Saturday, February 2, 2019

Beavers and groundhogs

Recent beaver work
Today is Groundhog Day, and I learned that Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog who supposedly predicts whether or not we'll have an early spring didn't see his shadow today, which is supposed to mean that, yes, it WILL be early. Well, we haven't had much of a winter here in the Pacific Northwest, and the trees have been seduced into putting out buds already. We'll see what the cold weather we are predicted to have beginning tomorrow will do to those nascent buds. At least the day is the halfway mark to the first day of spring!

I took the picture last Thursday of the tree felled by beavers at Lizard Lake. Those guys are busy as, well, beavers. Did you know that they must gnaw on trees or their teeth just keep growing and then they cannot even eat properly? All rodents, apparently, have teeth that continue to grow during their lifetimes. But beavers are special: beaver teeth have really extreme growth, up to 4 feet a year! Because they're not worried about wearing their teeth down, beavers are free to chew on as many hard objects as they can. Learn more about them here.

I watched the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards, and I decided to check out a couple of shows that interested me: The Kominsky Method on Netflix (I really loved it) and Killing Eve on BBC America. Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin star in the comedy series about getting old, and it's just been renewed for a second season. Sandra Oh stars in Killing Eve, and I guess I should have realized it would be bloody and suspenseful, but I got hooked anyway and watched all eight episodes. It's also been renewed for a second season.

And I've seen all the performances and movies nominated for the Oscars, except for Glenn Close in The Wife. I'll try to see that one beforehand, since she has garnered accolades from those two events as well. It's an amazing eclectic mix of shows this year; we are really lucky to have such talent working today.
:-)

13 comments:

  1. Four feet in a year? Wow. That is incredible. You are streets ahead of me on your film viewing. I don't think I have seen any of the Oscar nominated shows.

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  2. Glen Close was great in The Wife. We just finished watching Killing Eve, also. Sometimes I closed my eyes when I knew violence was coming. That show really is addictive, despite the violence.

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  3. Beavers sometimes work on very large trees. Most of the time it's aspen and aspen is very soft wood.

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  4. Lately I am watching the British Baking show, it is great fun!

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  5. Love your blog! And though I live in KS, have been to some of the places you describe in your hiking adventures. Your posts are delightful!

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  6. Four feet a year? Yikes. I do admire their engineering though. I thought you had seen all the Oscar nominations. Glad you are taking care of the one missing.

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  7. We watched "Killing Eve" as it was broadcast. We don't plan to pick up the new series.
    We have seen very few of the nominated movies this year. We saw "Green Book' last night, and it is wonderful. I like movies with a message.
    The beaver teeth statistics are quite remarkable.

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  8. Yes, I knew about rodent teeth. I had hamsters, mice, rats, and guinea pigs as a kid. They always needed to have something to chew on in the cages. I never heard statistics on length of growth, though. How would they know? How would they measure?

    I already had the Netflix shows in my queue but haven't gotten to them yet. I hope to see as many of the nominees as I can but I have to wait until they are shown on Netflix or Amazon Prime and that is often after the award shows have come and gone. :)

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  9. I like Sandra Oh ... gotta try Killing Eve.

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  10. I've seen the work of beavers up close. Their dams and lodges are formidable structures.

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  11. Beavers are incredible creatures. Some moved in by the boardwalk here and the city moved them! I felt sorry for them.

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  12. David has seen all of the movies. He liked The Green Book a lot.

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  13. I for several years have been disappointed in most movie genres ...Bud and I don't go to the theaters any longer. (Besides one of the theaters...closest to home ...has been shut down for rodent infestation)

    Yes, I knew that about beaver teeth.

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