Our friends the beavers are still alive and well tucked in their lodges under the snow and ice. Today we located a Beaver pond that borders Lake Winnipeg . It was a joy to spend time exploring the pond and looking for beaver chewed-stumps, listening for beavers inside the lodge on the edge of the pond. We could not hear any beavers, but the large pile of fresh branches protruding from the ice in front of the lodge suggests that there is a family of beavers living happily inside. Maybe they were taking a nap when we stopped by to listen.

Did you know that beavers are responsible for the exploration and settlement of Canada and large parts of the northern US?

In the 1500s, European fishermen brought beaver robes purchased from the Indians back to Spain. The Europeans prized the beaver fur because of its warmth and its ability to be made into felt hats. Soon there was a quest in Europe to collect beaver skins from Canada and the US to sell back home. In the 1600s British merchants traded with the local Cree Indians for beaver skins. The Indians did all of the trapping and the Europeans traded them blankets, weapons, and beads for the skins. The Europeans hired French Canadian farm boys known as voyageurs to paddle huge birch bark canoe s from Montreal to the Indian villages to collect the beavers. This is the historic highway that Dave will be following on his Border Country Adventure.

Beaver populations all over North America decreased rapidly until the 1900s when regulations were set that limited the number trapped.