An entertaining book about beavers and their impact on the world around them. I read another beaver book a few years back, once they were hats, where the author spent a good deal of time with tappers, furriers and hat makers. I preferred this book, as, while the author discusses the effect of the fur trade and travels with people who respond to nuisance beaver calls, he spends more time examining the animals themselves and the impact they have on their environment. ( )

A fun and informative look at the critical role of beavers in the ecosystem and what scientists and activists are doing to increase their numbers and habitat. ( )

If you're considering this book, you likely already have a curiosity about beavers. By the time you're done, Goldfarb will have convinced you that beavers can save the world!

Beavers are one of the world's most important keystone species. As Goldfarb points out, humans are the only other species who have played a larger role in shaping the geology and hydrology of our planet. Much of the erosion we see in landscapes across the American West isn't just because those landscapes are "naturally," that way—it is also because they've been denuded of beavers!

The story of beavers in many places is nothing short of genocide. Mirroring Colonial genocide of indigenous peoples, colonists have been a force for the eradication of beavers from the landscape. Beavers have made a stunning comeback in some landscapes, such as New England, but are still at a fraction of their historic populations across the globe.

There is a fun bit in the book where a beaver advocate teaches ranchers to install "analog" beaver dams. Once the ranchers get tired of maintaining the dams themselves, but fall in love with all the effects, the advocates tell them, "you know, there is someone who could be doing this for you..."

Goldfarb does a brilliant job documenting the countless humans who have dedicated their lives to beavers. It will take a massive movement to bring beavers back across our landscapes, and it seems as though that could actually happen! On the other hand though, there is still a lot of hatred against beavers, and this will need to shift if there is a possibility of their come back in some regions.

One of the tragic dynamics that becomes apparent in the book is that, once you lose a keystone species, entire ecosystem collapse, to the point that you can't simple reintroduce the species, as much of their context is no longer there.

This book talks a lot about the myriad ecosystem services that beavers provide, but it also gives a window into the livingness and animacy of beavers. This latter aspect is the one that I'm especially interested in exploring further.

I will note that Goldfarb could have given a more thorough treatment to the relationship between beavers and giardia. I grew up thinking that beavers were the reason that we can't drink water from upland streams in New England. Although Goldfarb spends a sentence explaining that you're more likely to get giardia from another human or a cow, it would have been nice if he had given this topic a more thorough treatment, since its impacts are so far-reaching.

The book spends a lot of time talking about the ways that "flow devices" can allow beavers and humans to co-exist. One omission from this section is the impacts of flow devices on the psychological and physical wellbeing of beavers (I can't assume that it is anything less than deleterious).

In conclusion, Golbfarb has written a glowing tribute to beavers, and anyone who cares about water, landscapes, and ecosystems would do well to read it! ( )

Ecosystems are important to know about, as are all systems.
Goldfarb's stories really tell how one animal, one part of an ecosystem can make all the difference in the world.
My country's geography would now be much different, and better, if not for the historical slaughter of beavers.
I give credit to everyone working to restore beaver habitat. ( )

I just finished Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers by Ben Goldfarb is about wildlife. I was going to purchase this but decided to take it from the library instead. I didn't feel guilty though; I made other purchases of books not readily available.

To my surprise one of my cousin's wives also read it and loved it. There's a reason I'm only giving it a three or four, despite my delight and enjoyment. Books such as Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers by Ben Goldfarb and Wolf Nation: The Life, Death, and Return of Wild American Wolves by Brenda Peterson have a tendency to over-make their case for the author's chosen animal. Someone could make a case, I suppose, that the flounder, or more realistically another mammal, let's say the horse, was or is the most important non-human animal and build a convincing case. I should know; I'm a lawyer and build cases for a living. Like Wolf Nation books of this genre, to quote myself, are "a bit ideologically driven for my tastes." I am very much a lover of the outdoors. Pounding the table in making an argument doesn't sway me.

Still, I join my cousin, a teacher who majored in limnology, or the study of fresh water habitats, in highly recommending this book. ( )