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Beaver-engineered dam in the Czech Republic
- imjonse 1y agoThe article ends on a note which can be read in either a hopeful or ominous key. "Authorities anticipate no significant conflicts with the beaver colony for at least the next decade."
- discomrobertul8 1y agoWe have always been at war with Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber).
- rurban 1y agoFarmers have been at war with them. Local governments usually side with the beavers, because their longterm benefits are higher, but in right-wing crisis times the farmers will win.
- potato3732842 1y agoI'm not sure I trust the people who get more work to do, more budget and more power out of the beavers being there anymore than I trust the farmers who would be better off with the beavers gone. A painter will always tell you you need paint. A roofer will always try and sell you a roof. A tire shop will always try and sell you tires. But we can take these people at face value?
- timcobb 1y agoThat's humans for ya
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- matusp 1y agoIf you want peace, prepare for war.
- world2vec 1y ago2036: Czech authorities sue for peace after months of devastating conflict against the beaver colony.
- pfdietz 1y agoThe project was stalled not because they didn't have funding, but because they didn't have permits. I'm increasingly of the opinion that permission-based economies don't work. Go after people who harm, don't impose paperwork to preemptively prevent harm.
- discomrobertul8 1y agoThis doesn't seem like a very sensible policy. There are a great many harms that once done, cannot be undone.
- pfdietz 1y agoHarms don't need to be undone, they just need to be penalized. For example: statistical deaths can be compensated for by fines using the statistical value of a human life (about $12 M). Nuclear power regulation could be based on this principle.
- timeon 1y agoNot sure if people [0] would do anything if they would not know rules (regulations) but could be drastically penalized if something happens. [0] Except for reckless gamblers.
- saagarjha 1y agoHow do you feel about extending this to direct murder?
- hnbad 1y agoI'm sure there are at least several people in the US who would gladly pay $12 million to directly cause someone's death without further repercussions. There are several people who could easily afford that several times a year without noticeably having to give up any wealth or expenses. But more charitably: they did say "statistical death" so I presume the implication is "unintentional and non-targeted". Deliberately setting up deathtraps or ensuring a specific person will die but not others would probably be exempt. Of course that could be extremely difficult to prove if gross negligence became so easily affordable.
- tasuki 1y agoI'm Czech and haven't heard about this. We should hire more beavers for construction projects.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- Hnrobert42 1y agoReminds me of the snap judgment podcast about the Belgian Beaver bandit who illegally reintroduced beavers to Belgium to bypass the same kind of bureaucratic roadblocks. It was a really touching podcast. https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_320_cc65818c-232c-49cb-a83f-195f90ae2f14&uf=https%3A%2F%2Fsnap.feed.snapjudgment.org https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_320_cc65818c-232c-49cb-a8...
- slightwinder 1y agoAs a totally unrelated but somehow relate recommendation: there is a fantastic builder-game named Timberborn[1], where you can grow your own beaver-empire and even build dams. It's not the most realistic game, the proportion of everything is very off for example, but it's very matching the content of this article and I just wanted to mention it. [1] https://www.gog.com/en/game/timberborn https://www.gog.com/en/game/timberborn
- ahmedbaracat 1y agoThanks for sharing. Beavers are my favorite animals and the trailer is actually quite nice.
- pavel_lishin 1y agoYou should check out this documentary, if you haven't already: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beavers_%28film%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beavers_%28film%29 It's fairly old, but I watched it in college, and it was great.
- ludicrousdispla 1y agoNow I'm imagining a sequel to Water World where Kevin Costner sails to the edge of the world/ocean and finds a giant beaver dam.
- ChrisArchitect 1y agoPreviously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42938802 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42938802
- billfruit 1y agoFrom the article : "Czech conservation authorities praised the beavers for their unexpected yet effective environmental work. Bohumil Fišer, head of the Brdy Protected Landscape Area, stated that the beavers "built the dams without any project documentation and for free", and achieved the desired ecological outcomes "practically overnight"."
- AnimalMuppet 1y agoNo project documentation? Expect that it's going to be a headache to maintain if you can't get the original creators to stay on...
- rurban 1y agoBeavers just need 1m of water to hide their entrance to their home. If the water level is not high enough, they build a dam by clawing down the trees nearby. For my last birthday I got a fantastic German beaver book by some Bavarian family visiting their local beaver family for several years.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- r721 1y agoSee also: >The largest beaver dam on Earth was discovered via satellite imagery in 2007, and since then only one person has trekked into the Canadian wild to see it. It’s a half-mile long and has created a 17-acre lake in the northern forest — a testament to the beaver’s resilience. https://e360.yale.edu/features/worlds-largest-beaver-dam https://e360.yale.edu/features/worlds-largest-beaver-dam (2023) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38606804 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38606804
- anon291 1y agoYou can indeed just do things