This is John Bachelor.

Conversation with Lila Philip, author of Beaverland, the very famous Beaverland,

how one weird rodent made America.

Here Lila takes us into the search for Beaver Dams in Michigan and finding all kinds of

strange creatures around Beavers and Beaver Dams because beavers lead the way. Beavers are our river system in North America,

our tributary system.

Lila takes you there. Beaverland, how one weird rodent made America. Here's the search for a

Beaver dab and surprise more of this later tonight.

Well this is what's, you know, really significant.

This little rodent that we have tended to think of first as a pelte,

and then we tend to think of as a pest or ignore completely

has this truly valuable role cleaning water for us because what they do is they build wetlands that serve as huge underground

sponges as if you will and so the water is slowed down and cleansed as it sinks into the aquifer. So they've been

out there cleaning, cleaning, cleaning, all this time. Well take us there, what is it

what is it like to walk in that area?

What's it look like, Professor?

Oh, it's just magnificent.

I mean, I was on a real quest.

I had my little map in my hand and the fellow from the Lake Superior Watershed helped me who had a lot of GIS knowledge and we managed to find as you spoiler alert I described in in chapter 7 on the map, a pond number 19 and the great damn grass lake plate number I think it's seven and it was like being

back in the back in time I felt like I was looking at Beaverland at times and in fact at one point we were standing on one of these Beaver

Damned impoundments and a moose family showed up. I was with someone who had been there

for over a decade trying to find and photograph a moose, lived there, was out there every day, had never seen a moose.

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