Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

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  • SomeGuy

    I always thought beaver fever was some kind of venereal disease.

    • Antinous / Moderator

      No, that’s Bieber Fever. It originates in the nether parts, but mostly paralyzes brain function.

  • PhasmaFelis

    Holy shit. You mean that Ren and Stimpy episode was serious?

    • http://maggiekb.com/ Maggie Koerth-Baker

      I had totally forgotten about that episode. 

  • http://twitter.com/richterscale Charles Richter

    Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, the existence of beaver fever was quite well known.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1515015318 Missy Pants

      I was gonna say, never been to Canada then either. Beaver Fever is all up in all the small northern towns waterways. Its why you don’t drink the water from the tap at the cottage! That’s for washing only not drinking!

      • http://maggiekb.com/ Maggie Koerth-Baker

        Nope. I grew up in the decidedly low-beaver population state of Kansas. Minnesota has beavers. But I’m also not a big camper. 

  • legsmalone

    This reminds me of all the sanitation classes I’ve taken in my foodservice career. I also remember drinking out of a crystal clear mountain stream once. Once.

  • http://walkingwithshimmer.wordpress.com/ Werther deGoethe

    We’ve all tasted a little beaver ass. Castoreum is derived from the beaver’s anal gland, and is an additive that is used to give a vanilla, strawberry, or raspberry taste to foods and drink. It’s labelled a natural flavoring and fairly pervasive in our food, i.e., gum, candy, ice cream, Jell-o, to name a few. It’s also used in cigarettes, as well.

    The more you know…

    • Antinous / Moderator

      Seriously unclear why it’s more efficient to milk the anal glands of beavers than to just use strawberries.

  • oschene

    Giardia is a tough bugger. Chlorination doesn’t touch it, it’s got this whole encysted thing going on. In the 80′s, the city of Pittsfield, Massachusetts got some in its water system and we were boiling water for months on end.

  • Antinous / Moderator

    At our summer house, we got our drinking water from a spring that bubbled up right outside the door.  We always thought that it was a bit naff to get it from a stream.

  • welcomeabored

    Obligatory referral to Margeret Cho routine — NSFW:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu4T9lzZicU