The Animals on Canadian Coins, From Beaver to Bear

Have you ever wondered why Canada has a beaver on the nickel, a caribou on the quarter, a loon on the loonie, and a polar bear on the toonie?

In this episode, we talk about some of Canada's most iconic animals, share funny personal stories, explain where the words loonie and toonie come from, and share plenty of natural English vocabulary along the way.

You'll learn why beavers are more dignified than they might first seem, why the loon's call is considered both beautiful and a little spooky, and which animal each of us thinks should appear on Canada's next coin!

As always, expect natural Canadian English, lots of laughter, and a few moments where we admit we definitely aren't biologists.

🎧 Perfect for intermediate and advanced English learners who want to improve their listening while learning about Canadian culture.

What animal would you put on a Canadian coin? Let us know!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

It goes like this. Nailed it. Okay, somebody please look up a loon call and see just how off that was.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Hello, Eepers.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome to another episode of Extra English Podcast with Misha and Larissa. We are two Canadian English teachers talking about life in Canada, our lives, and anything else that might interest us. And hopefully will interest you too. So join us for another conversation.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

Today we're gonna talk about some classic Canadian animals. The ones you can find on our money, on our coins. Yeah. That's exciting. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

I mean, they've gotta be classic Canadian if they've made it onto currency. I mean, they're famous. There's something, something special about them. Well done, creatures.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

You made it the big time.

SPEAKER_00 0:59

Let's start with the nickel five cent coin. Yes. Five cent coin has a beaver.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Yes, which is a classic Canadian symbol for sure. Yeah, absolutely. And common. It I don't know about all parts. Have you seen a beaver? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, I have a good story about a beaver. Let's hear it. So one year my family and I were camping, as we've discussed in a previous episode. So we're like sort of more north in Ontario, in the backwoods, away from people. And my dad and my nephew, I think this is how it started, went canoeing in the morning to go fishing. And where we are camping, there was kind of like a little tiny dip in the coastline. So a little like cove, I guess you could call it. And they were just paddle, you know, paddling around there a little bit in the canoe. And then this beaver shows up and he slapped his tail. So a beaver is like a, they look kind of rodent-y. I guess they're technically a rodent. They swim. I don't know. Can rodents swim? A muskrat swims. Oh. And I feel like a muskrat's definitely a rodent. We don't know. We're not scientists, biologists. Anyway, a beaver looks rodent-ish. It's got brown fur, but it has a big tail that's like leathery and paddle-shaped. And flat. Flat. Yeah. So it smacked its its tail on the water, made a really loud sound, startled all of us, because it didn't like them in there. So it was mad. Wow. Or scared. And was trying to chase them off. Wow. So it made that sound a couple of times. And so they eventually left. He he must have a home in there somewhere. Yes. So then later in the day, first of all, we watched that beaver then. He sat on the shore opposite us, like just a little distance away, and we watched him. And at one point he was kind of like wiping his fur over and over with his little paws. And then I learned, my dad explained to me, that a beaver has like a gland that secretes a oily like substance that the beaver then applies to its fur that creates a bit of like water resistance.

unknown 3:03

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

Isn't that interesting? Yes. So we watched him sit on the shore and like oil himself up. Amazing. Yes. And then later in the day, my dad and I got back in the canoe and went back in that little cove. We wanted to see if we could find his home, which would be underwater. So we were being nosy, poking about, seeing what we could see. We didn't see the beaver, so we're like, okay, he's gone off to do something. And we were kind of like chuckling about how we're being a little rude. Uh-huh. And then we turn our canoe around. When we've given up, we turn around. There's the beaver. He's just like sitting at the mouth of the cove, just above the water, just giving us like the beaver death chair. So I imagine. He did not like us being there. Well, you knew he wouldn't. I know we were definitely being not good guests on his land. Anyway, we didn't find his home, so we didn't disturb it, and we we got out of his way, but it was just funny. Also, I think as humans, we like to apply a lot of human emotion to animals. Yes. So I felt like he was really annoyed at us. I I'm sure he didn't like us there. I'm sure he didn't.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Does he feel annoyance? I don't know. I mean, you keep calling him he, but in my mind, it's a she protecting her family.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

I guess it could have been. I don't know if you can, I don't know how you tell me. Well, we don't know. Not biologists. Although we weren't that close. Yeah, it might have been. Maybe there were baby beavers.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

If if you can imagine it as a male beaver, I can imagine it as a female beaver. We're just mixing it all up.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

50-50. We don't know the beaver's name, makes it harder to guess. Anyway, we often see beavers, but usually you see them at a distance swimming.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Yeah. Have you seen one? I have. Um again, like just like poking its head out or doing its thing. And I've like seen it in Ontario. I've also seen a beaver in Alberta.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Oh, so maybe they're across most of the southern part of the country then.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Well. It wasn't very southern where it was. But anyway.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

Well, I'm thinking like, are they in Nunavut? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

Probably not in the frozen lands. That's what I'm saying. Yeah. Um, and sometimes you can see their dams. So they burn.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Sometimes they're over.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Sorry. Yeah. Go ahead. Overwater, that's it. They're overwater. Sometimes they are in the air. Yes. And more the more than seeing beavers, I've seen evidence of beavers. Me too. Much more. So what does evidence of beavers look like?

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Well, sometimes you might see a tree that's been stripped of all its bark because they eat something there. I think. Probably. Also, you might see a tree that's been chewed off all the way around, little tooth marks on it. Or you might find the piece that's been floated to the bottom.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

And sometimes it's like it's a peak, right? Like they'll chew it. I think they'll chew it all the way through and then finally it'll fall and they take it and use it. Yeah. But then you can see like this almost like a pencil?

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Yeah. Exactly. Like the top of a pencil. Totally.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Yeah. Beavers. Or you might see, like you've seen a dam. What did that look like? Just it looked like a whole lot of sticks.

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

And I couldn't, I couldn't tell. Like it could have been that the the wind and like it was just kind of it didn't, I couldn't see the the form or the intention in it. Yeah. There was. I'm sure there was. I just with my untrained eye. Your human eye. I feel like if I trained it, I probably could. I'm sure.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

You so they beavers will like at a small part in the water, like a little where the water narrows, they'll pack a lot of probably mud and sticks to make a dam. So the water gets stuck. So the water builds up and they have a little home. But the entrance is underneath. So I don't think you see the beavers easily because they're swimming in under the water.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

And also, I I believe this is how we as humans learn to make dams. Yeah, I'm sure. Right? We looked at we watched the we watched the beavers do their thing and thought, that's very clever. Great idea. We can do that too.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

This is why we also have waxed cloth. It's like the beavers a little water-resistant oil.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

You can learn a lot from nature. Totally. Okay, the next coin that has an animal is the quarter. And if you look at a quarter, you might think it's a moose. Yes. It's not a moose. No. It's a caribou.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

And a caribou is like a deer or a moose. Same family. I don't know what that family of animals is called either.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

You want the Latin? Like scientific?

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Well, I mean, like the beaver's a rodent. Maybe.

unknown 7:51

Maybe.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

The caribou is the cloven hoof family. Anyway, I know enough to know that they're similar to a deer or a moose. They have antlers, which are like the big hard tree branch-looking things that grow out of the head. Yep. Which are very useful. I think they fight the male, the male caribou's fight with those. Each other. And also, I'm sure would for a human if it made itself fightable.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Other predators. Yes, other predators. They're for protection. Yeah. And for showing off their like and for like getting a good mate, probably. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

You might not see this if you're not watching the video, but Larissa's doing a little shoulder movement.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Shoulder strut.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

The shoulder show-off.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

I just I just imagine that like the caribou's like, listen, there's a nice looking caribou over there, and I'm gonna impress her by fighting with this one.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Yeah, I I think that probably happens. So we don't know because we didn't do research, but those that's what we guess about caribou life.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Anyway, this is the fun fact that you can take with you. The animal on the quarter is not a moose. It's not.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

No.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Although there are many moose in Canada. Oh, other fun fact the plural of moose is moose.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Yeah. English. Am I right? Which is unpredictable. One moose, two moose. Yep. You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

Okay, so then moving up, we come to the loony. Okay. This coin, this is the $1 coin that didn't exist when we were children. No, it did not. They just invented it. They just created it in 97-ish. 90-something for sure. Yeah, late 90s. Yeah. And it has a loon on it. Yes. And if you have a keen eye, you might have spotted a loon already in our video. If you're listening, sorry, that was awful.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

That was you're you're out of luck, but we'll post a picture of it somewhere. I have a it's not finished. Half-finished embroidery. I like to embroider. So this is a half-finished embroidery of a loon in our background here.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

And this looks great. So that's a loon. It's a bird. Yeah. It's a bird that swims. It's a water bird. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Black and white. They're beautiful. They're beautiful. Yeah. And they're quite large for birds here. They're larger. I think you I've always seen them at a distance. Yes. So they don't look large, but I think actually they're quite large.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

The cool thing about a loon is that you'll see it pop up. And then it'll dive underwater and it'll swim really far. Really far. And then it'll pop back up. Yeah. But like you have to be watching for it. And sometimes like it's so long and you think, oh no, I've lost the loon. And then there it is. Bam, it pops up again.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Yeah, they're really cool.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

And the loon has a very distinctive sound.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Yeah, that's really the best part about it. Do you want to try to make it?

SPEAKER_00 10:35

I'm going to try. It goes like this. Nailed it.

unknown 10:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Somebody please look up a loon call and see just how off that was.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

You got the gist of it. It's like a, you know, undulating sound goes up. You don't want to go down and down. No, no. But do you I don't want to try. But people here often make, and I can't do it, so I'm sorry. I'm going to tell you about something, but I can't demonstrate. They cup their hands together and put their thumbs side by side and then blow, put their mouth on the knuckle of the thumb. Okay. And you blow into your cupped hands. Yeah, I can't do it. But how do you get the hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo part? You flutter your thumbs. I'm pretty sure. No, no. The back of your hand. The hand that's cupping the back. So we can't do it, but it's a thing, and kids like to try to make the loon sound with your hands. So if you know a Canadian, ask them, can they make the loon sound with their hands?

SPEAKER_00 11:38

And if they can't, ask them if they can make it with their voice, like Larissa.

unknown 11:41

Woo!

SPEAKER_01 11:44

People would often say the sound of the loon is kind of haunting or eerie. Yeah. And you hear it a lot at night. So if you go camping, all night long you'll hear on and off little loon sounds.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

And because they're on the water, the sound carries. So it's probably not that loud, but it feels loud. Feels loud.

SPEAKER_01 12:05

Yeah. And they have that kind of that sound Larissa was making, and then kind of a longer sound. Oh. Like a like a I can't make it. Just Google. Loon sound. Because it's really, it's a such a beautiful sound. It is. But if you hear it at night and you didn't know what it was, yeah, you'd be like what's going on?

SPEAKER_00 12:22

It's friendly. It's a friendly creature. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

We decided that our loon impression wasn't quite enough. So here is a recording of a real loon.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

And the loony, the one dollar coin is called the loony because of the loon. When it first came out, I think it was kind of a joke. People were joking. It's the loony, it's the one dollar coin. And then it stuck.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

It's stuck. Because loony, if you used it to describe a person, you're you're saying they're crazy. Insulting. It's insulting. It's an insult. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

L-O-O-N-Y, probably.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Probably.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

This one is L-O-O-N-I-E, the loony coin. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, I think probably people made fun of us when we doubled down. We kept it. Yep. But it gets better.

SPEAKER_01 13:32

Well, but wait, I want to say one more thing about the loon before we move on. Because I've just learned this. Oh, I want to know. Because I watched this, uh, I follow this woman on Instagram who farms in Ontario, and she found a wounded loon.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

That's that's fun to say. A wounded loon.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

And she rescued it, but then she learned afterwards that loons actually are quite dangerous if you're close because they have a very not very, but I they have a long, strong beak. Well, for fishing, I laugh. For fishing. And they go for the eyes if threatened. Oh. So they can, so just word of caution. You're never gonna be close enough to a loon. I mean, she was. Well, she was. It's very rare. But yes, I've never in my life, I've seen loons hundreds of times. I've never been close to a loon. But if you ever are, stay away because they can be very dangerous.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Far more scared of a goose than a loon.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Well, because we see geese all the time. We're not talking about the Canada goose this episode. He's out. He didn't didn't make the list. Can you imagine?

SPEAKER_00 14:35

There'd be revolt if he if we put him on a coin.

SPEAKER_01 14:37

The goose. Oh my gosh, it would be so the loon is is beautiful, but also because it's always at a distance. Yeah. It increases its track.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

So we can only imagine beautiful things about it. I don't want to know that it will poke my eyes out, Misha. I know, I'm sorry. But uh in case you run into one. Yeah, it's good.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Anyway, Larissa was saying the loony is a funny name.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Yes. But it continues. It gets even better because then a few years later, maybe not a few years, it it was a bit of time. Yeah. They came out with a two-dollar coin because of the success of the one dollar coin. And so people joked, haha, we're gonna call it a toonie. We did. That's what it's called. T-W-O-N-I-E. Toonie. No, T-O-O-N-I-E. I think double O. Double O, yes, of course. Yeah. It's a play on the words to knee T W O, but it's T-O-O-N-I-E, of course.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

To rhyme with loony, the loony and the toonie.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

Looney Toonie. Seriously? Our money?

SPEAKER_01 15:32

I haven't heard it said in a row that would really funny.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

I mean, already our our money is very colorful, and so that gets a bit of flack. And now we're introducing a loony and a toonie. But listen, we love it. We're proud of our loony and our toonie.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Canadian humor is really our national humor is self-deprecating. Yes. Right? We like to like make fun of our politicians a little bit. We're laughing about our money. We don't take that kind of national pride stuff so seriously.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Until it's threatened. Well, that is a topic for another day. Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Let's talk about what animal is on the toonie. The toonie has the polar bear. Polar bear. Which Larissa and I have never seen. No. I mean at a zoo. Yes. At a zoo. And in nature shows. Oh, like what do you mean?

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Oh, like on TV.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

On TV.

unknown 16:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

They're very photogenic, I feel like. They're so beautiful. They're beautiful. But really dangerous. Oh, yeah. They're the only bear, to my understanding, in Canada at least, that would like eat a human for food. Because I think a grizzly bear might kill you. But I don't think it's a good idea. Also not awesome. Yeah, not great. Listen, if a bear's gonna eat me, if a bear's gonna kill me, I'd rather they eat me. That's what I'm saying. Don't don't just waste my life for nothing. No, I'm not saying that. Please don't come for me, polar bears. But a polar bear, if you live in the part of Canada where there are polar bears, which is much further north than we are, yes, they're dangerous.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

They're dangerous. But also if you live there, you know that. Yeah, honestly. And you have you have all sorts of cultural knowledge that we could benefit from. And they're not getting in the way of a polar bear. No, probably not. Probably. Anyway, that's the toonie. That's the toonie, yes. So yeah. It's it is surprising. Like some of the more common animals that we see didn't make it on money.

SPEAKER_01 17:31

I mean, I think to make it on the coin, you have to be common. Well, I was gonna say and somewhat regal, but actually I feel like a beaver. It's a rodent.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

But but the beaver has a lot of characteristics associated with it that are beautiful. Like it's known for its um like collectivity, cleverness, it's um when you stick to something, determination, thank you, there's the word ingenuity, like figuring out new ways of doing things.

SPEAKER_01 18:01

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

If you were ever tasked with coming up with a new coin, yeah, what animal would you put on it? What would you put on it? What would you recommend?

SPEAKER_01 18:12

Well, I feel like, oh, I was gonna say we need a bird, but the loon's a bird. I mean, tough choice. What's like a maybe a wolf? Oh regal. Yes. Right? Very romanticized the wolf. I feel like people love the image of the wolf. There's lots of beautiful imagery, yeah. And that's a common there. I haven't seen a wolf. I hear coyotes a lot. Yeah, yeah. I don't think they're as cool. So I'd choose wolf. What about you? Squirrel. Squirrel. Because it's ubiquitous. Yeah, but then in that case, let's put the goose on. But you don't want the girl of the ones. I don't want the goose.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

No, I actually don't want the squirrel on it. No, you don't. No, I don't. No. It is like the tail, the squirrel of a tail, the tail of a squirrel.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Is beautiful. I I don't hate a squirrel, and actually, I think it would look cute. A profile squirrel image is a cute image.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

I feel like when I made a book for your son, I put a squirrel in it because it's cute. You did? Yeah. We should talk about that sometime.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

He likes that book. Yes, it is a cute animal. It's cute.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

It's okay. I'm gonna stick with it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

Stick to your stick to your initial choice.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Oh, but can I say something about the squirrel? Yeah. The squirrels are different across the country.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Yes, different kinds of squirrels.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Because when I was in Edmonton visiting my family, I saw a squirrel and I thought it was a chipmunk because it was teeny tiny. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

But here, like we got giant squirrels. Well, also, these are city squirrels. We're talking. As we have also mentioned before, the squirrels are always feasting out of the garbage bag. Yeah, they well, they're fat. Jolly.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

But those were city squirrels too, and they were just teeny. Maybe they have better garbage systems.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

I was thinking, are there bears? Is the garbage really locked up?

SPEAKER_00 20:05

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

I don't know. But also, I'm sure there are different, like there's red squirrels, flying squirrels. There are different kinds. Yeah. True. I heard about a white squirrel. Oh, yeah, there was one around here.

unknown 20:16

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

Yeah, a friend of mine showed me a picture of like an albino squirrel, a squirrel without pigment. So he was white. I mean, was it a fluke that you heard about or like a whole species? No, a species.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

And there's like they're one little place, like they're the the the city is like, we're the home of the white squirrel. I gotta look that up again.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Research. Aepers. Help us out. Where do the white squirrels live? Also, is species the right word there? Because I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Animal. If you are a biologist, we apologize from the bottom of our hearts for the ways we have offended you in this episode.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

We don't claim to be educated on anything other than English. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Even then I spelled Toonie wrong. So like sometimes educated. We would like to share with you that everybody is flawed and you can make mistakes, and that's a beautiful part of learning and growing.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

Plus, I feel like we might learn more about these animals through corrections to this episode.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

I hope so. Please, please correct us. Please teach us. We want to know. Yeah. We just are lazy.

unknown 21:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

No, we have other priorities. There it is. There it is. Much better way of putting it. Yeah. Anyway, thanks for listening.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

Please teach us about the Canadian animals. And let us know what animal you would put on your coin.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

Yes. And do you think the squirrel's such a bad idea?

SPEAKER_01 21:44

Talk to you soon. Find you can let us know those things by finding us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, all the options.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

We're everywhere. We're everywhere like the squirrels.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

Okay, I'm coming around.