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What a fascinating species, real ecological engineers. I can't think of anything in New Zealand which does anything on this scale.

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Nov 16, 2023Liked by Heather Wall

Ah BeaverTails, an Ottawa Valley tradition. But as far as I know, they are named that way for the shape. Only a couple of flavors have vanilla which could be based on Castoreum I suppose but the website certainly doesn't highlight that. https://beavertails.com/products/ My favorite is the Killaloe Sunrise (cinnamon, sugar, lemon juice). Worth freezing your fingers for if you don't want to get your mitts sticky after a morning ski or a long skate on the Canal.

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True story! About 30 years ago my wife and I were up at the Oregon Zoo which is perched up in the West Hills above downtown PDX. At that time the zoo had a small colony of beavers with a glass wall where you could see them swimming in murky green water if your timing was right.. a big tourist attraction, the Zoo, with lots of out-of-towners wandering around the various enclosures.... Anyway I have an indelible memory of a young boy and his mother at the beaver pool and the lad exclaiming in a very strong Brooklyn accent, "Gee maw, look at duh bee-vuh!

True story. After reading this post and learning about 60 pound mega- beavers I felt like saying the same thing!

But I didn't. Maybe such restraint is why she still tolerates me!

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Eeeew! I'm swearing off my vanilla milkshakes!

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