I'm John Baster.

Professor Lila Philip of the College of Holy Cross is here.

Her new book is Beaverland,

a one weird rodent made America. We've now left

Americana history and we come to Woodstock, Connecticut, where the professor lives and

she begins her tale of Beaver Exploration and explanation by bonding with a

Beaver in a local pond down pulpit rock road which is not paved according to this report I don't think it has been

but this is a part of Connecticut that enjoys beavers and

professor it's charming the way you observe the beaver.

They're nocturnal creatures.

So you had to go at near sunset?

Is that when, is that how you observed?

Yeah, thank you. And I'm actually glad not to be talking about colonial period when

beavers were a currency anymore. It was so kind of heartbreaking to go back into

that historical moment and think about that.

But yes, I, beavers are actually crepuscular I would discover so they come out in the evening and they work nocturnally at night. So I was walking one evening and I witnessed a beaver making a pond near my house and it was one of the most incredible things I'd ever seen. It just literally

stopped me in my tracks and I just couldn't stop watching this beaver and then this beaver was watching me and we got into this relationship where I was just, it was part of my day to go down to the Beaver Pond and watch this Beaver what what I would learn

when I researched this book and it would lead me into a six year journey as it would turn out researching this book and the whole story and

set of stories in the book but what I would discover is that it's actually adult

females that tend to go out and inspect the dam every evening.

And so I quickly assumed that the beaver I was watching was a female and it turns out that was true probably and then my

beaver disappeared and that set me on a journey to figure out why. I was so incredibly bereft because what I had

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