Selects: Beavers: Tail Slapping Fun | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

hey everyone it's Josh and for this. week's select I've chosen our October. 2020 episode on beavers because it's one. of our best animal episodes which is. really saying something CU our animal. episodes are pretty great and it turns. out that beavers aren't just cute and. diligent at work they have a huge. cascading effect a positive one too on. the ecosystems that they move into so. behold and enjoy the. beaver.

welcome to stuff you should know a. production of iHeart. [Music]. Radio hey and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh Clark and there's Charles W Chuck. briyan over there and there's Jerry. somewhere and this is stuff you should. know the orange insiders Edition oh mhm. thought you were going to make a bad. Naked Gun joke no no it did did run.

through my head over and over and over. and over and over and over and over. again though it's hard though when. you're our. age yeah and you saw those movies you. know for sure yeah dumb joke though uh. yeah well I mean it's a Naked Gun joke. for Pete's sake come on so this kind of. ties in I think a little bit with our. porcupine. episode uh in that beavers are you know. they're porcupine esque in some ways I. think it ties in even more to our. Wetlands episode which gave to the idea.

for this episode you know yeah. absolutely I mean I'm pretty excited. about this one I think um beavers are. about as great as it gets because. they're so studious and they also bend. the world to their will they shape. things the way that they want them and I. like that about them yeah and I also. love their familial aspects yeah which. we'll we'll get to all this stuff but. what we're talking about is is the. largest rodent in North America which.

really demeans them I guess but yes. rhen's such a it's not a bad word. there's so many great rodents who. beavers porcupines what else squirrels I. know you have a thing with squirrels but. well I know I like squirrels now Momo. and I uh and Yumi sometimes comes with. us to chase squirrels across the street. in the park um and feed them peanuts we. give them peanuts as like to kind of buy. them off after Mo chases them up the. tree oh go but the squirrels across the.

way will actually come to you and eat. peanuts out of your hand so I'm I'm kind. of on squirrels now Momo loves squirrels. Chipmunks mice Chipmunks too yeah. rodents are okay Chuck I think there are. fewer terrible rodents and the only ones. I can think of that are terrible are. those uh scary New York city sewer rats. oh yeah okay so rodents are all right up. with rodents I guess is way rabbits and.

I don't think they're rodents huh they. are you like a hamster sure hamsters I. don't know if rabbits are rodents are. they it makes sense that they would be. but that's what rent.com says okay well. who am I to disagree with that but we're. not talking about rabbits we're not. talking about sewer rats we're talking. about beavers and again beavers are. amazing amazing animals and like you. said you know it's kind of related to. porcupines and that there's um what you. could call Old World and New World. beavers but there's really just two.

species and one is found in North. America and one is found in Eurasia and. it's easy peasy no fuss no must these. are the Beavers that are alive on the. planet yeah so we've got uh the American. Beaver uh they weigh between 15 and 65. lbs which is very large uh if if you've. ever seen a large beaver in the wild. it's um it's not scary because you know. and we'll get to whether or not they're. they're dangerous they're really not.

um but it's it's such a large thing that. you're like wow they're bigger than I. thought usually is has run through my. head when I see a beaver yeah I mean 60. or 30 no yeah 65 pounds is about 30. kilograms it's a big beaver it is a big. beaver and I had to convert it to. kilograms for at least our friends in. Canada because Beaver is their national. emblem they have Beaver on their nickel. yeah which is amazing like just just. makes me love Canada all the much more. you know so for that 60 pounds you're. going to be uh a couple of feet long 23.

to 40 inches long um that's without the. tail you don't count the tail when. you're measuring a beaver uh the tail. we'll talk a little bit more about it. but they're anywhere from 7 to 12 in uh. if you're EUR Asian you're about the. same size may you can be a little bit. smaller Oh I thought bigger well you can. be a little smaller on the I I think the. range is bigger okay so you can be down. in the 20s poundage wise but up to the. 70s poundage wise mhm uh and you're.

probably a little bit longer and your. skull and your tail are going to be. narrower or your Tail's narrower and. your skull is smaller so um yeah but. that tail is what everybody understands. when they see a beaver just like with a. porcupine and its quills a beaver in its. tail is they're just synonymous. everybody recognizes a beaver because of. its tail and also the tails help make it. cute even though if you zoomed in and. took a really close look at the tail. you'd be like gross.

you think yeah it's scaly it's got. sparse coarse hair associated with it it. looks like a black jack that some old. timey like roughs would beat you up with. um and yet it's one of the most amazing. appendages any animal has as far it's. like a Swiss army knife but for Tails. yeah they're very useful in a lot of. ways they um obviously if if they're. swimming and beavers uh by the way can. swim uh 5 to seven miles an hour they. have uh little web feet they have you.

they can close their ear holes and their. nose holes and they can roll their a. film over their eyeballs yeah nicating. membrane yeah it's amazing um so if. they're going to be swimming then that. tail is going to be acting as a Rudder. um and as a propeller MH um it's also if. they're on land it's going to act as a. little kickstand at times yeah when they. stand up on their back legs they use. their tail to kind of lean against to to. help balance it's a big one for sure.

they also and this is a sure sign that. you have frightened SL upset a beaver um. they will slap the water with their tail. in part to frighten you away to say like. don't mess with me um but also to warn. other beavers because um like you were. saying they're familial they are. actually fairly social animals and they. live in family units so they would want. to warn like you know the wife and the. kids back at the. lodge yeah and here's the thing I I.

spent a lot of time at a lake here in. Georgia and I have heard something which. I thought was a beaver tail smash but. I'm not sure because I didn't see it I. have seen evidence of beaver uh eating. tree stuff oh yeah yeah and which we'll. get to and one day when I was in the. lake I saw a mammal's head coming toward. me and I don't know if it was a we also. have river otter so I don't know if it. was an otter or a beaver mhm um but. either way it was it was a large head.

and even though I know that they weren't. going to like come after me when that. thing pops under the water you're just. like where's he going what's he doing. where is he is he coming at me or not. were you swimming in the lake at the. time yeah I was swiming in the lake and. I saw this large mammal head you know. dunk under I could feel you and if it. was I'm not sure how long beavers can. hold their or otter can hold their. breaths but beavers can hold their. breath for about 15 minutes which is. pretty remarkable I I think it's.

remarkable too I mean it really just. goes to show like just how adapted they. are for life in the water and they are. mammals so they have lung so they need. to breathe air outside of the water but. yeah the fact that they can hold their. breaths for 15 minutes that they have. nicating membranes that cover their eyes. like little goggles so they can see and. work underwater um they spend a. significant amount of their time. underwater in fact they're most. protected in water that's where they can. move the fastest they can swim pretty. fast way faster than they can waddle on.

land sure um and a lot of their. predators won't necessarily come into. especially deep water after them so when. they're in the water they're at their. they're they're at they're in their. happy place mostly yeah and imagine when. they dive for 15 minutes and are. swimming. around uh what do you think those fish. think oh here comes a beaver do they do. they know or they just like what in the. world is that big hairy thing um I would. guess that they I would like to think.

they know I like to think of communities. of animals or ecosystems just they know. each other yep they know each other they. know each other's foibles they've come. to accept one another you know they have. their own things Beaver foibles they. always kind of you know they they in the. end that when somebody you know like a. human comes in and tries to screw things. up they'll all band together and you. know raise money for the community. center so that the developer can't buy. it so if you are uh North American. Beaver you can live pretty much anywhere.

in North America except for the desert. uh because you want water around um. you're probably going to be near a pond. or lake or a marsh or a swamp or a river. um your your Asian beavers uh used to. live all over Europe and Asia but they. were hunted uh over hunted because at. one point in time um wearing beaver. pelts and beaver hats was like really. high fashion so now they're only found. in uh Germany France France Poland.

Scandinavia Southern Scandinavia and. Central Russia yeah and a lot of those. are because they were reintroduced to. the areas like I believe Germany had to. have their population reintroduced. because they were hunted to Extinction. and how many beavers used to be here. like 400 million that's the estimate is. that in North America prior to Colombian. contact that they were there were about. 400 million beavers and they were hunted. down to near Extinction within the. hundreds of thousands from what I saw um.

and we're luckily held back from the. brink and when I say luckily I don't. just mean for the Beavers but I mean for. the the planet as far as North America. is concerned because one of the things. that we are still learning but have come. to realize is that the Beavers are. probably the most useful species on the. planet um because they're one of the few. species that alters their environment as. radically as they do. yeah what are they called they're a.

keystone species keystone species. because when they are present. biodiversity thrives and when beavers. are removed from an area biodiversity. suffers the presence of beavers makes. life better and richer for entirely. other animals and species just because. of what they do and how they do it all. right that's a great place to take a. break and I say when we come back we. talk about the two fundamental fulcrums.

on which Beaver life is based the dam. and the lodge. [Music]. okay think of all the stuff there's so. much stuff look at all the. [Music]. stuff all right we're back. and there are a couple of things you.

know you've heard buiz is a beaver uh. it's it's I don't know if that's proven. but I think it is almost universally. agreed that that phrase came about. because beavers are in fact very busy. and they work work work all day long. building their homes and building dams. uh their homes are called lodges MH and. you've probably seen if youve ever been. hiking and stuff in America you've. probably seen a Beaver Lodge by a river. or a lake it's a little little Dome made. out of uh sticks and grasses and Moss.

and mud maybe you thought a local witch. had built it yeah maybe it does look. like a little uh what do you call. witch's houses uh Witch's House I think. there's a oh sure I think there's a. different name but oh Witch's House. there's a name for those I thought so no. I don't I don't know think so witch. house I maybe I'm thinking of cin house. a day. witch no there's a word we just I just. watched the witch the movie again I. think there's a word for it man I love.

that that might be my favorite movie H. we did a movie Crush round table on that. by the way it was really good it is a. good one that's the guy who did the. lighthouse isn't it yeah Robert ERS God. bless that man I can't wait to see his. viiking movie too oh man I can't imagine. okay uh so the Beaver Lodge is um you. know about 8T wide a few feet high uh. they're on the banks of these ponds are. on Lake Shores uh they have this is one. of my favorite parts U many of them have. a little underwater back door so it's.

like sort of a ski in Chalet if you're. snow skiing yeah which makes sense. because again they spend so much time in. the water but also it protects them from. terrestrial Predators um because they. can get into the water and Escape when a. predator's like at their. door yeah and uh you know this is. they're nocturnal they don't hibernate. but most of this action's going on at. night um and everyone pitches in the. whole family I don't think we said yet. they live with their children till. they're about two M and in a Beaver.

Lodge you might find a mom and a dad who. are monogamous mates for Life yeah and. they might have their three two-year-old. almost two-year-old children and then. they might have their little. grandbabies yeah because when they have. their their babies which are called kits. which admittedly is not as cute a word. as pork your pets no but they're cute. but dude just press pause right now. everybody and go look up some baby. beaver pictures those little taals oh my. God oh my God they're cute so they have. baby beavers and one of the reasons why.

they're so cute is because they they. stick around for so long or they stick. around so long because they're so cute. that's what I mean to say um but they do. they stay as part of the family unit and. help like work on the Family Lodge in. Dam um until about two when they wander. off and then at 3: they start to mate. but they build their own Lodge at age. two and from what I've read it's usually. very clumsy it's not in the best place. necessarily and so they kind of learn as. they go but they also learn from their.

family unit first um which I think is. super cute it is um I think we should. talk about dams though I mean The Lodges. are are cool and it's a great place to. live if you're a beaver but the dams is. where they really uh that's where they. get their their Shining Moment as a. species that really helps out the. environment because they help create. these Wetlands don't they yeah so so a. beaver will move into an area that's dry. as a bone um that maybe crop land that's.

maybe. Timberland um that is not at all flooded. there's no Pond or Wetland or anything. like that and they say this can be. better and so they find like a source of. moving water like a stream or um a brook. maybe a creck maybe a creek something. like that and they stop it up they they. build a dam and they build this Dam so. that the water backs up behind it and. floods this area and turns it into into. a wetland and they do this not to irk.

humans or just for fun they do it. because they're altering the ecosystem. to better suit themselves like I said. they survive much better when they're in. the water they move faster they they can. work faster so they actually make this. ecosystem into an aquatic ecosystem. where before there wasn't an aquatic. ecosystem and they do it all by by. building this Dam and the way that they. build Dam is magnificent in and of.

itself yeah so you know you got your uh. Dam base the foundation basically where. uh you're going to use mud and gravel uh. that you get from the stream and you. kind of work together as a family and. with your tail and they're pushing I say. we we're beavers all of a sudden and. you're pushing this mud and gravel up uh. from the bottom of the stream yeah and. if let's say it's a place where the the. cric is running a little bit too fast. and there's too much flow uh they're. going to say you know what we're going. to take these sticks we're going to pile.

these things up all along the bottom. until. basically it's like it's like building. from the ground up until they're strong. enough to to stay in place right but. they're so good at using their hands and. they're so strong you said you know 60. 65 LBS or about 30 kilogram they're. mostly muscle too they're really strong. little little rodents especially for. being like herbivores you know they're. like those vegan bodybuilders. um but they can take they'll take sticks.

and like plant them in the bottom of. this stream or whatever and start. forming a lattice work that they weave. in between and fill up with mud to. really stop up some you know fast moving. current um that that that like that's. the level of manipulation that they're. they're doing they're they're building a. dam that they they eventually um. successfully back up the flow of water. from yeah which is uh I've tried to do. that before and it's hard to do yeah um.

my buddy Scotty and I who you know we. went camping once in California and it. was when I was young and uh in the film. industry so there was a lot of time. between jobs and we just decided to stay. and keep staying and I think we ended up. staying for like 11 or 12 days wow and. uh we wanted to build a waterfall next. to our campsite so it sounded better so. we spent days and days with sticks and. big rocks and trying to reroute and. change the River uhhuh and it was some.

of the hardest work I've ever done. imagine doing that at like 48 in long. and only 65 lbs yeah so they're they're. not only building this thing up they got. their little kits and their children. helping like bringing up sticks in mud. saying PA ma is this okay and they say. yeah add it to the pile and then once. they're done they they like there's a. periodic like uh inspections that go on. because they got to make sure that it. stays strong cuz that current just keeps.

going and it's very easy to wiggle the. right stick loose and all of a sudden it. starts crumbling down so they basically. inspect these things every so often and. check it for leaks and bring in mud and. Patch it up just like it's like a a. human might do oh I saw that they they. do daily maintenance on it that um one. way to tell whether beavers are in the. area is to to find their Dam make like a. little minor hole in it and then go back. and look the next day and if it's. patched up the beavers are around there. like and and giving you the middle.

finger right exactly like okay yeah. we're here you figured it out please. leave our dam alone but yeah the these. things are like watertight for the most. part or they they allow very little. water through or I guess from what I can. tell as much water as the beaver wants. to like they're very willfully. deliberately constructed structures that. will turn a dry area into a wetland and. when that happens one of the things that. they use to build this stuff with their. trees around the area and they can they.

use their teeth those really really. sharp strong teeth that I said are um. like kind of orange-ish at the very. beginning of the episode and they're. very they're orange because they have so. much iron in them which actually gives. them that much more strength yeah. they're up to an inch long they're super. strong they uh they actually sharpen as. they gnaw on trees so it's not like. it'll dull their teeth out it actually. sharpens them and the other thing.

they're doing is they're eating that. tree they're one of the few mammals that. or maybe the only mammal that can. actually digest cellulose well. porcupines can too remember oh that's. right yeah they can they can digest. cellulose because they probably have a. very similar kind of bacteria that helps. them helps digest it for them but they. digest a lot of the cellulose that they. eat and it's really hard to break down. normally for mammals though yeah but. like you know you said they're. essentially creating these Wetlands. they're preventing erosion. uh they are helping to purify the water.

oh let's let's talk about what the dams. can do okay Chuck I mean it's amazing. they're it's it's like a little. environmental uh uh Coalition that goes. into the woods to make things better. yeah so I think in the wetlands episode. I said something like like a beaver. creates the equivalent of some like a $5. million wastewater treatment plan or. something like that I could not find. that again to save my life but I think. that was roughly it um they they create. this this structure that creates the.

artificial Wetland and in doing so it. filters the water because it slows the. water down so much that the stuff can. trickle down to the bottom it turns a. normal um terrestrial piece of land into. a wet land so aquatic plants come and. they've also found out that not only. does it filter water of like sediment. and particles it also is capable of. handling Farm run off fertilizer which. is really pernicious because you know. when all that fertilizer makes its way. into to to watersheds and wetlands it.

creates algae blooms which suck up all. the oxygen and kill off a bunch of fish. right which is a big problem they. figured out that beaver dams actually. work against that by by um fixing. nitrogen excess nitrogen from fertilizer. it prevents it from flowing bacteria. Chomps down on it and releases it as. nitrogen gas into the atmosphere and the. stuff the bacteria doesn't eat floats. down to the bottom gets eaten up by aqu. plants which when they die lock it into.

the sediment so this this Farm runoff. that's a huge problem as it stands is. actually mitigated by beaver dams. they've recently found out yeah and talk. about just what kind of um impact it has. on who lives there I mean it's basically. like an invitation to to Nature that. says hey we got a good scene going over. here if you're an invertebrate that. doesn't feel like they have a home. you're welcome here. um if you're a new species of bird that.

didn't think that you would flourish. here M time to change that attitude. right uh if you're a duck or a goose uh. you can Nest on top of our lodge because. our lodge is super warm cuz it's full of. beavers and you can Nest on top of there. and stay warm uh and especially if it's. out in the middle of a pond or something. you're going to be safer mhm uh what. else um if you are a woodpecker and. you're like all these trees are too. healthy there's no insects in them well. just wait because flooded Timberland.

doesn't stand up very well to standing. water and so some of those trees die off. and they get uh they provide housing for. insects which in turn provides food for. the woodpeckers what what if you're a. moose let's say probably no good for you. right no you're going to love this if. you're a moose so buckle up um it be. because the the beaver has turned it. into a wetland it's now an aquatic. environment and moose like aquatic. plants that grow on the edge of like. marshy areas so these plants that. weren't there before are suddenly there. for the Moose and it gets even better.

because when the beaver family finally. like is you know move moves away or they. die off and the the whole thing gets. abandoned the eventually the Dam's going. to break without regular maintenance and. when it does the the the place is going. to go back to how it was before but it's. going to go back to better than it was. before because think about all that. nitrogen that was fixed in the sediment. all the erosion that was prevented now. all of a sudden you have a lush. beautiful Meadow that deer can come eat.

on yeah it it's pretty amazing like they. they help out all these animals and. introduce all these new animals that can. live together and then once it's done it. becomes a flowery Meadow for deer they. leave it better than it was when they. first got there amazing it is amazing. the problem is is that humans frequently. have much different plans for those same. areas and beaver going to foul them I. let's say we take a break and we come. back and talk about that after a break.

like I just said what do you think. answer now yes. [Music]. [Music]. okay think of all the stuff there is so. much stuff look at all the stuff. [Music].

all right so um we love. Beaver you love Beaver everyone out. there listening there's a lot of people. who don't love Beaver is it Beaver it is. now okay and the reason why is because. if you own like a a a stand of Timber. you're plan is to eventually cut that. Timber down and sell it for wood planks. or books you know like um stuff you. should know colon an incomplete.

compendium of mostly interesting things. available everywhere you get books to. pre-order. now um there's things you can do with. trees that you grow and if beavers move. into your area and they build a dam. those dams are effective this isn't like. a little puddle we're talking about they. can create basic basically like lakes. ponds like enormous wetlands and when. you have standing water over Timberland. those trees are not they're not aquatic. trees that you're growing there so they. actually die again remember they they.

die off and bugs move in and woodpeckers. eat the bugs well if you're trying to. make money off of those trees you don't. really want the Beavers to do that to. your. Timberland no and I think uh how many. tens of millions of dollars I think it. was like $20 million a year or something. I it's I think more than that because I. think I saw Alabama alone suffered. like14 million in losses from Timberland. just Alabama from Beaver uh damage and. not only that it'll it'll um flooding. for crops um it can make um what was.

ordinarily a very stable Bridge or road. now unstable and cause damage to roads. and stuff like that yeah from like. saturating the soil that was holding it. up just fine before yeah the the good. news is um back in the old days there. would just you know they would just call. as many beavers as they could to get rid. of them uh these days and this is kind. of a weird stat but it says 75% of of. beaver human conflict can be resolved. without trapping or killing the beaver.

so yeah I take that as in they will. somehow move them along in a way that's. Humane well I don't know if that's even. the case I think that more often than. not the first question is is the beaver. really causing a problem or is it that. there's beavers and they've created this. this Wetland and that wasn't there. before and you're taking it as a problem. and that's the the the thing that I'm. seeing that it seems to be like the new. paradigm for viewing beavers as far as.

their relationship to humans it's like. really what's what's the problem if it's. yes they're damaging crop land okay. that's a problem if they're killing. Timberland that's a problem if they've. um if they're washing out a road that's. a problem but if they just created a wet. land that wasn't there before on your. property where you bought the property. and it was dry and now there's a wetland. there that you didn't plan for is it. really a problem and I think that's what. they're saying is that 75% of the the. people who are asked that question will.

say actually I guess it's not I'm going. to learn to love the beaver I love. Beaver yeah and you know it really gets. my dander up when I uh this Lake that I. go to the the Facebook page there are. people you know people post like hey it. looks like I have a beaver eating on my. trees and you know these some of these. people literally are like yep I'll take. care of that with my 12 gauge yeah and. it's just like you don't I've never. understood the people people who want to. move to Nature to kill the nature yeah I.

know it's just it's unnerving and uh I. have seen some Beaver damage and I love. it I welcome it so yeah you eat all you. want you would be one of the 75% who. would say like no no it's no problem. whatsoever you probably wouldn't even. say it was an issue you wouldn't even be. asked that question you would just know. from the outset that it's not a problem. I call about a beaver beavering yeah. that's right beaver's gonna beaver and. so and we know now that like they are a. keystone species they're so important. that it's it's great the impression I'm.

getting is it's kind of. like no it's not really a problem so you. can't touch that Beaver don't shoot that. Beaver you're going to get in big. trouble depending on where you are for. shooting a beaver when it wasn't. creating a problem which I love because. they should be protected because again. not not just the fact that they were. almost hunted to Extinction they provide. so many really important Services um I. don't even know if we talked about it. there were two others Chuck. they prevent flooding three others they.

prevent flooding by slowing the flow of. water so things Downstream from the dam. don't get overwhelmed as much right the. stuff in the dam helps recharge aquafers. below whereas before there's just a. little stream trickling over it was. doing jack for the aquafer now the. aquafer is getting recharged on The. Daily and then the third one is they. provide natural fire brakes which helps. contain forest fires yeah I have the. feeling when we're done we're going to. be mad cuz there were like three more. things we didn't think about that.

happens to me a lot and drives me. nuts uh here's some of the things that. people do try and do though to mitigate. their uh what they perceive as their. Beaver problems yeah yeah no because. they they do create some problems as far. as human settlement is concerned uh they. will use Beaver pipes uh and this is. basically plastic pipes that uh you put. in a beaver dam to route that water to. where you want it um helps control the. flooding that beavers can cause yeah. it's like so long that the beaver's like.

it doesn't think to go to the end of the. pipes it just sees that there's. something around its Dam and it probably. dams up around the pipe but that still. lets the flow of water go through yeah. this is kind of cool they will build a. pre-dam uh if they want beavers away. from a certain place and in a different. place they'll basically say hey look. over here we got this fence it's like a. foundation for your new home right uh. it's kind of you got 10% of your work is. done why don't you to start here so. they'll do that yeah the beaver says hot.

dog uh and then another thing is to. design well there's two kind of of. fences there's the pre-dam fence that. encourages them to come and then there. is another kind of fence uh to keep them. from building there in the first place. yeah those are called Beaver deceivers. um and they are it's just basically so. like a culvert is a frequent place that. a beaver likes to Dam up and that's. where it causes a lot of damage AG. because CTS are help are meant to help.

drain water to keep roadways stable and. that kind of thing right so you would. just basically put a fence radiating out. from either side of the Culver outward. um at an angle kind of like in a V shape. and then those two um fences are. connected by another fence between the. two so it's just basically like a. triangle that ends in the covert the key. is if you make those fences long enough. I think 12T minimum or something like. that the beaver is going to be like nuts. to this this just isn't even worth it. I'm not going to try to build a dam here.

or if it does start to build a dam it's. going to give up eventually um and your. Culvert is saved without the beaver. being hurt or harmed the beaver just. moves on to a different spot that it. likes right uh and if you have a tree. that you really love that you see has a. beaver activity uh you can wrap like. chicken wire around the base of it if. you want um there's also some special. paint that you can paint on the trunk. that apparently beavers don't like uh if. you want to protect a certain tree. um it's like the nail biting stuff all.

bet oh my God somebody wrote in about. that what did they say I didn't see that. one I think they were just asking like. what it was I'm sure they still have it. but um I don't remember what it was I. believe remember Lee press on nails I. think they had a sideline in that stuff. I'm sure it was it's probably just like. clear nail polish yeah but tastes like. garbage yeah that tasted really bad. tasted like what what I thought it was. like hot no it was bitter oh okay yeah I. wouldn't like that at all that was very. b um I don't think we mentioned the uh I.

mean we should talk a little bit we. talked about the kits um but they do. live in large groups they're very social. they're called colonies M and they mate. in the winter uh during the first few. months of the year um the Eurasian. Beaver gestates for 60 to 128 days and. have one to six little babies and the uh. American beavers just ate from 100 to. about 105 to 107 days again one to four. little kits and they are weaned uh.

around 2 weeks of age whereas the. Eurasian beavers weaned about six weeks. of age right and so Chuck I saw that. beavers tend to live like you said they. were monogamous typically I saw that. they live about 10 to 15 years in the. wild which is so cute but you can also. build a pretty pretty respectable Dam in. that time too and I think actually the. largest dam that they've ever seen um is. they they think it is from many many.

many generations of beavers staying and. working on it in Alberta right yeah it's. huge and I guess everyone just got in on. the party yeah they think since the 70s. that some beavers have been keeping it. very appropriate yeah pretty much uh and. those little kits by the way can swim. about uh just one day after they're born. they're already swimming around right so. like we said I think that they are. um I think that they become sexually. mature at age three and around that time.

they're going to start producing. something called Korum or castori right. yeah um and castori is like uh a lot of. people think that it's like the origin. of castor oil that's not correct from. the castor bean I believe this stuff is. like the opposite of castor oil it. actually like tastes and smells like. really good yeah I mean it's it's used. it's the FDA says you can eat it it's. one of those grass remember generally. recognized as safe ingredients M and the.

thing is though there's just not a lot. of it it's it's it's very tough to and. it's a lot of work to go out there and. try and extract this um flavor. ingredient from the beaver tail right uh. I think it says uh 200 about 292 lbs. annually total right so uh imagine it's. expensive it is very expensive and you. can still find in some places I think I. saw a whiskey that uses it um. Chanel's perfume um what is it called.

Kar deusi I believe is still uses it um. really and it's a flavor ingredient too. because it's um or like you were saying. it's generally recognized as safe but it. also adds like a vanilla raspberry. flavor that's what it tastes like to. humans and they think that there are. some ice creams out there that still may. use that like old timey ice creams that. use Beaver castorian like beaver scent. that's what it is it's Beaver musk it. just so happens that Beaver musk tastes.

like Raspberry Vanilla to to humans huh. yeah but they were hunted for a really. long time which kind of led to this one. myth didn't it uh the testicle myth yeah. yeah up until about the 1100s uh people. thought beavers ate or bit off their own. testicles mhm uh and apparently this has. its origins in ancient Egypt uh in. medieval Europe uh it continued where I. think the what they said was that.

beavers knew that Hunters were coming. after them because of that castorian. yeah uh which originated in their. testicles and um none of this is true I. think their testicles they don't even. have hangers right no they don't they're. located inside them which automatically. disqualifies it but also so the Beavers. were basically saying like no you can't. have my korium I can't have it anymore. either I would rather bite off my own. testicles than let you have them I guess.

maybe as a survival mechanism like they. thought the the hunters would leave them. alone if they didn't have testicles but. maybe no that's not true at all um and. then there's one other great fact Chuck. that I think you got to take to take us. out with the uh yeah the Pope in the. 16th century said you know what that's. that tail is pretty scaly and they sure. are in the water a lot so um during the. fast fting days go ahead and eat that. Beaver it's close enough to a fish yep.

exactly it qualifies as a fish so you. could eat Beaver back in the 16th. century thanks to the pope that's right. uh as far as I know I teased earlier if. they were dangerous they're they're not. beavers are very nice little fellas and. ladies uh and if there is a beaver that. attacks somebody it will make the news. because it's so rare and it probably. means they're really sick yeah they um. like all mammals can get rabies um but. like porcupines I get the impression.

that that's one of the few um diseases. you can get from a beaver um the thing. is is if they are rabid and they do. charge at you they can do some serious. damage with those teeth like they can. chew through three foot diameter trees. they can bite through your skin and so. if you get too close to a beaver it can. have bad effects it's just like you said. it's extremely rare but I saw at least. one guy's died from from them in the. last decade or so right that was just. bad luck so a guy in borus was trying to.

get a picture of a beaver and got too. close and the thing bit him in his thigh. and bit through his femoral artery and. the guy bled to death from a beaver. attack he died from a beaver. attack his family has to live like that. for the rest of their lives yep Beaver. attack I know um and there's been some. other attacks too but yeah I I I think. they just kind of give Beaver bad name. unwarrantedly don't you shot through the. leg and you're too.

blame you give beavers a bad name oh. goodness. Todd um well I guess that's it for. beavers huh that's it I'm glad we. finally got to do this one leave them. alone yeah let them do their beaver. thing beavering like Chuck says beaver's. going to Beaver if you uh want to know. more about beavers so then by God you go. find some beavers and study them from. afar because they are nature's miracles. and since I said that it's time for. listener.

mail all right I'm going to call this uh. braver. Angels hey guys listen to your episode. on swing States you mentioned the. dangerous level of polarization going on. between Reds and Blues in America oh. yeah thanks for reading this one you're. welcome and I wanted to uh let you know. that there's something we can do about. it there's a great Grassroots. organization with a specific goal of. depolarizing America called braver. angels which organizes events to bring. Reds and blues together to have real.

nuanced discussions about things they. disagree about and help us understand. and respect each other that's great it. it is great that's quite a service yeah. and I would love to peek in on one of. these meetings and maybe go to one yeah. uh they're doing a lot of online events. now due to covid and among other things. just launched a campaign called hold. America together to prepare a response. to potential election related conflict. in November uh could you please tell. your listeners about braver angels. yes and help keep our country together. because America needs this love to all.

the Reds and blues out there and you. guys are great at what you do join the. braver angels that is from Christa and. just go to braver angels.org b a r a v r. a n g l.org b r a v r a n g l.org that. is correct okay cool um that's fantastic. thank you Christa and thanks to all the. braver Angels out there who are trying. to Keep the Country together cuz like. Christa said we kind of need it right.

now and it is brave it's it's uh it's. daunting to step outside your Echo. chamber oh man it is and it's just. harder and harder because you know the. Echoes have gotten stronger and stronger. so to hear something other than that is. like just almost like makes your brain. melt you know pretty neat all right uh. well if you want to get in touch with us. to let us know about some group or. service that the country or the world is. in dire need we want to hear about it. you can send us an email to stuff.

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