Now this is a delightful read about our old friend Skip Lisle in Halifax Vermont. Enjoy every paragraph because you don’t wake up to this every day.

Bothersome beavers bedevil Halifax

HALIFAX — Keystone species are those that have a disproportionately large effect on their habitats. “They help maintain biodiversity and there are no other species in the ecosystem that can serve their same function,” wrote Amy McKeever, for National Geographic. “Without them, their ecosystem would change dramatically or could even cease to exist.”

When a keystone species is removed from its natural habitat, the result is known as a trophic cascade, a disruption of a natural food web in a particular ecosystem.“Beavers are a keystone species that help with flood resiliency and create environments for a full range of creatures from salamanders up to moose,” said Stephan Chait, the chairman of the Halifax Conservation Commission. “They are important neighbors we need to learn to live with.” (more…)