why the orange teeth. If not this iron situation, one would think they do enough gnawing to keep their pearly whites

Valerie Bertha

There are a family of beavers with a lodge in our state park. This spring, they decided to relocate and build a new lodge in another location. I was joking with a friend about them having a summer home and a winter home but seriously do we understand their reasons for changing locations? Do they get bored and want a change of scenery?

Renee Mayer

My 7 year old is wondering why they have such big flat tails?

Olivia Lester

What is the purpose of that waffle texture on the tail? Do beavers have stronger teeth than other rodentia? Is there a morphological difference between males and females or different subspecies? Are they territorial or dangerous to humans? What would happen if I tried to dismantle their dam? How many beavers does it take to build a dam? Is a dam ever harmful to the environment? How does it benefit? How much force can a dam withstand? Largest or oldest dam known? Beaver meat?

Casa Reed-Dean

Are beavers the answer????More specifically are beavers the answer to people realizing that deforestation bad?????And do beavers have a gland on their elbows that is toxic, or is that another animal?

Casa Reed-Dean

I want to know this and is it true with vanilla I watched this in Young Sheldon?

Tanner

Same question! But why orange teeth?!

Nikki Matlock

If a beavers teeth are pale, does it indicate a dietary deficiency, like in Norway rats? Are beavers social creatures; do they like to live in families and/or communities? Can they get depressed if alone? How large was the biggest beaver? Was it really as big as a black bear?!

Hannah Riedl

Tularemia. Are beaver more prone to this disease than any other rodents? I have the opportunity to fund stream restoration in a watershed, but an argument against is that beaver will return and bring the tularemia.

Hannah Riedl

If ancient beavers were 200+ pounds, does that mean trees andtheir dams were 10x the size??

Hannah Riedl

How did beavers ever become a euphemism for vagina??

KeyLime Pi

Do they actually eat wood or just chomp through it to cut down trees for their building projects?? Thanks Alie. Your critter episodes are the best 💗

Crow has a coin

Why did people start using beaver scent glands for vanilla extract or perfume?

Betsy B

How many dams can a single beaver colony maintain? What length of stream does a beaver colony maintain? How do these numbers change across different geographies, climates, ecosystems, etc.? How does this info impact how you replicate beavers? When do you stop adding new beavers?

Zinc

i know that they are a key species, but how exactly do they influence the ecology around them? if i was… a wolf, or an oak tree living in the nearby environment, how does the beaver shape my life?

Zinc

please talk about the reintroduction of beavers to northern europe, i know it happened but almost nothing about it! how successful was it, would you as an expert recommend their methods for other projects, etc.

Zinc

emphasis on WHY

Zinc

i think because they really chow down 😭

Celia Sanislow

Are there any mysteries remaining around beavers? Anything that we don't yet have answer for?

Gene Phillips

My friends and I once came across a tree that had fallen in a pond connected to a creek. Several beavers, perhaps a family, had converged upon it and were going for the smaller branches. How long might they keep this up if left alone?

Magsaroni

Is it true that some flavoring comes from beavers' scent glands?

Miranda Panda

Can you touch on the controversy around beavers? I've heard arguments against beavers because of the "destruction" they cause, but when anyone tries to explain that it's part of nature, those same people will argue that the destruction humans cause is part of nature in the same way beavers are part of nature. How would you more eloquently explain this isn't the same?

Miranda Panda

Can you talk about the negative impact nutria have on beaver habitat in the pnw?

Caforia's Classroom

We are a middle school classroom in Enosburg Falls, Vermont and our teacher wanted to give us (/forced us to have) more opportunities to ask questions. We had five minutes to learn about this ‘ology’ and develop questions. Here are the "winning" questions: (Ryland & Levi) What are beaver teeth made out of? Why are they orange? (Lydia & Maylin) What are all the functions of its tail? (Noreen & Lexi) Are/were there different species of beavers?

Caforia's Classroom

(and one more from Sophie) Where did the name 'beaver' come from?

Lisa N

I heard they can make rafts to travel along a river, is this true???

Lisa N

How do you get into beaver research?

Lisa N

What is the biggest dam ever made by a beaver?

Jessie Crawford

I live in Oregon and the beaver is our state animal! They are also our mascot for our college (OSU). I am wondering how beavers are currently doing in our state compared to how they have been historically before the state was colonized. Are they endangered here or in other areas in the US? Also, there has recently been a major dam removal in the Klamath River Basin and I am wondering how that may affect beavers in that area. Thanks!

Hazelnut

FTQA! I never make these deadlines. So many questions but will try and make this brief. I'm from Canada and have met a trapper who has an annual quota of beaver he must trap and says that without human control they would essentially wreck our world, AKA, the human world/water infrastructure. First question, is this true? Recently, I was living in the UK where beavers are being reintroduced to restore and improve the health of waterways and are hailed as an ecological hero. Conservation organizations there do a lot of outreach to landowners to explain to them why they are important and good to have on your land. So, where is the balance between these two states and how can it be achieved? If a country like Canada doesn't have enough natural predators at play to balance the population, what hope does the UK, a country with zero large carnivores on the landscape, have? Are beavers being brought in just to inevitably end up being hunted?

Keegan Newman

How big does a water source need to be for a beaver to build a structure there? And can you please touch on what makes them a keystone species? Thanks!! :)

Kait

Can beavers save NYC? 🦫🗽 If beavers engineer more wetlands, and if wetlands can protect against storm surge and urban heat island effect, could reintroducing beavers to NYC mitigate the impact of climate change on the city? Or rather, can you think of examples of similar success stories that NYC can try to replicate? Signed, a totally chill not at all nervous New Yorker 😅

Kait

Omg I hope it’s true

Shawn Steffan

Dam good topic! In ecological circles, beavers are one of the classic "ecosystem engineers." They not only transform rivers into ponds, but in so doing also clear out parts of forests or prairies by creating aquatic habitats. Beaver ponds effectively flood out the trees and forest understory where the pond forms, creating new ecosystems for countless species. My questions for your guest are: How will climate change re-shape where beavers can survive? If precipitation is torrential, what will huge volumes of water (perhaps very warm water) mean for the ecosystem? If precip is reduced, perhaps beaver dams will capture more of the water, which might be good for the immediate locality, but not so good for the downstream critters...or maybe beaver dams will meter the water out slowly, making it last deeper into summer? Either way, I think beavers will be key players in "slowing the flow" of water downstream in a world where water distribution/heat will be fluctuating wildly. (Alie, on a side-note, the UW-Madison Dept of Entomology recently hosted Lauren Esposito! At the end of her talk, she asked the audience if there were any non-science questions... there was a long silence... so, as a devoted Ologite, I asked her how it was being interviewed by Alie Ward. She smiled and many folks in the audience gasped/laughed (because they realized we had a celebrity up at the podium)... She said it was really wonderful. So nice to have a spotlight on the small animals that run the world.

Stephanie Rosso

How many beavers can share one lodge? Do they have territory wars with nearby beavers?

The Other Maya

I heard a story that Beaver and Crow brought fire to humans. They made a ladder to the sky to get it 🤘

Lauren Cooper

How do they stay safe on the "job site" if they aren't wearing cute little hard hats? Do they ever get hit by trees?

Lauren Cooper

How do they manage to drag a whole-ass tree with their mouth? Are they super strong?

SuchaHotMetz

Who are their ancestors? Were there giant furry dino beavers? Like a furry Ankleosaurus?

Marlaina Hunter

What happens to beavers during a flood? Do they move to higher ground and hope that their dens aren't demolished? I live along a river in Vermont, we've had 3 major flooding events in the last 18 months and since then the beavers have been busy chopping down the trees that have been recently planted to improve the riparian buffer. Just goes to show how climate change can disrupt nearly every part of an ecosystem.. More flooding, means more damage to beaver habitats, which forces beavers to cut down more trees, which makes river banks more unstable, which ultimately leads to the devastation of critical infrastructure.

Zuleika Pevec

I love beavers! And I’ve heard them referenced similarly to crows in that people tend to not like them because they remind us of ourselves. Curious if beaver prejudice is common wherever they are found or if some people/societies learn to appreciate and coexist with them.

Jacob Shepherd

why would beaver anal glands smell good to humans?

Jackie G

Mountain beavers aren't really beavers are they?

Shuli Rank

FTQA: Beaver excluder devices. I’ve seen pictures, video, and read about them. I still can’t figure out how they work, can the ologist explain? wish I was asking for a beaver friend.

Shuli Rank

Just realized I missed the deadline- womp womp.

Mini Minnie

Which is busier, a beaver or a bee?

Kailyn Joviak

What is the ecological impact of beavers? (Hydrology and are there specific species that only live in beaver pools)

Laura Rose

Beavers in film: How accurate was the portrayal of the beaver in Lady and the Tramp?

Laura Rose

Just how many beavers are out there, like on your average river, how likely am I to see or come across a beaver?

Gaby B.

I know I'm late to the party, but I hope they talk about beaver dams and wildfires! In one of my bio classes, we briefly learned about efforts to make "natural" fire breaks by introducing beavers to specific (native) areas where their dams retain water and make the surrounding environment too moist for wildfires to burn down easily. Interesting concept, but I have to wonder if there would be any downsides to this technique.