Long ago Beaver did not look like he does now. Yes, he had two very large front teeth, but his tail was not wide and flat. It was thick with silky fur. Vain Beaver is inordinately proud of his glorious tail. When he's not bragging about his tail, Beaver spends his time grooming it, while the other woodland creatures go about their business of finding food and shelter for their families. Eventually Beaver's boasting drives away his friends and he is left on his own. But when his tail is flattened in an accident (of his own making), Beaver learns to value its new shape and seeks to make amends with his friends. Based on an Ojibwe legend.

Introduces the physical characteristics, habits, and natural environment of the North American beaver.

For young readers, an engaging and beautifully illustrated story about the return of beavers to the Detroit River. When Detroit was settled over three hundred years ago, beavers (then known by the French name "castors") were one of the most numerous and important animals in North America. Yet the aggressive beaver pelt trade in Detroit and elsewhere decimated the animal's population, and the region's remaining beavers were unable to reestablish their homes in the city's industrial landscape once the trapping ended. In A Beaver Tale: The Castors of Conners Creek, author and illustrator Gerald Wykes tells the incredible story of one beaver family's return to the Detroit River in 2008, more than one hundred years after beavers were last seen in the area. Wykes shows readers how the beavers were discovered at the Conners Creek Power Plant on the city's east side, after people noticed trees were being mysteriously cut down. He combines real observations of this pioneering beaver colony with background about the important history of the beaver in Michigan, from its relationship to the Native occupants of the Great Lakes to its "discovery" by Europeans as a source of valuable furs. He explores some of the beaver's unique physical features, including its impressively webbed hind feet, delicate fingered "hands," waterproof fur, and famous flat tail, and also explains how today's strict pollution laws and shoreline improvements have turned the Detroit River into a hospitable place for beavers once again. Wykes's full-color illustrations and kid-friendly text tell a serious tale of environmental recovery in a fun and accessible way. Young readers aged 8 to 12 will enjoy the unique natural and cultural history in A Beaver Tale.

"A bold new voice in nature writing, from the front lines of Britain's rewilding movement Bringing Back the Beaver is farmer-turned-ecologist Derek Gow's inspirational and often riotously funny firsthand account of how the movement to rewild the British landscape with beavers has become the single most dramatic and subversive nature conservation act of the modern era. Since the early 1990s - in the face of outright opposition from government, landowning elites and even some conservation professionals - Gow has imported, quarantined and assisted the reestablishment of beavers in waterways across England and Scotland. In addition to detailing the ups and downs of rewilding beavers, Bringing Back the Beaver makes a passionate case as to why the return of one of nature's great problem solvers will be critical as part of a sustainable fix for flooding and future drought, whilst ensuring the creation of essential lifescapes that enable the broadest possible spectrum of Britain's wildlife to thrive"--

Just after World War II, the people of McCall, Idaho, found themselves with a problem on their hands. McCall was a lovely resort community in Idaho's backcountry with mountain views, a sparkling lake, and plenty of forests. People rushed to build roads and homes there to enjoy the year-round outdoor activities. It was a beautiful place to live. And not just for humans. For centuries, beavers had made the region their home. But what's good for beavers is not necessarily good for humans, and vice versa. So in a unique conservation effort, in 1948 a team from the Idaho Fish and Game Department decided to relocate the McCall beaver colony. In a daring experiment, the team airdropped seventy-six live beavers to a new location. One beaver, playfully named Geronimo, endured countless practice drops, seeming to enjoy the skydives, and led the way as all the beavers parachuted into their new home. Readers and nature enthusiasts of all ages will enjoy this true story of ingenuity and determination.

Our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America's lakes and rivers. Goldfarb shares the powerful story about one of the world's most influential species. He explains how North America was colonized, how our landscapes have changed over the centuries, and how beavers can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, extinction, and the ravages of climate change. -- adapted from jacket

Howes M802 "Probably the first study of the behavior of a single animal in the mordern sense and certainly the first American work in comparative psychology."--Gach. "..long regarded as a classic on the subject." DAB, Vol. XIII, 185.