Let’s talk about beavers, but we can’t ever look at one

On an outing, a couple of companions mentioned that they were reading Beaver Land by Leila Philip. They remarked about several curious facts about beavers, including a claim I found dubious: that beavers could direct the trees they felled. That is, the beavers could decide and then execute a plan that would make the tree fall in a direction they chose. Of course, to anyone who does this, as I do,…