International Beaver Day is the one day of the year when humans celebrate us beavers for all the important things we do for the ecosystem. Like what, you ask? We beavers are masters of the wetlands, and wetlands are super important!
When a beaver builds a dam on a stream, all that water spreads out across the ground, making new homes for bugs, frogs, lots of birds, fish, and more aquatic critters! Our dams lessen the effects of drought and ease floods! And, to top it all off, our wetlands encourage the growth of plants and microbes that purify water and cut CO2 emissions!
We can thank Dorothy Richards for this day to celebrate all things Castor. After beavers were nearly wiped out in New York, Mrs. Richards and her husband, Al, asked the New York Conservation Department to release a pair of beavers on their land, and within eight years, a whole beaver family was living around their home! They named their new sanctuary Beaversprite!
Mrs. Richards asked the Conservation Department for a permit to let the beavers into her house, and they made her the first individual in New York State to receive a zoological license! So the beavers started to hang out with the Richardses in their cellar during the evenings, and Mrs. Richards discovered that we beavers have language, learn from our mistakes, and very carefully decide which trees to cut and which to save in order to avoid destroying the forest!
Because of Mrs. Richards’ contributions to the understanding of beavers everywhere, her birthday, April 7th, is now International Beaver Day! There are lots of ways that you can celebrate, like visiting your local wetland, watching a movie about beavers, reading Mrs. Richards’ autobiography, Beaversprite: My Years Building an Animal Sanctuary, or supporting Beavers: Wetlands & Wildlife!
Originally called the Friends of Beaversprite, this organization still maintains the Richards wildlife sanctuary in upstate New York, which you can visit at 141 Richards Rd, Dolgeville, NY 13329 between June and October. Even if you can’t visit in person, you can support Beaversprite online all year!
So here’s to beavers all over the world, from the northern reaches of Canada to the bottom tip of Tierra del Fuego! If you meet some beavers today, give them a high five for their hard work. I will take a hug if you’ve got one!