I'm in Canada for Canada Day, so to celebrate I thought I'd share another funny video of a very Canadian animal—the beaver, shared by "Mike's Photos and Videos of Beavers," which, as Mike explains, is dedicated to sharing videos and photos of beaver families in Saskatoon. Once again, Mike did not disappoint.
But first, if you're not Canadian, you might not know that the beaver is an official emblem of Canada. The Government of Canada (Canada.ca) explains:
The beaver was given official status as an emblem of Canada when an Act to provide for the recognition of the beaver (castor canadensis) as a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada received royal assent on March 24, 1975. However, the beaver was a part of the Canadian identity long before Parliament passed the National Symbol of Canada Act.
With the arrival of European settlers, the beaver became the country's main profit-making attraction. In the late 1600s and early 1700s, the fashion of the day demanded fur hats, which needed beaver pelts. As these hats became more popular, the demand for the pelts grew.
Sir Sandford Fleming featured the beaver on the first Canadian postage stamp.
Despite all this recognition, the beaver was close to extinction by the mid-19th century. There were an estimated 6 million beavers in Canada before the start of the fur trade. During its peak, 100,000 pelts were being shipped to Europe each year; the Canadian beaver was in danger of being wiped out.
Today, thanks to conservation, the beaver is alive and well all over the country.
In the video, Mike was hoping to capture a beaver alongside the red-and-white maple leaf flag (another official symbol of Canada, which was adopted on January 28, 1965, and which you can read more about here)—you can't get much more Canadian than that—but his plans went awry when the beaver didn't cooperate. Mike explains:
With Canada Day coming up this week, I thought I would re-share this video from 2 years ago. I put my #Canada #Flag over a #beaver trail hoping to get a photo of a beaver under a Canada Flag, but Spud cane along and stole my flag.
I'd love to see the structure that crafty little beaver built with the help of a shiny new Canadian flag!
