I’m always fascinated when Florida writes about beaver. Of course you know the primary mystery associated with their existence, right?

Mike Adams: Rodents must gnaw to survive

Rodents are the largest family of mammals on the planet.

The name rodent, from Latin roots, means “gnawing animal” because of the rodents’ large front incisor teeth and the way they eat. Their incisors are used like chisels to gnaw and nibble on hard foods like nuts and wood. These incisors must grow continuously since they are worn down by gnawing, sometimes on bone or deer antler. Because they do not stop growing, the animal must gnaw to wear them down; otherwise, the teeth continue to grow and will eventually kill the animal.

Rodents have adapted to almost every terrestrial and freshwater wetland habitat, from cold tundra, where they can hibernate under snow, to hot deserts, where they seek shade during the extreme daytime temperatures.

Of course, this family comprises many species and habitats in our state. This includes muskrat, squirrels, pocket gopher, mice and rats.

The largest is the semiaquatic beaver, about 3 to 4 feet long weighing up to about 50 pounds, which lives more in the Panhandle region, although some have been documented around Gainesville. The smallest rodent is the white-footed mouse, about 2 to 4 inches long, weighing about an ounce, which can be found in many upland/wetland transitional and coastal habitats. The nutria, an introduced species from South America, is smaller than the beaver. This luxuriously furred muskrat-like creature that can be seen along the banks of the St. Johns River and tributaries.

Our largest rodent — the beaver — is considered an ecosystem engineer with its dams and lodges built of gnawed tree trunks and branches forming backwater reservoirs. These areas provide valuable habitat to other wetland-dependent species including aquatic birds and fish. Some rodents may play a role in maintaining healthy forests.

I think this article was updated to contain info on the nutria – whose photo adorns it. I’m sure someone originally posted it thinking it was a beaver and then got a letter and went oooohhhh. Not even from me this time, I promise. Nice that he mentions how beavers make habitat for other species and are considered ecosystem engineers. But no clue how the heroes exist alongside that toothy neighbor.

But they do somehow. Don’t ask me how.

Even if there is a reason for their constant chewing, folks still get upset with their target choice. I’ve been seeing this complaining article all over the internets the past few days. I guess Mr. beaver chewed the wrong tree.

Hungry beaver to blame for temporary power outage in Slippery Rock area

About 10,000 West Penn Power customers in the Slippery Rock area were without power for less than a minute Thursday night while crews made emergency repairs to a transmission structure, a utility spokesman said.

A beaver chewed through a large tree, which company officials feared might topple onto a transmission line and cause a longer outage, West Penn Power spokesman Todd Meyers said.

Slippery Rock University was impacted by the temporary outage.

There must be a standard memo power companies circulate in times like these. Maybe my dad even saw it.