How’s this for a national symbol?

Mona and I spent a great weekend in Ottawa so that I could do some research and preparation for my TAP class’ trip to Ottawa in October. We visited many of the most important sites and I snapped a bunch of digital photos that I’ll be using as part of a chaptered podcast about our upcoming class trip.

One of the things we saw at the Canadian Parliament that I’d never noticed before was one of the details at the peak of the archway surrounding the main entrance. Now we know that the beaver is Canada’s national animal. I’m sure many of us might think that’s a bit lame. A few weeks back, I saw a beaver scuttling across the road near our house here in Burlington. Not an animal that inspires admiration at first sight. Industrious? Sure. Clever? Maybe. Noble and awe-inspiring? Ummmmm… no.

Seeing this beaver at the Parliament, though, I realized that maybe whoever thought of using the beaver as our national symbol was thinking of it as a more fierce animal than we might think about today. Just look at this guy! Does he not make you tremble with fear?!