Can outsider beavers save this dried up river?
It's not easy being a river in the desert under the best of circumstances. The ecosystem exists in a very delicate balance, allowing water sources to thrive in the harsh conditions. These water sources in otherwise extremely dry areas are vital to the survival of unique wildlife, agriculture, and even tourism as they provide fresh drinking water for the people who live nearby.
But man-made problems like climate change, over-farming, and pollution have made a tough job even tougher in some areas. Rivers in Utah and Colorado part of the Colorado River Basin have been barely surviving the extremely harsh drought season. When the riverbeds get too dry, fish and other aquatic creatures die off and the wildfire risk increases dramatically.
About six years ago, one team of researchers had a fascinating idea to restore the health of some of Utah's most vulnerable rivers: Bring in the beavers.
Beaver on riverbank. Canva Photos
In 2019, master's student Emma Doden and a team of researchers from Utah State University began a "translocation" project to bring displaced beavers to areas like Utah's Price River, in the hopes of bringing it back to life.
Why beavers? Well, it just makes dam sense! (Sorry.)
In all seriousness, beaver dams restrict the flow of water in some areas of a river, creating ponds and wetlands. In drought-stricken areas, fish and other wildlife can take refuge in the ponds while the rest of the river runs dry, thus riding out the danger until it rains again.
When beavers are present in a watershed, the benefits are unbelievable: Better water quality, healthier fish populations, better nutrient availability, and fewer or less severe wildfires.
It's why beavers have earned the title of "keystone species," or any animal that has a disproportionate impact on the ecosystem around them.
Pbs Nature Swimming GIF by Nature on PBS Giphy
Doden and her team took beavers who were captured or removed from their original homes due to their being a "nuisance," interfering with infrastructure, or being endangered, and—after a short period of quarantine—were brought to the Price River.
Despite the research team's best efforts, not all the translocated beavers have survived or stayed put over the years. Some have trouble adapting to their new home and die off or are killed by predators, while others leave of their own accord.
But sine 2019, enough have stayed and built dams that the team is starting to see the results of the effort. In fact, beaver projects just like this one have been going on all over the state in recent years.
- YouTube youtu.be
The water levels in the river are now the healthiest they've been in years. The fish are thriving and Utah residents are overjoyed with the experiment's results.
According to an early 2025 column in The Salt Lake Tribune (i.e. six years after the beaver translocation began) the revitalization of the Price River has "helped save [our] Utah town."
"A tributary of the Colorado River, the Price River runs through downtown Helper," wrote column authors Lenise Peterman and Jordan Nielson. "On a warm day, you’re likely to find the river filled with tourists and locals kayaking, tubing and fishing along its shore. A decade ago, it was hard to imagine this scene—and the thriving recreation economy that comes with it—was possible."
Of course, it wasn't JUST the beavers. Other federal water cleanup investments helped remove debris, break down old and malfunctioning dams, and place tighter regulations on agriculture grazing in the area that depleted vital plant life.
But the experts know that the beavers, and their incredible engineering work, are the real MVPs.
An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River Public Domain
In other drying, struggling rivers in the area, researchers are bringing in beavers and even creating manmade beaver dams. They're hoping that the critters will take over the job as the rivers get healthier.
Utah's San Rafael River, which is in bleak condition, is a prime candidate. In one area of the river, a natural flood inspired a host of beavers to return to the area and "riparian habitat along that stretch had increased by 230%, and it had the most diverse flow patterns of anywhere on the river," according to KUER.
It's hard to believe that beavers nearly went extinct during the heyday of the fur trapping industry, and continued to struggle as they were considered nuisances and pests. Now, they're getting the respect they deserve as engineer marvels, and their populations have rebounded due to better PR and conservation programs.
It's about dam time!
This article originally appeared in June.
A kid with their head down in class.
From the time they're aware of the pregnancy, couples make strenuous efforts to plan their parenting. Right from the diet, morals, school and lifestyle choices, parents leave no stone unturned in opting for what's best. Some of these practices may be influenced by parents' beliefs, lifestyles, skills and so on. However, not all may be beneficial and recommended for children. Practices that may seem great initially can have unwanted long-term effects. Child psychologist Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge revealed 6 striking habits you want to keep out of your child's life, per Parade. She urges parents and grandparents to leave out these 6 factors and find alternatives that are more fruitful and efficient.
1. Using screentime to keep kids busy
A child on an iPad. Photo credit: Canva
It’s no secret that screens are a lifesaver when parents are exhausted, cooking dinner, or juggling work and childcare. But relying on them too often comes with downsides.
A 2023 Common Sense Media report found that children ages 0–8 now average over 2.5 hours of screen use per day, more than double what it was a decade ago. Research shows this can affect attention span, sleep, mood regulation, and social development.
“Children need a variety of play-based activities that foster growth in areas like visual-motor skills, physical exercise, and socialization,” Capanna-Hodge explains. And when screens become a default soother, it can also crowd out precious bonding moments.
Try instead:
✔ Create a 5-minute “connection ritual” at meals or bedtime (a story, a silly rhyme, a question of the day).
✔ Keep a small “quiet kit” nearby — crayons, fidget toys, or mini puzzles.
2. Forgetting that kids learn by watching us
A mom showing her child how to play the drum. Photo credit: Canva
Kids absorb far more from what we do than what we say. When adults argue harshly, shut down emotionally, or treat others disrespectfully, children internalize those patterns.A 2023 Child Development study found that children’s emotional regulation skills strongly reflect the emotional modeling they see at home.Capanna-Hodge stresses that when conflicts happen—and they will—how parents respond matters. “Demonstrating respectful conflict resolution sets a powerful example,” she notes.Why parents fall into this:Small homes mean no private space. Stress runs high. Many adults are still unlearning the conflict habits they grew up with.
Try instead:
✔ Narrate your emotions: “I’m frustrated, so I’m taking a breath.”
✔ If conflict starts escalating, say out loud: “Let’s pause and try again later.”
3. Letting negativity become a pattern
A mom scolding her son. Photo credit: Canva
When you combine the financial stress, sleep deprivation, and the expectations of “doing it all" that comes with modern day parenting, patience wears thin, fast. But frequent yelling or criticism can shape a child’s sense of safety and self-worth.“Regularly raising your voice creates an environment of fear, anxiety, and poor stress management,” Capanna-Hodge says.
Try instead:
✔ Use a whisper voice (kids actually tune in more).
✔ Step away for 10 seconds before responding.
✔ Offer specific praise: “You tried really hard on that.”
4. Using guilt to influence behavior
A mom guilt-tripping her daughter. Photo credit: Canva
Guilt-based language often comes from older generational patterns. Many grandparents grew up hearing, “After all I’ve done for you…” and simply repeat what they know. But today’s research is clear: guilt-based parenting can stick with children for life.Multiple studies link guilt-inducing messages to anxiety, people-pleasing, and low autonomy later on.Phrases like “Grandma will be so upset if you don’t…” don’t build responsibility. They build shame.
Try instead:
✔ Teach accountability: “How can we fix this together?”
✔ Validate feelings while redirecting behavior: “You’re upset AND we still need to clean this up.”
5. Inconsistency with rules and discipline
A teacher establishing rules to her class. Photo credit: Canva
Many parents worry their kids don’t listen, but the issue is often inconsistency, not disobedience. Kids learn best from predictable boundaries.
“Inconsistent rules create confusion and insecurity,” Capanna-Hodge says. Research on children with ADHD shows that harsh or inconsistent parenting is linked with more behavior problems, while consistent routines predict better emotional and behavioral outcomes—especially for kids who struggle with attention or self-regulation.
Try instead:
✔ Post simple, predictable rules on the fridge.
✔ Use the same consequence each time for the same behavior.
✔ Build a short daily rhythm: snack → play → cleanup → bedtime.
6. Comparing kids to each other
Comparison often comes from anxiety. Parents worry their child is “behind” or not meeting milestones. But comparison undermines a child’s confidence and can spark resentment or pressure to overperform.“When grandparents openly compare grandchildren, it diminishes a child’s sense of self-worth,” Capanna-Hodge says. Each child needs space to grow on their own timeline.Try instead:
✔ Celebrate individuality: “You’re so curious!” You’re great at building!”
✔ Focus on progress, not peers.
Here’s the hopeful part: none of these negative habits define you as a parent. Every adult slips into patterns they wish they could change. What matters most is noticing, adjusting, and reconnecting. Small shifts, practiced over time, create lifelong impact. And every day is another chance to choose connection over perfection.
This article originally appeared 3 months ago.
via Canva/Photos
A woman vacuuming late at night.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a new phrase emerged from China: “bàofùxìng áoyè,” which loosely translates to “retaliatory staying up late” or “revenge bedtime procrastination.” This is a way people gain a sense of control over their lives by staying up late watching TV, playing video games, or doomscrolling to make up for working 40-plus hours a week.
Revenge Bedtime Procrastinators may consciously or subconsciously start another episode of their favorite Netflix show or spend another hour playing Grand Theft Auto because it reassures them that they’re in charge of their own lives—not their boss, not their spouse, and not their children. It’s like “me” time but with an added dash of rebellion. “You can’t tell me to go to sleep.”
What is Revenge Bedtime Procrastination?
“It’s describing when people don't have as much control over their daytime life and schedules, and they delay sleep and their normal bedtimes to have more freedom and free time,” Michelle Drerup, Psy.D., director of the behavioral sleep medicine program at the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center, tells Good Housekeeping. “And, they do that fully aware that it’s going to have negative consequences.”'
Obviously, this can create a lot of trouble, whether it’s screwing up your natural sleep cycles or leaving you feeling depressed, anxious, hungry, and groggy the next day when it’s time for another eight hours of work.
Who are Nighttime Task Completers?
In addition to Revenge Bedtime Procrastinators, there’s another group: Nighttime Task Completers. They become overwhelmed with stress when they get ready for bedtime because of everything they didn’t get done during the day. They can be drowning in unfinished tasks because they neglected to do them during the day, didn’t have time, or have a spouse who doesn't do their share of the workload.
A woman ironing clothes late at night.via Canva/Photos
This feeling of stress is accompanied by a fight-or-flight response, which triggers a jolt of alertness, creating a late-night second wind. To combat stress, they start doing chores when they should be sleeping, whether it's laundry, dishes, or paying bills. Instead of enjoying leisure time like the Revenge Bedtime Procrastinators, they use their nightly boost to get things done.
Just like the folks who stay up watching Netflix, Nighttime Task Completers also suffer sleep deprivation the next day, which can create a vicious cycle of stress-fueled late-night labor. They may stay up until 3 a.m. tackling chores, and the following day they’re too exhausted to get everything done. Then, once again, right before bed, they get a jolt of stress-induced energy and start working.
A woman doomscrolling at night.via Canva/Photos
For many, one symptom of our super-busy modern world is that the only way to squeeze some joy out of life, or stay ahead on chores during the workweek, is to sacrifice sleep. Sleep is a very personal topic, and many folks keep their habits to themselves. But if you’re someone who is having trouble catching a good night's sleep due to the demands of the modern world, you’re not alone. There are plenty of other night owls staying up way past their bedtime to feel a sense of control over their lives. The problem is that when the need for control creates an unhealthy sleep environment, it’s best to consult a mental health professional to bring your life back into balance.
Raccoon eating food from a person's hand, background blurred.
If you have ever watched a raccoon confidently tiptoe across a fence or dive into a trash bin like it owns the place and felt utter delight, you might be thrilled to learn that new research has found these little bandits are cooking up new ways to melt our hearts…including picking up physical traits we associate with pets.
Scientists say city raccoons may be showing early signs of domestication, an idea that first sparked Raffaela Lesch, a zoologist at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, when she tossed a can into a campus bin.
Instead of the usual metallic clank, she heard a muted thud. Then a raccoon head popped out—comfortably, fearlessly. Something a bit out of character for a “wild” animal.
“I wanted to know if living in a city environment would kickstart domestication processes in animals that are currently not domesticated,” Lesch said in a statement. “Would raccoons be on the pathway to domestication just by hanging out in close proximity to humans?”
Inspired, Lesch and her students examined almost 20,000 photos of raccoons uploaded to iNaturalist. Out of those, they focused on 249 perfect side-profile images and made a lovely discovery: urban raccoons’ snouts were shorter than those of rural raccoons.
What shorter snouts (and human garbage) have to do with domestication
Urban raccoons have shorter snouts than rural ones, study shows. scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net
Shorter snouts are part of what scientists call “domestication syndrome,” a bundle of physical traits that tend to appear when a species becomes more comfortable living alongside humans. Floppy ears, white patches of fur, and generally calmer behavior all fall into this category.
For a species often nicknamed “trash panda,” it makes sense that their own personal domestication journey began with cozying up to our dumpsters, not their shortened snouts. This of course is not unique only to raccoons. It’s a strategy that wolves picked up a long time ago before they became dogs.
Trash, it seems, really is the “kickstarter” for domestication, as Lesch put it. “All [animals] have to do is endure our presence, not be aggressive, and then they can feast on anything we throw away.”
However, before you hop onto PetSmart looking for raccoon- specific chew toys, researchers emphasize that this pet-ification process would still be in its earliest stages, if it is happening at all. After all, raccoons are not pack animals like dogs or sheep. But they are adaptable, social, and remarkably clever…so no one is ruling it out entirely. Whether this leads to actual domestication is still unknown, but the early signs are intriguing.
People already want the raccoon adoption hotline number
Once the study hit social platforms, enthusiasm skyrocketed.
“All I heard is I'm gonna have a pet raccoon eventually,” one TikTok user wrote.
“I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE FOR THE RACCOON DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM,” said another.
And on Instagram, someone echoed, “Does anybody know when the raccoon distribution system goes live? I am very interested in this new pet.”
A future with floppy-eared trash pandas?
Lesch says the real excitement comes from observing what might be the beginning of a long evolutionary story. As she put it, “We get to explore this story while it is in its beginning stages.”
Of course, while we may long for the day when the phrase “good boy” applies not just to dogs but to the masked little neighbors raiding our bins at night, signs of their further domestication aren't entirely wholesome. For one thing, this behavior is a direct result of habitat loss, which isn't good. Furthermore, increased familiarity can put both animals and humans in harm's way. Overconfidence around people can also lead to higher chances of vehicle collisions or conflict if animals start expecting food near homes. Animals that adapt too closely to human environments can also disrupt local ecosystems by changing their feeding patterns or crowding out other species.
Point being: yes the possibility of living out one's Disney-coded fantasy of having a raccoon familiar is closer than ever. But in the end, the best thing we can do for them is protect the wildness that makes them so endlessly fascinating in the first place.