The Time Idaho Dropped A Bunch Of Beavers In Parachutes
In the 1940s and ‘50s, Idaho looked around and saw way too many beavers (hehehehe). With the state’s beaver population exploding, officials were looking for ways to keep the number of animals down without a widespread cull because this was right after WWII when mass killings temporarily went out of vogue. Another thing that resulted from WWII was America having a surplus of parachutes, which kind of have a limited number of uses. Sure, the US could’ve waited for the sudden appearance of a 100-foot-tall Amazon in desperate need of an impromptu bra, but after numerous studies and probably a ton of scientific illustrations, officials wanted to find a more practical use for the parachutes.
That’s when someone remembered a thing their father told them: “Son, waste not, want not. Also, the best way to get rid of a problem is to parachute it right into the middle of a secluded wilderness.” After taking a moment to realize he never found out what happened to his childhood dog that kept crapping inside the house, the man proposed using his father’s wisdom for good this time. This was the result:
For years, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game would run around trapping beavers, sticking them into creates, and using the surplus war chutes to drop the animals into the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. It was probably either that or The Forbidden Forest of Doom.
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The scheme apparently worked since the video shows the beavers landing and exiting the crates safely. But, to be honest, if they did accidentally pancake a few of them, it’s not like they would have included that in the video. Still, there is something sadistically hilarious watching these crate drops and knowing that they contain an animal that’s about as built for flying as a wet sack of potatoes. But what really brings it all together is the weirdly jolly narrator, who sounds as if he was describing a neighborhood asbestos eating contest or whatever the people of the ‘40s/’50s were into.
To the beavers, the entire thing was probably like an alien abduction. Even on the low-quality video, when they show one of the animals after it’s landed, you can just TELL how utterly confused it is. If it could talk, all it would do is repeat “What the HELL” over and over. And that’s just hilarious.
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Top Image: Idaho Department of Fish and Game
