Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/12/18/enjoy-the-relaxing-sounds-of-these-cute-chonky-beavers-eating-bark-and-chomping-on-leaves-in-a-pond.html
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Weird (but true) story; I was going on a fall hike with my young son last month, very quiet, cool day. The path meandered past a large stream/small river, not too deep, lots of rocks. As we are looking at the water, this large, dark thing starts swimming towards us. At first I’m like “oh, big fish.” Then, “damn, what is that? Catfish? Big ass brown trout? They don’t get that big, do they?”
Then it pops out of the water onto a rock and it’s a goddamn young beaver! Looking right at us! My son looks at it, it looks at him - swear to god, they were both thinking of having some splash play in the river. After about 30 seconds of this it slides back into the water and swims away. This was a personal first in my life.
I’m a pretty avid outdoorsman, and to the best of my knowledge, I always thought beavers avoided people like the plague. Not this guy, he was definitely checking us out.
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I’ve not much experience with beavers.
I certainly couldn’t tell if these are “chonky” beavers or not.
Do they “chonk”-up in the beginning of winter?
Or maybe, maybe these are the swimsuit models of beaverdom.
Is there really that much in the way of calories in wood?
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Close your eyes…and listen.
This is me, in a bathtub, eating Doritos.
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Makes me hungry. Pass that peppermint bark.
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Some beavers are still managing to find openings in their ponds which give them access to fresh cambium, the soft layer of wood just under the bark of a tree. Cambium contains a lot of cellulose, in addition to starches and sugars. Like all herbivores, beavers do not possess enzymes that are capable of breaking down the large cellulose molecules (cellulases). In their place, beavers employ micro-organisms, such as bacteria, that can break down cellulose.
These bacteria are located in a pouch called a cecum, located at the beginning of the large intestine. (Ruminants such as moose and deer have rumens in place of ceca.) Colonies of these microorganisms in a beaver’s intestines digest up to 30% of the cellulose from the woody material that it eats. Further nutrients are recovered in the form of fecal pellets that the beaver re-ingests. (Emphasis added)
From How Beavers Digest Cellulose | Naturally Curious with Mary Holland
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So, should we be hearing farts as well?
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Would it be in bad taste for a commenter to make a beaver fart joke?
Asking for a friend…
That reminds me: We’re anxiously waiting for a big can of peppermint bark we ordered several days ago. Nom nom.
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Well that’s a helluva lot cuter than what will be know for human farts in tragic/comical political situations from here to eternity as ‘The Giuliani’.
Fun fact: wombats poop is cube shaped… I think you can hear it in the tone!
It’s honestly a trifle intimidating to see them so casually rasping skin from bone.
We can all be thankful that the Canadian tadpole hamster isn’t in the mood to be carnivorous.
I’ve read too much North American history! Every time I see beavers I get sad b/c I’m reminded of how utterly, incredibly, undeniably they suffered during ~1750 to ~1880 at the hands of greedy hat people.
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