We're tired of waiting

February 3, 2025 2:42 PM

Beavers side step planning authority and environmental review, skip permitting process, and build dam creating wetland exactly where needed; save Vltava River Basin authority 30 million crowns.
posted by Mitheral (11 comments total)

If only Patagonia could enjoy the same benefit.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:03 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

If you take the light rail from the airport into downtown Seattle, you go past a spot where the Department of Ecology built a wetland nook in the Duwamish River, out of an unused parking lot. Beavers probably could have done it faster.
posted by funkaspuck at 3:25 PM on February 3

But the beaver was quick and it grabbed them by the kiwis ...
posted by edselford at 4:51 PM on February 3 [1 favorite]

has he pissed since?
posted by signal at 5:28 PM on February 3

Pertinent
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 5:46 PM on February 3

No project documentation?! Great post, Mitheral, thank you.
posted by Bella Donna at 6:39 PM on February 3

The administration of the Brdy protected landscape area, which had gained approval for the 30 million crown project, was dealing with red tape and seeking the respective building permits from the Vltava River Basin authorities when the dam project was completed almost overnight by a local colony of beavers.

I love it! Sometimes people think they are pests, but actually beavers are “ecosystem engineers,” good for the environment:

5 ways beavers keep our ecosystems healthy:

• They create wetland habitat for other species
• They increase biodiversity
• They improve water quality
• They store water during droughts
• They minimize flood risk and mitigate flooding peaks

They are also very, very cute: Nice feel good story about a baby beaver rescued in Alberta.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 6:40 PM on February 3 [4 favorites]

Leave it to beavers...
posted by zaixfeep at 6:44 PM on February 3 [4 favorites]

A fun fact about beavers: they use sound as their first cue to make sure their dams hold water, and to detect/patch any leaks. Basically if they hear trickling water, they add sticks to that area, until they don't.

So if you have beaver nearby and a speaker, you can set it to play a loop of water gurgling and place it wherever you want to direct the beaver to build.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:18 PM on February 3 [6 favorites]

Bonus bonus is that there's a 24/7 maintenance team on site to manage the dam thing.
posted by mightshould at 1:12 AM on February 4 [5 favorites]

permits be dammed.

The ones at my local dam are currently hibernating, but it won't be long until things thaw and they'll be back at the construction work again. There'll be the usual uneasy truce between the beavers and the trumpeter swans that nest on top of one of the dams. I await with delight hearing 2025's first tail-slap dive, as passive-aggressively Canadian as can be: a big loud spladoosh telling me to please fuck off from their pond.
posted by scruss at 8:59 AM on February 4 [5 favorites]