I always enjoy finding beaver sign like this. Even though I rarely see actual beavers in the wild, it's nice to come by their signature works and know that they are out there, doing what beavers do.
Here's a picture of an old cut:
Occasionally you find an oddity among the beaver works. Hyperion and I had to laugh when we found this tree:
Did the beaver simply not like the first place he was chewing, and switch to a different spot? The time spent on the first cut was not wasted, however. Beavers will sometimes chew just to sharpen their teeth.
I also discovered that the front of their incisors has a harder surface than the back, allowing their teeth to be honed to a fine cutting edge.
The beaver became an officially recognized symbol of Canada in 1975, although its use as a symbol there was introduced as early as 1678. This was due to the huge significance of the beaver pelt in the early fur trade.
The scientific name, Castor canadensis, comes from kastor (the Greek word for beaver), and the country name of Canada. (Castor is one the Gemini twins, as in Castor and Pollux, of mythological fame.)
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