Verena Andermatt Conley

"The War against the Beavers is a wry and funny account of two people's ten-year apprenticeship in backwoods living, from their arrival as literal babes in the woods to their education in the ways of nature as they face plagues of insects, fungus, storms and droughts, and embark on a lengthy campaign to eradicate a colony of beavers that threatens the peace and beauty of their forest refuge." "Juxtaposing idyllic descriptions - hiking and cross-country skiing, swimming and canoeing in clear waters, harvesting berries and wild rice - with the intensive labor of maintaining a wilderness homestead, Conley draws a beguiling picture of the ups and downs of backwoods living. Having come to the North Woods to escape the rigors of modern life, the couple finds instead that their beliefs about animals, humans, and nature are tested. They emerge from the experience with a hard-won wisdom and a new and deeper understanding of the ever-changing character of wilderness."--Jacket.