Thursday, February 19, 2009

Beaver Flees Violence...in Canada?


It appears the Detroit River beaver we've come to love may have swam over from the Canadian side of Lake St. Clair where beavers are known to hang out, according to John Hartig, the Detroit River refuge manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Why this beaver made the journey to the Detroit Edison intake canal is a mystery," writes John Gallagher in The Detroit Free Press. "It may have faced danger at its earlier site or simply gone in search of food. There are poplar trees at the Edison site, which happen to be a favorite source of bark for beavers."

Wait a minute. This beaver faced something so dangerous in Canada that he moved to Detroit? Man, there must been some craziness going on at the beaver lodge for this guy to give up free healthcare and the lower drinking age, eh?

10 comments:

  1. Clearly, this is illegal immigration personif...er, animalfied. Somebody better get Lou Dobbs on this right away.

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  2. Leaving free health care most likely. He was probably told he was too old to get the surgery he wanted, and was put on a waiting list, so he swam over here so he could at least pay for the procedure rather than not getting anything. Nice to have choices. :) snark snark.

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  3. This Canadian beaver is taking jobs, er, trees away from hardworking American beavers.

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  4. The beavers keep running away from me too!

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  5. I know someone who did exactly that, Grumkin. No beavers though. Maybe he's the rugged individualist beaver type and wanted to do his own thing instead of having to participate in multilateral negotiations over everything back at the dam.

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  6. It's the all too common story in Canada that no one seems to want to discuss here, Redgirl. Free health care is a nice idea, but even if it is implemented, I can't see how it will last. Anyone who's worked in an office knows about budget cuts, and sooner or later what is "free" won't be worth anything.

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  7. Grumkin, I think I disagree with you (for the first time!) on things that are free aren't worthy. There are lots of free publications that make money off ads that are far better than publications you have to pay for.

    But I'd point out that if you've got the money in Canada or France or Sweden, you can still pay for whatever medical procedure you want if the free healthcare isn't up to snuff. At least in their system you get the basics at a much better overall price.

    But why are we sidetracked on this topic. That cute beaver has returned to Detroit!

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  8. I've been waiting for someone to disagree with me. :)

    I understand about free publications, etc. But unless I want to wear a cast with advertising on it, I'm still going to be a curmudgeon on this issue. :)

    I do agree though, let's get back to the topic. Are there any trees left in Detroit to build dams with, or will they just be using the old Tiger Stadium?

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  9. dat beeber der, was all hosed aboot dat Meech Lake Accord, der dat dem dern Kah-beckies were pushin to da legaslaters. dat's it, eh. he's jest a big rat wt a flat tail, too, but damn shur tasty wit a cold one.

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  10. interesting site...kind of reminds me of flintskinny.com website, but i think that one fizzled out too...anyways, i am definitely a flint ex-pat, ran away in december 1999 to sunny southern california, and never looked back. actuall i came back in 2002 for a short visit, and then lived ther for a year in 2003, WHAT A NIGHTMARE! it will be a looooonnnggg time before i go back there, but hey, i still love my lions, tigers, and pistons!

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.