If you are reading these words, you are probably safe (at least at the moment) from the potentially dire effects of summer heat. But you might still want to immerse yourself in a cooling topic. Here is one good choice: beavers.
A venture into the mazes of the internet may capture you with tales of ancient beavers. Muskrat-sized Paleocastor lived some 30 million years ago and dug vertical, human-sized, corkscrew-shaped burrows. Casteroides lived up to some 12,000 years ago and were the size of black bears. Neither seems to have built dams.
Or you can cool down with these articles about modern beavers and how, with help from humans, they are becoming climate activist heroes.
The story told well by scientists:
The story told well by journalists:
Some controversy about methods:
Some problems with some places:
To read more about these clever, cheering animals, see the excellent resource collection (including many enjoyable books) from the organization Beavers Matter.
