| The War Against the Beavers Contributor(s): Conley, Verena Andermatt (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 0816642176 ISBN-13: 9780816642175 Publisher: University of Minnesota Press OUR PRICE: $47.52 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: June 2003 Annotation: A lifelong city dweller, Verena Andermatt Conley had long harbored romantic ideals about the natural world and dreamed of a wilderness retreat for herself and her husband, Tom. When a sizeable tract of land along the Vermilion River on the edge of Minnesota's Boundary Waters--complete with two primitive log cabins--became available, they jumped at the chance to own a piece of paradise. The War against the Beavers is a wry and funny account of two people's ten-year apprenticeship in backwoods living, from their arrival as literal babes in the woods to their education in the ways of nature as they face plagues of insects and fungus, storms and droughts, and embark on a lengthy campaign to eradicate a colony of beavers that threatens the peace and beauty of their forest refuge. Juxtaposing idyllic descriptions--hiking and cross-country skiing, swimming and canoeing in clear waters, harvesting berries and wild rice--with the intensive labor of maintaining a wilderness homestead, Conley draws a beguiling picture of the ups and downs of backwoods living. After a period of peaceful coexistence, the beavers become bitter enemies whose depredations threaten to turn a substantial portion of forest into marshland. Odd solutions--axes, shotguns, and dynamite among them--and extermination attempts by still odder locals hardly faze the beavers. It is only the arrival of a mechanized, and much more menacing, threat--bulldozers and other heavy machinery clear-cutting the woods--that restores perspective to the obsessed cabin-dwellers. Having come to the North Woods to escape the rigors of modern life, the couple finds instead that their beliefs on animals, humans, and nature are tested. They emergefrom the experience with a hard-won wisdom and a new and deeper understanding of the ever-changing character of wilderness. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Nature | Essays - Nature | Animals - Wildlife - Pets |
| Dewey: 917.767 |
| LCCN: 2003001346 |
| Physical Information: 0.64" H x 6.38" W x 8.72" (0.76 lbs) 192 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Midwest - Geographic Orientation - Minnesota |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: A lifelong city dweller, Verena Andermatt Conley had long harbored romantic ideals about the natural world and dreamed of a wilderness retreat for herself and her husband, Tom. When a sizable tract of land along the Vermillion River on the edge of Minnesota's Boundary Waters - complete with two primitive log cabins - became available, they jumped at the chance to own a piece of paradise.The War against the Beavers is a wry and funny account of two people's ten-year apprenticeship in backwoods living, from their arrival as literal babes in the woods to their education in the ways of nature as they face plagues of insects, fungus, storms, and droughts, and embark on a lengthy campaign to eradicate a colony of beavers that threatens the peace and beauty of their forest refuge. It is only the coming of a mechanized and much more menacing threat - bulldozers and other heavy machinery clear-cutting the woods - that restores perspective to the obsessed cabin dwellers. |