So I came across this article on the Montreal Examiner about the plight if two beavers...Lily and Lucky.

National symbols of Canada, Lucky and Lilly, get evicted on Canada Day weekend

www.examiner.com

The beaver in this picture seems to be 

the male beaver named Lucky

Photo credit:  

Sylvie Sabourin 

On Friday, June 29th, public workers paid by the City of Ottawa in the province of Ontario took on the task of disturbing and destroying the home of two beaver  (please read more here)

Which then brought me to this blog by Bonnie Dawson, Loki's Gift, which has loads of information on what is happening to the little beavers.

Here is a YouTube video about the Beavers.

There is a Facebook Page as well, actually it is an event page. There is also an Online Petition.

It is shameful that the City of Ottawa is killing this iconic emblem of Canada.

From Wikipedia:

As a national emblem

The importance of the Beaver in the development of Canada through the fur trade led to its official designation as the national animal in 1975. The animal has long been associated with Canada, appearing on the coat of arms of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1678.^[54] It is depicted on the Canadian five-cent piece and was on the first pictorial postage stamp issued in the Canadian colonies in 1849 (the so-called "Three-Penny Beaver"). As a national symbol, the beaver was chosen to be the mascot of the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal with the name "Amik" ("beaver" in Ojibwe). The beaver is also the symbol of many units and organizations within the Canadian Forces, such as on the cap badges of the Royal 22^e Régiment and the Canadian Military Engineers. Toronto Police Services, London Police Service, Canadian Pacific Railway Police Service and Canadian Pacific Railway crest bears the beaver on their crest or coat of arms.

Others who have used the beaver in their company or organizational symbol or as their mascot include:

• Beaver Buzz
• Roots Canada
• Beaver Lumber
• The Beaver (magazine)
• Canadian Pacific Railway
• Bemidji State University
• California Institute of Technology
• City College of New York
• Harper Creek High School (Battle Creek, Michigan)
• London School of Economics^[55]
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• McMaster University Society of Off-Campus Students
• Parks Canada
• New York City
• The State of New York
• The State of Oregon
• Oregon State University
• St Anne's College, Oxford
• The University of Toronto
• The University of Alberta Engineering
• Buena Vista University
• Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission
• Wilfrid Laurier University
• Huron University College
• F.C. Paços de Ferreira
• Beverley Market Town, East Yorkshire, UK

As my blog is to do with Knitting and Crocheting, I thought I would issue a challenge...knit or crochet a beaver and send it to Mayor Watson

Mayor Jim Watson

110 Laurier Avenue West 
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 1J1

Here is some ideas.

Dam*ed Beaver

Liam's Beaver
This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download .

 

Amigurumi Mabelle the Beaver

I'm Canadian, eh!

If you have any other favorite beaver patterns let me know.


Cora