A close look at furry ecosystem engineers.Describing herself as a "self-trained American naturalist," Philip shares her fascination with beavers, the "wonderfully weird" animal architects that are notably odd-looking: "part bear, part bird, part monkey, part lizard, humanoid hands, an aquatic tail." Among the numerous factoids she shares with readers: "beavers never walked backwards; they ate their food twice; they could not doggy paddle; they had ever-growing orange teeth" with which to gnaw woody plants. Although their dams create homes for fish, beavers are herbivores. In prehistoric times, beavers as large as grizzly bears spread across Asia, Europe, and North America. An estimated 60 million to 400 million inhabited North America "prior to European contact," figuring importantly in the myths, rituals, and even medicine of Native Americans. When Europeans arrived, beaver fur quickly became a coveted article of commerce. John Jacob Astor grew rich from trading in pelts, which supplied the beaver-hat industry. Philip reports in detail on her travels to beaver habitations in northern Connecticut, the White Mountains, and along the Eastern seacoast, talking to environmentalists and researchers along the way. She visited with a professional trapper who works to prevent overpopulation and potential starvation in beaver lodges. She attended a fur auction, where beaver skins were among the pelts of other wild animals, including coyotes and bobcats. In the southern Adirondacks, she searched for the beaver sanctuary created by Dorothy Richards, who lived with 14 beavers in her home. Neighbors thought the "beaver lady" was "nutty." Most interesting is what Philip learned about beavers' contribution to environmental restoration. Dams are only one piece of their intricate and "incredibly dynamic" waterways. Without beavers, wetlands dry up, and "the very shape and function of riverine systems" are affected. Even a relatively small population of beavers can cause major rehabilitation, leading environmentalists to look to the animals as essential contributors to a thriving planet.A spirited, informative historical and environmental investigation.

Philip (A Family Place: A Hudson Valley Farm, Three Centuries, Five Wars, One Family), a professor in the English department at the College of the Holy Cross, offers an enthralling history of beavers and their impact on the United States. As she writes, “wherever we lived, whether it was in a city or a town, the suburbs or a rural location, chances were beavers were already at work somewhere—managing, cleansing, and restoring the water and biodiversity of that place.” The animals play a consequential role in the environment, as their dams “create new habitat for hundreds of animal species that rely on those new waterways,” and were also significant in the development of the economy: in the 18th-century, Johann Jacob Astor became America’s first multimillionaire and “ignited the first great engines of American capitalism” after landing the country’s first trade monopoly for his American Fur Company, which dealt in beaver pelts. Philip’s vivid narrative is enriched by Native American legend (she relays the “Algonquian deep time saga of Ktsi Amiskw, the Great Beaver”), entertaining accounts of beaver devotees (including one woman who, in the 1930s, shared her farmhouse with 14 beavers), and sharp prose: “They groom their lustrous fur with catlike fastidiousness.” The result is a triumph of popular nature writing. (Dec.)