I'm reading Isabella Tree and Charles Burrell's Book of Wilding: A Practical Guide to Rewilding, Big and Small. So should everyone who wants to help save life on the planet. What I'm going to write about here, though, is my delight in learning that beavers were a mighty force in shaping British and European landscapes before they were hunted to near extinction. How wonderful for those of us who build imaginary worlds!
Beavers are being reintroduced to Britain, but they have already rebounded in New England. I can think of five beaver bogs or ponds within a two-mile radius of my house. That means I can draw on personal experience and visible features if I want to include them in a story.
I can also avoid the mistake of assuming that beavers loaded companions with timber for building their dams!
Image via A short history of Welsh beavers.