Big Questions & Beaver Farts

Hat-tip/tail-slap Holly!

Perhaps the most surreal experience of last semester: I had abandoned my bag of beavers while wandering around campus in an exhausted fugue state (mental magic pumpkin phenomenon kicks in around the 15-hour mark). Maybe a month later a photo pops up on a friends Facebook feed about an ongoing office prank being played out in another department in another building... I realized that hey - those are MY BEAVERS! Normally the bag is stashed under my desk in the adjunct office and used once a semester for reference props in the intro to pen + ink (an in-class exercise where students experiment with rendering various textures in preparation for our semesterly "safari" field-trips). Via the power of social media they were all safely rounded up & returned after their adventures.
More pelts below the jump...

What with the media inundated with "bad cop" stories, this little nugget goes a long way at restoring our faith + confidence in public servants.

Via Virgin Radio Winnipeg here's a solution to those gnawing post-holiday chores.

I'm more than a little chagrined at never even hearing of this historical institution at all during my tenure in Maine. Something that will have to be remedied immediately upon return to that neck of the woods.

Hat-tip/tail-slap Da-ka-xeen

Normally I'd caution you to avoid any website with the headline "Swedish Beaver" but it ain't so funny for the thousands of affected people: "The little rascal. It is really something that should not be able to happen...”



There's a dam good reason they rope off entries at the annual cake decorating competition... and speaking of blue-ribbons, this post is the last installment for the Castor canadensis-themed feature of Ink & Snow. Not from any lack of material, mind you, just moving on to other things, as will be explained in an upcoming post. And by no means will there ever be an end to beaver 'toons.

Another installment of the coveted Silver Beaver award, from local Scoutmaster Jeff. As a mascot you might laugh at first, until one understands the truly feral nature of these wild animals, as these two men from Oregon recently discovered: "Exploring along the banks of the Deschutes River is usually a placid, familiar activity for locals and visitors alike...

Dambo: First Bark: "This isn't your tree" "It is now."

A finely crafted rendering on display at the local independent outdoor store, Beaver Sports

In more news, the world's largest beaver dam - visible from space - has been reached on foot by an intrepid explorer deep in the Wood Buffalo National Park in Alberta, Canada.

Hat-tip/Tail-slap Joe

Meanwhile, a toothsome mural controversy in Virginia: "The vibrant, cartoonish work depicts a female feeding a purple beaver an apple."

screen-grab via Daily Mail

 Perhaps the Fall in the Garden of Eden obliquely refers instead to the felling of a tree?

Hat-tip/Tail-slip Chris

“There cannot be a greater imposition, or indeed a grosser insult, on common understanding, than the wish to make us believe the stories of some of the works ascribed to the beaver…” - Samuel Hearne

I continue to be amazed at how many years now I've used the Alaska Department of Fish & Game's "Wildlife Notebook Series" as a go-to tome for inspiration + indispensable reference material.

Hat-tip/Tail-slap Jennifer!

Definitely on my to-do list next time in Seattle: poutine burger!
 

This more than anything wants me to join back up as a ranger: I'd look fabulous in at least one of these uniforms.

Hat-tip/Tail-slapNicki

Got a call from a friend the other night, and she asked me what I was up to. Well, file the answer under "Too Much Information" - I was honestly pondering the biological, anatomical and logistical possibility of beavers flapping and fluttering their tails while farting. 

Such thoughts keep me up late, they really do.

Seems legit

Last but by no means least of all, from my Significant Otter®™ comes this most handsome & stylish addition to the studio shelves - a spiffy container for the Sharpies. Thanks sweetie!