Montreal is getting ready for its semi-annual “Let’s kill beavers” party. Now the animals are being accursed of destroying the internet and blocking medical supplies. Just read.
Beaver dam collapse wreaks havoc on Quebec’s north shore
Hospital surgeries were cancelled, phone service was knocked out and technicians were sent scrambling on Quebec’s north shore after a beaver dam collapsed, chopping a fibre-optic cable.
The Internet was also cut off when the large rodent-made structure gave way on Monday evening along a highway 750 km northeast of Montreal.
The cable was severed at a point where it crosses a river.The local health network was hit hard. Some labs at the hospital in Sept-Iles, Que., were shut down and appointments were cancelled as a precautionary measure to avoid possible errors during manual data entry.
I’m sorry. How exactly does a washed out beaver dam sever a cable? And why do you suppose a beaver dam would rupture in the beginning of fall with no rain to speak of? Hmm, maybe that dam was “abandoned” by people who decided to trap these beavers a month ago? At any rate your list of injured parties is impressive. How about orphans? Didn’t it keep some orphans from getting their medicine or something?
The piercing treatise continues with a round-up of beaver stories from last year.
BEAVER: FRIEND OR FOE?
Canadians have had a love-hate relationship with our national critter, as evidenced in these stories from rec
— Conservative Sen. Nicole Eaton, peeved about chunks chomped from the dock of her cottage, pushed for the polar bear to replace the beaver as Canada’s official animal. The senator called the beaver “a has-been” and “a big rat, that doesn’t reflect our new values.”
— Officials in Bonnyville, Alta., blew up more than 70 beaver dams that threatened to flood farmland.
— Residents of Ottawa’s Stittsville community successfully rallied to prevent the city from killing two beavers that had moved into a local pond.
— Ramara Township, Ont., paid trappers $100 per beaver after the rodents overran the area. “They breed faster than we can trap them,” one official said.
That’s right. Beavers breed once a year and Canadians can only trap once a year. Which, coincidentally, is the exactly the number of times they go to church, read a book, and change their socks. You might go comment on the article which at the moment is enjoying the wrath of beaver ignorance and young men. In the mean time you should appreciate this stunning photo from Nevada Magazine of the beaver ponds at Lamoille Valley. Remember, this is a desert.
