The Pelt Belt

The denizens of Europe and North America have increasingly moved into cities. In Canada, the vast majority of citizens live along the American border. Driving from town to city by automobile, we are surrounded by an ocean of darkness. And as the world of nature fades into our collective rearview mirror, nostalgic books about wild places and wild animals have sprung up to remind us of the world we are leaving behind.

One of these is a recent Canadian book, Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver, by Victoria author and magazine writer Frances Backhouse. The author of five books, including the prize-winning Children of the Klondike, Backhouse is a skilled and personable narrator who guides us on a tour of the long, fond and sometimes lethal relationship we have entertained with this pudgy little rodent.

“Little” of course may not be the right adjective. When people see a beaver for the first time they are usually shocked by its...