---
product_id: 147443929
title: "Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter"
price: "$40.14"
currency: USD
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.us/products/147443929-eager-the-surprising-secret-life-of-beavers-and-why-they
store_origin: US
region: United States of America
---

# Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter

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## Description

WINNER of the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Author of the New York Times 2023 “Notable Book” Crossings Washington Post “50 Notable Works of Nonfiction” Science News “Favorite Science Books of 2018” Booklist “Top Ten Science/Technology Book of 2018” “A marvelously humor-laced page-turner about the science of semi-aquatic rodents…. A masterpiece of a treatise on the natural world.”— The Washington Post In Eager , environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb reveals that our modern idea of what a healthy landscape looks like and how it functions is wrong, distorted by the fur trade that once trapped out millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers”—including scientists, ranchers, and passionate citizens—recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier, for humans and non-humans alike, than those without them. From the Nevada deserts to the Scottish highlands, Believers are now hard at work restoring these industrious rodents to their former haunts. Eager is a powerful story about one of the world’s most influential species, how North America was colonized, how our landscapes have changed over the centuries, and how beavers can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, extinction, and the ravages of climate change. Ultimately, it’s about how we can learn to coexist, harmoniously and even beneficially, with our fellow travelers on this planet.

Review: Eager is engrossing, enthralling, engaging - Count me among the newly minted Beaver Believers, thanks to this surprisingly accessible book about a much-misunderstood rodent. Goldfarb, in Eager, tells us relatable stories about the paddle-tailed aquatic engineers, their foes, and friends. Leave it to us humans to come to a new land, claim dominion over its flora and fauna, drive much of it to the brink of extinction, and only later recognize the impact of those brutal acts and seek to rectify them. Although Eager deals primarily with the history, contributions, plight, and attempted restoration of the Castor canadensis (and European cousin Castor fiber), the reader will be reminded of what happens when an invading species (in this case, Man) eradicates a perceived foe then is forced to live with unforeseen consequences that are far greater than the imagined threat. The author, through the use of lively storytelling based on exhaustive research, introduces us to Castor canadensis, its history here in the US and across the pond, its overhunting for English and European hats and coats, which become unfashionable after the beaver population has already been decimated, its attempts to survive only to be regarded as a varmint whose value to rivers, streams, and water is not understood well enough to shield it from farmers' and ranchers' bullets and traps. As with any good story, this one has conflict, desire, greed, altruism, sex, love, death, politics, interesting characters, and a good measure of humor. Not what you'd expect from a book about beavers, is it? I agree with environmentalist and author Bill McKibben who said of Eager, "This witty, engrossing book will be a classic from the day it is published." Eager is timely and timeless - an especially important read today as much of the world deals with drought and seeks solutions to dwindling natural resources, for which the beaver, a keystone species that supports entire biological communities, embodies tremendous potential to aid those who would vanquish it.
Review: Informative and entertaining - Informative and entertaining

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #26,274 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #2 in Biology of Mammals #20 in Ecology (Books) #22 in Biology of Wildlife |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 out of 5 stars 752 Reviews |

## Images

![Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71a5R8SujNL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Eager is engrossing, enthralling, engaging
*by S***E on July 22, 2018*

Count me among the newly minted Beaver Believers, thanks to this surprisingly accessible book about a much-misunderstood rodent. Goldfarb, in Eager, tells us relatable stories about the paddle-tailed aquatic engineers, their foes, and friends. Leave it to us humans to come to a new land, claim dominion over its flora and fauna, drive much of it to the brink of extinction, and only later recognize the impact of those brutal acts and seek to rectify them. Although Eager deals primarily with the history, contributions, plight, and attempted restoration of the Castor canadensis (and European cousin Castor fiber), the reader will be reminded of what happens when an invading species (in this case, Man) eradicates a perceived foe then is forced to live with unforeseen consequences that are far greater than the imagined threat. The author, through the use of lively storytelling based on exhaustive research, introduces us to Castor canadensis, its history here in the US and across the pond, its overhunting for English and European hats and coats, which become unfashionable after the beaver population has already been decimated, its attempts to survive only to be regarded as a varmint whose value to rivers, streams, and water is not understood well enough to shield it from farmers' and ranchers' bullets and traps. As with any good story, this one has conflict, desire, greed, altruism, sex, love, death, politics, interesting characters, and a good measure of humor. Not what you'd expect from a book about beavers, is it? I agree with environmentalist and author Bill McKibben who said of Eager, "This witty, engrossing book will be a classic from the day it is published." Eager is timely and timeless - an especially important read today as much of the world deals with drought and seeks solutions to dwindling natural resources, for which the beaver, a keystone species that supports entire biological communities, embodies tremendous potential to aid those who would vanquish it.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Informative and entertaining
*by N***K on January 18, 2026*

Informative and entertaining

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I have a lot of favorite parts to this book
*by H***N on June 28, 2018*

Every now and then a well-written and cheerfully-researched book comes along that changes the conversation forever. Suddenly no one is asking whether DDT is harmful or we didn’t do enough to prevent 9/11, they are just discussing what to do about it now and where to start first. This might just be one of those books. With Eager: The surprising secret lives of beavers and why they matter, accomplished author Ben Goldfarb lays out a Michener-esque sweeping look at an America that was burrowed, shaped and watered by beavers. He uses a convincing cast of characters to tell this compelling story – characters as varied as they are persuasive. From the “high-spirited and freckled” fluvial geomorphologist Rebekah Levine in Montana, to the “geyser of colorful catch phrases” Joe Wheaton in Utah, or the fish biologist with the “gentle manner of painting instructor”, Carol Evans of Nevada, each tell their part of a highly relevant ecological drama that we never even realized we were waiting for. I have a lot of favorite parts to this book, but an enduring winner is the unparalleled illumination Ben shines on a pre-settlement America when beavers and their dams were everywhere and complex interlacing streams looked more like ‘a bowl of spaghetti’ than individual channels due to their ubiquitous work – my most stark and unfavorite part is similarly unforgettable – the devastating near apocalyptic impact that the fur trade had in drying our national landscape. Besides introducing the reader to beaver believers from every walk of life all over the country and beyond, and stacking the courtroom with deftly-delivered scientific arguments from every field, Goldfarb is a careful archeologist who unearths historical passages that introduce a new understanding of past figures and their thoughts about a beaver-made country. Like a special lens attached to a telescope, his writing becomes a prism through which beavers shape our past, our present and our future.

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*Product available on Desertcart United States of America*
*Store origin: US*
*Last updated: 2026-05-18*