Because I am a PBS Kids VIP (Very Involved Parent) I am often asked if I want to review additional PBS materials. If they are of interest to me I am excited to do so and in this case I wanted to learn more about Beavers. I was sent a copy of “Nature: Leave it to Beavers” to watch and review. Here’s what we thought of it and below that you will find the official press release about the DVD. Here is the trailer.

When the bulk of the programming that your kids watch is cartoons it is often a challenge to get them to check out something else. In the case of the DVD Nature: Leave it to Beavers we had to ask the kids a couple of times if they wanted to watch the show. I can understand being a little kid and giving up your cartoons to learn but we bribed them with some popcorn and they were good to go for the hour long show.

I think that we were all pleasantly surprised with how entertaining and informative this show was. You finish watching it and wonder why beavers are introduced into many more areas that are undergoing droughts. I was especially fascinated by the guy who played running water for the beavers and they began to build a dam in that very spot where the music was playing. I wonder how many radios he went through when researching that behavior.

The kids thought the beavers were cute and they learned a lot from the show. It was certainly something we wouldn’t have just picked if we weren’t offered it for review because those sorts of shows can be a bit dry. This was entertaining and compelling and made me certainly want to watch more from the Nature series.

“NATURE: LEAVE IT TO BEAVERS” EXPLORES NATURE’S GREATEST HYDRO-ENGINEERS

Available on DVD from PBS Distribution

Arlington, Va. – July 21, 2014 – PBS Distribution has released “NATURE: LEAVE IT TO BEAVERS” on DVD July 8. The beaver, more than any other animal, is responsible for creating fertile landscapes across North America, but it hasn’t gotten much recognition for that accomplishment until now. A growing number of scientists, conservationists and grass-roots environmentalists have come to regard beavers as overlooked tools in reversing the effects of global warming and world-wide water shortages. These industrious rodents are adept at controlling water and have been doing so for thousands of years. “LEAVE IT TO BEAVERS” tells the story of beavers in North America – their history, their near extinction, and their current comeback as modern day eco-heroes.

“LEAVE IT TO BEAVERS” is currently available on DVD. The run time of this program is approximately 60 minutes. The DVD SRP is $19.99. The program will also be available for digital download.

Millions of beavers once dominated the landscapes of Europe, Asia and North America. But when it was discovered that their fur made fantastic felt hats they were trapped to near extinction for the sake of fashion. It wasn’t until hats fell out of style that the population could slowly begin to recover and re-establish itself.

Yet as beavers reclaimed their ancestral ponds, they found themselves at odds with the humans who had moved in and developed the land in their absence. They gained a reputation as pests, the source of flooded properties and ruined roads, and were trapped and hunted all over again in an attempt to stop the damage. But it was a war the beavers continued to win, until a “beaver whisperer” in Canada came up with a plan to manipulate where the beavers built. It’s a win-win solution he plans to share with others who fight a losing war with beavers.

Beavers are devoted to their work as dam builders and they are born equipped and ready for the job. Their continuously growing, self-sharpening incisors strengthened with iron are the perfect tools of the trade. Not only do they help beavers fell the hundreds of trees they need to dam a river, they also come in handy for meals because beavers are vegetarians that gnaw through bark to eat the sugary layer underneath.

Every beaver family works together to build their dams of stone, logs and mud. They erect sturdy lodges with secret entrances and exits and excavate deep channels in ponds that help retain water in arid environments. And as they work, broad meadows, rich with silt, and new ponds are created.

By the 1990s, scientists began to notice and investigate the effects beavers were having on the landscape and to document the results. A dramatic example is what happened to Nevada’s Suzie Creek, transformed by beavers from a desert to a veritable garden supporting wildlife such as sandhill cranes and mule deer.

“LEAVE IT TO BEAVERS” introduces viewers to an animal rehab expert who teaches a rescued orphan beaver the skills he’ll need to survive in the wild, and to hairdresser Sherri Tippie, the top live trapper of the species in North America, who rescues unwanted beavers in the Denver suburbs and then places them with farmers and beaver enthusiasts who eagerly provide new homes for them. Whether displaced from their pond, now part of a new housing development, or singled out for gnawing on trees at a golf course, Tippie has relocated over 1,000 beavers to date and her chief priority remains to keep families together. According to Tippie, “We’re asking so much of these animals and we’re displacing them. They’ve moved into a place where they should be and we don’t want them there. So if we’re going to mess around with them then we need to treat them as well as possible and then put them at a place where they can live out their lives.”

Nature is a production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET. For Nature, Fred Kaufman is executive producer. “LEAVE IT TO BEAVERS” is a production of Dam Builders Productions Inc. in association with THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET.
Nature pioneered a television genre that is now widely emulated in the broadcast industry. Throughout its history, Nature has brought the natural world to millions of viewers. The series has been consistently among the most-watched primetime series on public television.

Nature has won over 700 honors from the television industry, the international wildlife film communities and environmental organizations, including 12 Emmys and three Peabodys. The series received two of wildlife film industry’s highest honors: the Christopher Parsons Outstanding Achievement Award given by the Wildscreen Festival and the Grand Teton Award given by the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. Recently, the International Wildlife Film Festival honored Nature executive producer Fred Kaufman with its Lifetime Achievement Award for Media.

PBS.org/nature is the award-winning web companion to Nature, featuring streaming episodes, filmmaker interviews, teacher’s guides and more.

Support for this Nature program was made possible in part by the Arnhold Family in memory of Clarisse Arnhold, the Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust, the Filomen M. D’Agostino Foundation, by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by the nation’s public television stations.

About WNET
As New York’s flagship public media provider and the parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21 and operator of NJTV, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to over 5 million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, Charlie Rose and a range of documentaries, children’s programs, and local news and cultural offerings available on air and online. Pioneers in educational programming, WNET has created such groundbreaking series as Get the Math, Oh Noah! and Cyberchase and provides tools for educators that bring compelling content to life in the classroom and at home. WNET highlights the tri-state’s unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Reel 13, NJTV News with Mike Schneider and MetroFocus, the multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. WNET is also a leader in connecting with viewers on emerging platforms, including the THIRTEEN Explore iPad App where users can stream PBS content for free.

About PBS Distribution
PBS Distribution is the leading media distributor for the public television community, both domestically and internationally, extending the reach of these programs beyond broadcast while generating revenue for the public television system and our production partners.

PBS Distribution offers a diverse range of programming to our customers, including Ken Burns’s films, documentaries from award-winning series such as NOVA, FRONTLINE, AMERICAN MASTERS, NATURE, and AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, dramas from MASTERPIECE, as well as films from independent producers and popular children’s programming. As a multi-channel distributor, PBS Distribution pursues wholesale/retail sales, consumer and educational sales through PBS-branded catalogs and online shops, and international broadcast and video sales. PBS Distribution is also a leader in offering programming through digital platforms including internet and mobile devices.

NATURE: LEAVE IT TO BEAVERS
Street Date: July 8, 2014
Genre: Nature
Run Time: Approximately 60 Minutes
SRP: $19.99
Format: DVD