I prefer canoes to kayaks for beaver defense purposes: greater freeboard tends to discourage beaver boarding parties, a single blade paddle is superior to the double blade as a rodent-swatter, and the kneeling or seated canoe posture provides better leverage and height advantage than the kayak's below-the-waterline seating. cdc says that woodchucks and beaver can be rabid, and beaver rights acivists suggest victim was asking for it in the Belarus Beaver Battle.