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Beaver, oh beaver Slinking after dark Chomping down those cherry trees In West Potomac Park Beaver, oh beaver You do not stand a chance Not when those rangers hunt you down For messing up their plants. Beaver, oh beaver You made one huge mistake Your life was so much sweeter In scenic Greenbelt Lake It's true, you chopped some sweetgums down And made a royal mess Still, you were proof that our town Had real wilderness. But no! You yearned for city lights Publicity and fame The nation's cherished cherry trees Seemed a much bigger game And so to Washington you went Resolved to make your mark By Jefferson's big monument To chew on cherry bark. And then the press went after you With cameras and lights While park police with K-9 dogs Disrupted your quiet nights Now that they nabbed you, fair and square You will be relocated-- Just stay away from Greenbelt, where You aren't appreciated! |
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| (In the mid-1990s a beaver discovered Greenbelt Lake, built a lodge on the southern shore and chopped down a fair number of trees--mainly sweetgums, which the city protected with chicken wire. It then disappeared. In the spring of 1999 a family of beavers was discovered engaged in similar activity about 10 miles further south, in the tidal basin in downtown Washington, near the Jefferson Memorial. Those beavers received a great deal of publicity in the press, until the park rangers trapped all three of them and moved them far from the city.) |
Author and Curator: Dr. David P. Stern
Mail to Dr.Stern: david("at" symbol)phy6.org .
Last updated 18 January 2002