Father Christmas &...the Beavers?

 Pauline Baynes

Beavers are part of the Christmas story, right? They are if you've read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, the classic Narnia children's book by C S Lewis. You might recall that on their way to Aslan, the Lion Christ figure of the series of novels, Mr and Mrs Beaver shelter the Pevensy children in their lodge. Then they venture out together and encounter Father Christmas. He gives presents to all, and his appearance is a sign that the witch's control over Narnia is slipping. The Beavers and the children arrive safely at Aslan's camp near the Stone Table, as the Witch's magic weakens further and the snow gradually melts.

When I read these books as a child and young adult and then with my children it didn't occur to me that beavers were anything but a fanciful element in Lewis' Narnia, a parallel world to 1950's Britain. Beavers were native to England and Scotland but wiped out by the 16th century.

In recent years beavers have been reintroduced to both countries because they are important animals for creating and maintaining wetlands which are home to a variety of bird, animal, and insect species. In Scotland they are a protected species but not everyone is happy to have them around because they are "destructive," which in some people's eyes is cutting down trees and flooding land. In the United Kingdom, as with Canada, it is establishing the right balance between this species and ours. When we lived in Northern Ontario the collapse of beaver dams led to road flooding and train track collapse on occasion. Yet there is great value to ecosystems in having beavers around.

Beavers teetered on extinction in Canada as well, almost extirpated by a frenzied fur trade that supplied --you guessed it -- England. I'm pleased to say that we've seen several in recent weeks on our rambles.

So, forget the "ox and ass" of Christmas Nativity legend (no animals are mentioned in the gospels) and think Father Christmas and the Beaver family.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/21/scotland-must-commit-to-helping-beavers-make-a-comeback?CMP=share_btn_fb

https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/our-positions-and-casework/our-positions/species/beaver-reintroduction-in-the-uk/