Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter

by Ben Goldfarb Narrated by Will Damron

Overview

In Eager, environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America's lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers”-including scientists, ranchers, and passionate citizens-recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them. From the Nevada deserts to the Scottish highlands, Believers are now hard at work restoring these industrious rodents to their former haunts. Eager is a powerful story about one of the world's most influential species, how North America was colonized, how our landscapes have changed over the centuries, and how beavers can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, extinction, and the ravages of climate change. Ultimately, it's about how we can learn to coexist, harmoniously and even beneficially, with our fellow travelers on this planet.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

05/14/2018
In this diverting volume, environmental journalist Goldfarb sings the praises of beavers, who, though “targets of a multicentury massacre” and besieged by urban sprawl, still manage to “flourish... not only in Walmart parking lots, but in stormwater ponds and golf course water hazards.” He sheds light on beaver habits and habitats in the United States, England, and Scotland, focusing on the roles they play within ecosystems and likening them to “ecological and hydrological Swiss Army knives, capable, in the right circumstances, of tackling just about any landscape-scale problem.” Chapters deal, for instance, with how beavers approach infrastructure and build dams by laying foundations with “mud, stones and sticks set perpendicular to the stream’s flow.” Goldfarb also acknowledges the mischief beavers can create, recounting the tale of a beaver who gnawed through fiber-optic cable and knocked out cell phone service in Taos, N.Mex., and a beaver “barging into a Maryland department store and rifling through its plastic-wrapped Christmas trees.” Goldfarb also calls attention to the work done by dedicated wildlife biologists, scientists, land managers, and other self-proclaimed “beaver believers” like Heidi Perryman, founder of the nonprofit Worth a Dam, a “comprehensive clearinghouse for beaver science and coexistence techniques.” These folks lend personality to an affectionate portrait of these “hardy rodents.” Illus. (July)

From the Publisher

Written with clarity, intelligence, and humor, this engaging book will appeal to basically everyone.”―Forbes

“Eager takes us inside the amazing world of nature’s premier construction engineer…and shows us why the restoration of an animal almost driven to extinction is producing wide-ranging, positive effects on our landscapes, ecology, and even our economy.”―National Geographic

"Impressively researched, charmingly written, absolutely persuasive book. . . .Goldfarb makes his argument with a quiet power and deceptively breezy writing that paints a vivid picture of how the various inhabitants of the natural world rely on one other. Take one vital piece out and the whole thing could collapse."—The Seattle Times

"This book lodges itself among the ranks of the best sort of environmental journalism.”―The Boston Globe

“Eager is a passionate, captivating love letter to the beaver.”―The Christian Science Monitor 

"Goldfarb’s writing shines with beautiful language and colorful stories.”―Science News

“Engrossing and elegantly written…. Within its wide scope, Eager includes nuggets sure to make you the most fascinating conversationalist at your next party.”―Scientific American

“A revelation! If we only let them live, beavers are the solution to many of our nation’s ecological problems. . . . Goldfarb’s wonderful book might just tail-slap a politician or two into realizing how much we need them to restore our critical wetlands.”—Sy Montgomery, New York Times bestselling author of The Soul of an Octopus

“This witty, engrossing book will be a classic from the day it is published.”—Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

“European settlers who cut, plowed, and shot their way west also trapped the country nearly clean of mammals. . . . Now, though, beavers are on the rebound, and the how and who of that story, as told in Eager, will give you a new and completely different concept of the continent.”—Carl Safina, New York Times bestselling author of Beyond Words

“[Goldfarb] writes eloquently of the return of this industrious, habitat–enriching animal, its conflicts with humans and their property, and of the ways both elegant and Rube Goldbergian in which beaver and human needs can be balanced.”―Booklist, Starred Review

"[Goldfarb] shares his findings in lucid and entertaining prose….Filled with hard facts and fascinating people (and animals), [Eager] is an authoritative, vigorous call for understanding and action."―Kirkus, Starred Review

"In this diverting volume, environmental journalist Goldfarb sings the praises of beavers. . . . An affectionate portrait of these 'hardy rodents.’"―Publishers Weekly

“This comprehensive book provides a well-rounded consideration of a frequently misunderstood species….Even if you don’t think you have an opinion on beavers, this engaging book will make you a beaver believer."―Library Journal

"Lively and educational….Eager offers rare insight into the history of beavers and their behavior, qualities, and characteristics. Even more importantly, [it] explores the animals’ complex relationship with humans, and the essential role they play in developing ponds and streams that support wildlife."―Foreword Reviews

Choice Reviews—

"A thought-provoking book for anyone interested in ecosystems science." 

Library Journal

06/01/2018
Environmental journalist Goldfarb makes the case that beavers are a keystone species vital for ensuring healthy ecosystems. For example, beaver lodges have proven to be instrumental in trumpeter swan survival as they provide an elevated habitat that deters prey. Beavers can also create their own food source by damming waterways to promote both aquatic plant and fish growth. Yet, their notoriety as a nuisance species is hard to overcome, even given their important ecological role. Goldfarb introduces us to beaver advocates; environmental activists determined to reverse this negative perception; engineers who construct flow devices that enable beaver dams to coexist with human landscapes, ecologists who have uncovered the important niche the species have in ecosystems, and scientists who have unearthed evidence proving that beavers have a long history in the United States. Beginning with the early fur traders who depleted beaver populations and leading to those attempting to reverse the negative opinion about beaver's detrimental influence, this comprehensive book provides a well-rounded consideration of a frequently misunderstood species. VERDICT Even if you don't think you have an opinion on beavers, this engaging book will make you a beaver believer.—Diana Hartle, Univ. of Georgia Science Lib., Athens

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2018-04-30
Unlike a children's book that makes beavers seem like cute little dam builders, this one takes a serious look at the creatures and their critical importance to ecosystems across North America.Goldfarb, a freelance environmental journalist with a master's degree in environmental management, takes readers from the days of the fur trade, which drew trappers and then settlers across the continent and saw beavers killed by the millions, to current conservation efforts. As he reports, the disappearance of beavers altered the landscape dramatically, drying up wetlands, killing off species, fostering erosion, and changing the courses of streams. While the focus is on North American beavers, the author also offers a brief look at a sister species in Great Britain and conservation efforts there. To research this book, Goldfarb traveled widely with scientists, activists, naturalists, wildlife managers, engineers, cattle ranchers, and beaver rescuers and re-locaters, and he shares his findings in lucid and entertaining prose. Beavers, he writes in his introduction, "are ecological and hydrological Swiss Army knives, capable, in the right circumstances, of tackling just about any landscape-scale problem you might confront. Trying to mitigate floods or improve water quality? There's a beaver for that. Hoping to capture more water for agriculture in the face of climate change? Add a beaver. Concerned about sedimentation, salmon runs, wildfire? Take two families of beaver and check back in a year." The author consistently convinces readers of the truth of this assessment. It's vital, he writes, that we learn to coexist with these ecosystem engineers because they can help restore our rivers, forestall the loss of biodiversity, and reduce the damages of climate change. An eight-page photograph insert further brings beavers and their world to life.Filled with hard facts and fascinating people (and animals), this is an authoritative, vigorous call for understanding and action.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172362323
Publisher:	Chelsea Green Publishing
Publication date:	06/14/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	964,328

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