Customer Reviews

The Beaver: Natural History of a Wetlands Engineer (Comstock books)

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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Here is a wonderful puzzle for anyone interested in animal behavior: How do beavers "know" when and how to make their amazing constructions -- their dams, lodges, and canals? What model of a beaver's "head" can we conjure to account for its ability to align and compact logs with mud to stem a stream, or to repair a damaged dam, or to build a warm and dry den in the middle of a pond to house and protect its family? This book, based on a thorough review of the literature and the authors' own research, provides an up-to-date summary of knowledge currently available on beavers, their behavior, and their ecology. Well written and easily read, it is the best survey of beavers I have seen and provides excellent background for any future inquiry into the mystery of beaver engineering.

The following quotation conveys something of the flavor of this book:

"For obvious reasons, behavior inside the beaver lodge has remained the last bastion resisting observation and analysis. Four modern techniques have provided us with more than glimpses into this most elusive part of the beaver's life. These methods include continuous recording with microphones, direct observation and filming from a blind attached to a lodge, radiotelemetry, and videorecording via a spy camera inserted into the lodge, pioneered by Dr. Donald Griffen".

This book not only goes where no man has gone before in characterizing the intimate aspects of beaver behavior, but it also provides a wide ranging survey of the natural history of this remarkable species.

I've often wondered about beaver intelligence. On the one hand they are clearly capable of solving complex engineering problems - this would seem to be indicative of substantial intellect. On the other hand, if they can't do anything else, can we really infer thought process in their dam and lodge building activities?

After reading this book I now understand that many aspects of beaver activity are intricate and highly complex. There's no doubt about it; these rodents are just plain smart.

While The Beaver is dry and overly scientific in places, its subject is so interesting that the book makes for an enthralling read.

Simply captivating and very thorough review of the most marvelous creature, Castor Canadensis. It reveals much that is just not commonly known, and explains quite well the behaviors we're all familiar with. You will shake your head in wonder at this most complex creature, who is indeed a wetlands engineer.

Much better than some sources of information. Do NOT be fooled by the very odd conspiracy theorists, whose influences seem to have shown up lately in the comic strips, and whose far-fetched perceptions are found at www.beaverconspiracy.com. This book beautifully counters their twisted and perverse slanders.

A perfect gift for anyone who's ever wistfully picked up a beaver stick and wondered how...and why.

This is a useful review of the biology & ecology of primarily the North American beaver (Castor canadensis) with occasional references to its Eurasian cousin C. fiber. The book presents quite a bit of information on beaver ecology & behavior with references to the primary literature. The drawbacks of the book are its poor organization & the poor quality of most of the B&W pictures in the text. The lack of efficient organization results in the duplication of similar information in separate parts of the book often without cross-referencing. For example, beavers' food is discussed in chapters 4 9 & 13; mortality & predators in chapters 10, 11, 14 & 15. As a result, it is difficult for the reader to receive a clear synopsis of the subject matter. Several of the B&W pictures suffer from poor exposure to the point of being useless (for example, Fig. 3.1).

The standard on beavers remains to be written.

If you are curious about beavers (and you should be) this is the book for you. From the very specific (their teeth are orange) to the big picture (beavers are environmental engineers that are sometimes brought in by parks managers to fix degraded streams) it is all right here.

"THIS BOOK IS A WONDERFUL BLEND OF NATURAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY that satisfies all appetites in explaining the role and significance of beaver in contemporary landscapes....." --- John Hadidian, Director, Urban Wildlife Programs, The Humane Society of the United States
[from the book of the back cover]