Beaver hunt

Being a student of English literature, one could reasonably assume I've risen above the cheap jokes and guffaws of my teenage years.

One would be wrong.

I read this article on the BBC website today.  Ostensibly it's about how Canada would like to change their national animal from a beaver (dull and pestilent) to a cuddly, friendly polar bear.

However, as ever with these things, there's always a naysayer.  Step up Pat Martin, MP for the New Democratic Party:

"Polar bears are cool but the beaver played a pivotal role in the history of Canada.... It was the relentless pursuit of beaver that opened the great Northwest."

You heard it here first, folks.  Canada was founded on the pursuit of beaver.  Not just the pursuit of beaver, but the relentless pursuit of beaver.

Snigger.