Beavers in Britain's Past
I bought this because of Gerald of Wales, and his awesome 12th century description of beavers, including that they castrate themselves to avoid hunters killing them for their testicles - as illustrated here: (source)
Anyway, Beavers in Britain's Past - good book, terrible binding. Really, I read the last couple of chapters very cautiously because I thought it would fall apart any minute.
Some really interesting stuff in it, that a lot of prehistoric wetland sites seem to be either beaver sites repuropsed by humans, or human sites repurposed by beavers. Beaver dams often form the best crossing points for waterways, and even after they disintegrate they often form good causeways. Wood felled by beavers is useful to humans - much easier than chopping it down yourself!
Also fascinating is the last documentary mention of wild beavers in the UK - up until the 19th century people got small bounties for corpses of 'vermin', including beavers. The last recorded beaver corpse handed in for a bounty? From Yorkshire (close to Otley) in 1789 , about three hundred years after they are often supposed to have gone extinct. It's fairly convincing, as beavers are quite distinctive, and the bounty on them was lower than other animals (so if you had a random animal you'd try and pass it for, for example, an otter to get more money).
And of course beavers are now back in Scotland. Yay!
Anyway, Beavers in Britain's Past - good book, terrible binding. Really, I read the last couple of chapters very cautiously because I thought it would fall apart any minute.
Some really interesting stuff in it, that a lot of prehistoric wetland sites seem to be either beaver sites repuropsed by humans, or human sites repurposed by beavers. Beaver dams often form the best crossing points for waterways, and even after they disintegrate they often form good causeways. Wood felled by beavers is useful to humans - much easier than chopping it down yourself!
Also fascinating is the last documentary mention of wild beavers in the UK - up until the 19th century people got small bounties for corpses of 'vermin', including beavers. The last recorded beaver corpse handed in for a bounty? From Yorkshire (close to Otley) in 1789 , about three hundred years after they are often supposed to have gone extinct. It's fairly convincing, as beavers are quite distinctive, and the bounty on them was lower than other animals (so if you had a random animal you'd try and pass it for, for example, an otter to get more money).
And of course beavers are now back in Scotland. Yay!