I mentioned that the beaver was categorized as a fish in the middle ages, right? This clever move allowed good catholics to eat beaver meat during lent. Long before this bit of creative science there were the rumors that pregnant women shouldn’t walk over a dam, or they might miscarry: Castorum was recommended for all kinds of reproductive ailments. Misunderstanding beavers is nothing new. Even as late as the 1930’s Americans apparently believed that beavers could mistake actual trees for painted concrete. Hope that zoo had a great dental plan.
MURALS MAKE BEAVERS FEEL AT HOME
Beavers in a den at the Belle Isle Zoo, in Detroit, Mich., now cavort amid scenes resembling their natural habitat. To minimize the artificial appearance of the surroundings, an artist reproduced a colorful forest panorama, complete with pine trees, scrub brush, streams, and lakes, upon the concrete walls of the open beaver pit. Visitors are attracted by the novelty of viewing the animals against a woodland background. (Popular Science: 1936)
