More flurry about the brave pioneer colonizing Devon at the moment. Isn’t that always the way? You work hard every day for familiar beavers that matter. And then some new beaver shows up and the world can’t seem to get enough of it! This from Scientific American:

First Wild Beaver in 800 Years Confirmed in England?

Few species recoveries have ever been as dramatic as that of the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber). Once overhunted to near extinction, only 1,200 beavers remained by the year 1900. Today, after more than a century of intense management and reintroductions, the beaver population stands at more than one million (pdf), which can now be found in almost every country in their historic range in Europe and Asia.

One notable exception to that recovery, so far, has been England, where beavers were all killed off more than 800 years ago (they disappeared from the rest of the U.K. around 1600). Although a few small groups of captive beavers live in England and there are plans to eventually reintroduce some of the furry rodents back into the wild, none live there naturally, on their own.

Until now.

John Platt wrote a fine article. (I of course made sure to write him about salmon extinction and beaver, which he responded to this morning). I wish Scientific American (is that an oxymoron?) would realize that the REAL BEAVER STORY is the fact that we’re worried about salmon, worried about drought, worried about climate change, and maniacally killing off the water-savers that could rescue us all.

Well I guess we should enjoy the excitement while it lasts.

Apparently some people are enjoying it too much:

‘Don’t scare off our rare beaver’

Farmer David Lawrence, who owns the land where the beaver was spotted, said the sighting could provide an unexpected boost for his camp site business.

“It’s definitely a novelty,” he added. “The Otter is very busy with wildlife, it’s already a beautiful place to come and this is just another great thing for visitors.”

But he politely requested that would-be beaver spotters refrain from searching the area in case they disturb the animal.

“The last thing we want to do is upset him and for him to move on,” he said. “We’re not sure how he’d react to seeing people, and having seen what his teeth have done to the trees it may be best to avoid him!”

That’s right. You saw what he did to that man in Belarus didn’t you? You want to be next? Then back the hell away!

I certainly have felt that way with our beavers at times, but what I have learned is that the more people watching and caring about beavers, the safer they get. There’s always someone on hand to scold folks who walk on the dam or stand to close. And in England with all those animal-lovin’ sorts, even the little old ladies will be fierce about it. I wouldn’t worry too much about this beaver being scared off if I were you.

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Yesterday the mailman brought 5 packages of beaver donations to our house! It was weirdly like Christmas, only much, much more beavery! I’d thought I’d share first a double gift from Paula at Owls and Friends in Wisconsin. Beaver-photographer Ann Siegal from Virginia showed me some amazing beaver earrings they had, so I wrote them our story. They answered very kindly and said they were all out of beavers – but they loved our story so much could they send gifts anyway? Guess what I said.

How pretty are these?

Thanks Owls & Friends! They will be sooooo popular! And speaking of owls, did you see that Stephen Colbert has been talking about Superb Owl week and had the President & CEO of Audubon on last night?

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Mystery of the beaver making himself a new home in the River Otter

You might expect to see an otter on the Devon river which bears the animal’s name, but not a beaver which has been extinct in this country for hundreds of years.

Now one has been spotted on the River Otter by an environmental scientist – and it’s thought to be the only beaver living wild in England.

But how did it get there? And is it alone, or have a family of beavers moved in to a quiet part of the river in South East Devon?

These are some of the questions which retired scientist Tom Buckley and local farmer David Lawrence have been trying to answer since they established that at least one beaver is now living in a part of the river near Ottery St Mary.

Regular readers of this website, (who apparently do not include any scientists in the United Kingdom will remember on January 9th I posted the update from the Devon Beaver Project, which is located in Cornwall about 25 miles away as the beaver swims from where this story takes place. The Otter River flows all the way to the ocean, and a beaver could make an easy transit from Exeter. Shh don’t tell them. It works better as a mystery. At least they’re interested and curious, which is more than I can say for lots of cities.

I first noticed a tree that had been damaged because I walk around that area every day – then I saw a few trees had been nibbled,” Mr Buckley went on. “For me it posed the question: could it have been a beaver, or was it some kids messing about?

“When I looked more closely it was clear the damage to the trees had been done by a beaver…”

After that Mr Buckley began mounting his special “trail-camera” – which automatically takes photographs when triggered by some substantial movement – at various locations around a small island in the river.

“What happens on David Lawrence’s land near Ottery St Mary is that the river divides to leave a bit of an island in the middle – and that’s the main area where we are seeing them. It’s where most of the trees have been laid down, not necessarily forming a dam, but it may be that this is the early stages.

Oh that is one happy beaver! An entire island to avoid humans and the only one of his kind to chew those trees in 400 years! He must be feeling a cross between Rip Van Winkle, and a kid locked up in a candy shop that is closed for the night! The story was picked up this morning by the BBC. Lucky him! For now, anyway.

Mr Buckley added: “It’s all very interesting – it’s early days yet but, as long as lots of people don’t go there and frighten the beaver away, he should be happy enough.

“What’s going to be really interesting is how it gets on with the other animals, like the otters which we see on the river.”

Take it from Martinez, the otters will be THRILLED that the beaver is there, digging holes and improving the bugs so that the fish are fatter and more plentiful. The beaver won’t mind the company. He has had 400 years all to himself.

And to get us all in the mood for the beaver festival which is a mere 7 months away, I’m going to start a new series highlighting something that was donated to us or the silent auction. This painting donated by the artist Lynn Bywaters of Connecticut arrived yesterday. One look should get everyone in the mood to bid early and often!