I consider Catty Corner to be one pillar holding up a slanted conversation that needs other voices like yours, Jennifer, to raise and balance it. So I’m thrilled to have a Catskills-based writer with a serious case of beaver fever join the effort.
It was only through the privilege of summer travel that I was able to escape the drudgery of city life and release my inner beaver. Evolutionarily speaking, I contend that beavers are basically rats that moved upstate and that if I were to one day move up north, my luscious fur and anal scent glands would also be highly sought after by French-Canadian traders. As you say, beavers are key to the local ecology. They were also crucial to New York City’s economy. Among other things, my own beaver fever—short-lived but intense—led me to notice the bucktooth bas-reliefs adorning the tiles in the Astor Place subway station, named after John Jacob Astor, who made his fortune in castor pelts. Beaver representation can of course be found on the city’s official seal, which features not one but two of the rodents (and no rats). Perhaps NYRA should consider changing its mascot accordingly.
It seems as though we both like to project and ascribe values—socialism, polyamory—to animals that they may or may not have. Animals help us understand ourselves and what drives us to do things that don’t always make sense, like golden showers or making zines. In your aside about your beavers decamping to Trump-voting neighbors, I can’t help but see in their decision something of recent electoral trends; others may see a corollary between the shortsighted stewardship of their willow supply and the “tragedy of the commons.” Ultimately, I made a lot of assumptions about beavers without ever actually seeing any.
Anyway, please know that I consider this fan mail and am convinced NYRA editors are hiding many more love letters addressed to me.