AWESOME ENGINEERS. The dam builders have a day set aside in their honor, believe it or not. Yes, International Beaver Day really does exist.
The day came to be in 2009 by Beavers Wetlands & Wildlife, an educational nonprofit that has been helping people coexist with the animal engineers for over thirty years, according to their website (https://www.beaversww.org/).
National Today states, “April 7 was chosen as the date for the holiday because it marks the birthday of Dorothy Richards — popularly known as the ‘Beaver Woman’ — who was born in 1894. Richards engaged in the study of beavers for 50 years of her life.”
It is noted that Richards read “Pilgrims of the Wild” by Grey Owl and that is what set her interest in motion, and she set up a sanctuary for the creatures at her Utica, N.Y. property called Beaversprite. Fifty years later, friends and associates of Richards established Friends of Beaversprite in order to fight the Erdman Trust who had taken control of the sanctuary after Richards’ death. Utica Zoo acquired the land in 2020.
Did you know, the beaver is the national animal of our neighbors to the north? True, Canada’s national animal is the beaver. And, the Catholic Church, at one time, considered the castor-carrying-critter fish for Lent.
One more fun fact. Like their other water friends, the otters, beavers are monogamous and remain together throughout many mating seasons.
There is one thing about beavers that many around the region remember — BEAVER FEVER. Giardiasis, from the parasite Giardia, is a common illness for those who drink water from streams, springs, lakes, and as was the case a few decades ago, untreated reservoirs.
