Homeless Beaver (to the tune of Drunken Sailor)
John Thompson

In '48 in Idaho
For houses the animals had to go.
They turned for help to a man named Elmo,
Fish and Game employee

Chorus:
What shall we do with a homeless beaver? x3
Throw him from an airplane!

Beavers, they move way too slow.
From Payette Lake they had to go.
Their leader was called Geronimo.
He was fine and brave and furry.

Elmo Heter was the man.
Elmo had a cunning plan.
I will do what no one else can,
Transplant all the beavers!

The beavers their demise were facin'.
They had to get to Chamberlain Basin.
Against the clock Elmo was racin'.
We must save the beavers!

He thought of parachutes, we don't know why,
To take the beavers through the sky.
A dumb idea, but worth a try.
A load of airborne beavers!

Elmo put them into boxes,
Boxes with automatic locks as
Would open when they hit the rockses.
Freedom for the beavers!

The beavers live there to this day,
They tell their tales, they have their say.
It is to Elmo that they pray,
The sky-god of the beavers!

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I'm not sure about the end of the second and start of the third lines in the next-to-last verse. Track 12 on the Cloudstreet CD "Clouded House". From the liner notes: "The headline said, 'In 1948, Idaho airlifted 76 beavers to a new habitat, dropping them via parachute.' A splendidly true story." Recording here.