A long time ago, my friend Bill convinced me to go see the movie Snakes On A Plane. He still owes me a refund. Of course, this Samuel L. Jackson flick was far-fetched and horrible. Hopefully, Hollywood will do better when it makes Beavers On A Plane. Why would Beavers On A Plane be better than Snakes On A Plane? For one very simple reason: It’s a true story!
Beavers On A Plane takes place in (or over) Idaho. Of course, you would have to travel to Idaho to encounter such wackiness. It seems that the state had problems controlling the beaver population in the 2010s, so they flew 76 of them to the backcountry and tossed them out with parachutes. (full story courtesy of Gizmodo)
A man named Elmer led the project because that’s what Elmers do. According to the article:
At first, they tried to use mules and horses to carry the beavers into the wilderness, but the pack animals were “spooky and quarrelsome” when they had to carry angry, live beavers. Fair enough. The beavers hated it too, often refusing to eat or becoming “dangerously belligerent.”
I’ve worked with people who are spooky and quarrelsome in the past. So, I can see why they decided against the mules. And I myself become dangerously belligerent when I haven’t eaten, so I can see why Elmer decided to toss the beavers out of a plane and hope for the best.
According to the article, only one of the beavers died and it’s because he jumped before they could get his parachute on. Which just goes to show that following safety rules is important for humans and semi-aquatic rodents.
It makes me happy to know I live in a country where we have the pluck to relocate beavers via parachute and the technical skill to see that 75 out of 76 survived. There is hope for our nation.
Carry on, Citizens!
photo credit: Trinity via photopin cc
