We have this issue, I think, as a people, just of beaver amnesia, not being able to see what the beavers created before us.

And I would bet, you know, almost the entirety of us that are drinking water and flushing toilets and taking showers and all the things,

our water is coming from somewhere that at some point in its history was shaped by a beaver.

Oh, hey, it's the lady at the donut store who knows that you like bear claws.

Allie Ward, this is ologies, this is beavers.

Finally, the beavers are here.

And ushering them in is an absolutely delightful beaver man who is a field naturalist and a conservationist

who does a ton of biological surveys and teaches wildlife tracking and beaver ecology.

And he writes about the beaver as well.

He's a coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation's Montana Beaver Working Group,

and he knows so much about beavers.

So he spoke to me one morning from his

chilly house in the Swan Valley outside of Missoula, Montana. He was wearing a coat and a hat

and a warm smile, and we just, we had the loveliest time chatting beavers, as I knew that we would.

So we're going to get to it in a moment. But first, thank you to all the patrons at

patreon.com slash ologies who submitted questions for this. You too can join for as little as a dollar a

month to support the show. Thanks for everyone in Ologiesmerch at Ologiesmerch.com. And to everyone who reviews

the show, which helps us so much, it costs you zero dollars. I read them all, such as this week's

from Max Amelier, who wrote, I have been a dedicated listener since the inception of this podcast in

2017. Max, seven and a half years. You're a real one. I like you. Thank you for that. Thank you to

everyone who leaves reviews. And thank you also to sponsors of the show who make it possible to donate to a cause selected by the guest each week. So one sec.

Okay. So Castorology, it's a study indeed. It comes from the root for Castor, which may come from

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