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Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

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Re: Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

#21

Post by Rendello »

sharkjacobs wrote: post #3

It's funny to me, a Canadian, that this even warrants a did-you-know article because everything about the beaver fur/hat making industry is something I learned extensively about in elementary and high school because it was like, a major driver of the European exploration and colonization and therefore significant to the history of my country. But outside of here it's just a footnote to a fashion trend.

In the Canadian bush, you'll run into people still running beaver traplines. From what I hear it's mostly for nuisance control since pelt prices are quite low. When I was talking to trappers, they seemed to imply that the government sets prices and buys them like as a cartel, but I'm not sure what the process is or if I understood correctly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapline#Registered_traplines

Re: Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

#22

Post by [deleted] »

Rendello wrote: post #21
sharkjacobs wrote: post #3

It's funny to me, a Canadian, that this even warrants a did-you-know article because everything about the beaver fur/hat making industry is something I learned extensively about in elementary and high school because it was like, a major driver of the European exploration and colonization and therefore significant to the history of my country. But outside of here it's just a footnote to a fashion trend.

In the Canadian bush, you'll run into people still running beaver traplines. From what I hear it's mostly for nuisance control since pelt prices are quite low. When I was talking to trappers, they seemed to imply that the government sets prices and buys them like as a cartel, but I'm not sure what the process is or if I understood correctly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapline#Registered_traplines

[deleted]

Re: Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

#23

Post by floren »

KellyCriterion wrote: post #10
sharkjacobs wrote: post #3

It's funny to me, a Canadian, that this even warrants a did-you-know article because everything about the beaver fur/hat making industry is something I learned extensively about in elementary and high school because it was like, a major driver of the European exploration and colonization and therefore significant to the history of my country. But outside of here it's just a footnote to a fashion trend.

Thanks for sharing this discrepancy! Indeed, the "beaver as relevant tool as major driver" does actually not exist in schools in EU mainland; the chance is higher you hear about the porks brought by first European-immigrants that they used for food production because of their fast reproduction numbers. (and porks are easy to deal with, they eat everything; Once I heard someone from crime enforcement saying: "the perf…

In English, the creature is a pig or a hog, and the meat is pork.

We also have major feral pig problems in parts of the US.

Re: Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

#24

Post by dhosek »

redwood wrote: post #8

The flag of New York City also features beavers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flags_of_New_York_City Edit: it's clearer in the seal of the city https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_of_New_York_City

My daughter once spent a bunch of time going through all the flag emojis classifying them as stars, animals, trees, religious symbols (and probably some others). We found three flags with maps. Animals were almost exclusively birds, but there was also a sheep, a pair of lions, seahorses, a lobster and a conch.

Re: Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

#25

Post by dhosek »

floren wrote: post #23
KellyCriterion wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for sharing this discrepancy! Indeed, the "beaver as relevant tool as major driver" does actually not exist in schools in EU mainland; the chance is higher you hear about the porks brought by first European-immigrants that they used for food production because of their fast reproduction numbers. (and porks are easy to deal with, they eat everything; Once I heard someone from crime enforcement saying: "the perf…

In English, the creature is a pig or a hog, and the meat is pork. We also have major feral pig problems in parts of the US.

I’ve found it interesting that cows become beef, sheep mutton, pigs pork, but goats, chicken, turkeys and fish keep their identities when they become food.

Re: Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

#26

Post by conartist6 »

throwway120385 wrote: post #7
conartist6 wrote: post #5

Perhaps it's only because we wiped them out so many places that we understand in the slightest the ecological role they play

I think if we hadn't we would've figured it out anyway. Someone would have found them interesting enough to study.

You think nobody found them interesting enough to study when they were being made into hats?

It's hard to raise the alarm about a harm that has not yet come to pass

Re: Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

#27

Post by enchilada »

dhosek wrote: post #25
floren wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In English, the creature is a pig or a hog, and the meat is pork. We also have major feral pig problems in parts of the US.

I’ve found it interesting that cows become beef, sheep mutton, pigs pork, but goats, chicken, turkeys and fish keep their identities when they become food.

> After the Norman Conquest of England, nobles referred to the meat they ate in French, but the peasants who raised animals for meat referred to them in Anglo-Saxon. This is why modern English has words such as beef and pork for meat, but cow and pig for the animals it comes from

I guess fish/chicken were for peasants at the time

Re: Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

#28

Post by saaaaaam »

The other interesting but useless fact is that silk top hats (which as the article points out supersede beaver as the fibre of choice) are no longer made - and the technique for making them is effectively lost because they need specialised looms which are also no longer made.

But if you want to go somewhere super fancy like Ascot and look the part, a silk top hat is de rigueur.

There are now a handful of shops that basically have the entire remaining (good) stock and rent them out for an arm and a leg, and take care of them like rare precious things. Which I guess they are.

Re: Why Are There Statues of Beavers on Top of This Oxford Street Shop?

#30

Post by sandworm101 »

KellyCriterion wrote: post #10
sharkjacobs wrote: post #3

It's funny to me, a Canadian, that this even warrants a did-you-know article because everything about the beaver fur/hat making industry is something I learned extensively about in elementary and high school because it was like, a major driver of the European exploration and colonization and therefore significant to the history of my country. But outside of here it's just a footnote to a fashion trend.

Thanks for sharing this discrepancy! Indeed, the "beaver as relevant tool as major driver" does actually not exist in schools in EU mainland; the chance is higher you hear about the porks brought by first European-immigrants that they used for food production because of their fast reproduction numbers. (and porks are easy to deal with, they eat everything; Once I heard someone from crime enforcement saying: "the perf…

Not that perfect. The canadian pig-farming serial killer was eventually caught.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Pickton

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