I’m sure you remember this story. But I bet you never guessed how it ends…
New NASA imagery reveals startling behavior among group of ‘banished’ beavers: ‘[They] were just about everywhere’
Satellite imagery from NASA has revealed some surprising and encouraging information about beavers. But these aren’t space beavers — rather, they are beavers that were “banished” to a remote Idaho valley and have since transformed it into a “lush wetland” that protects against wildfires, as Yale Environment 360 reported.
Beavers have often been viewed as a nuisance, as they chew down trees and build dams that can flood fields. In the 1930s, officials began trapping them and relocating them to remote areas where they could, in theory, do less harm.
Instead of doing harm, the beavers did a lot of good, as their activities led to a sort of natural irrigation that promoted the growth of grasses, shrubs, and other vegetation that in turn supported many types of wildlife.
Now, people like rancher Jay Wilde are working with researchers to intentionally reintroduce beavers to their land in order to make it more fertile and enhance biodiversity.
Well, well, well. Who would have guessed? (Us) Who could have imagined that something so frustrating could produce such a dramatic benefit? (Anyone that was paying attention).