In the wake of the recent beavermentary I thought I’d would baste you in the afterglow of some other beaver triumphs. First in Scotland where the historic Knapdale trial has been called a resounding success.

Scotland wild beaver reintroduction trial ‘an outstanding success’

The reintroduction of beavers to the wild in Scotland for the first time in 400 years has been an “outstanding success”, according to the team of ecologists that brought them back.

The four pairs of beavers reintroduced in Knapdale five years ago have produced 14 young, engineered 18-metre-long dams and lodges the size of double garages and significantly boosted tourism.

Monitoring of the UK’s first ever licenced mammal reintroduction programme finishes at the end of May, after five years evaluating the impact of the species on the local environment and the potential to attract tourism. The results will be presented to Holyrood, which will make a decision on the future of beavers in Scotland next year.

Simon Jones, project manager of the Scottish Beaver Trial, said the project had been an “outstanding success” that provided an opportunity to study the ecology and biology of an animal that has not been seen in Scotland for more than 400 years.

Return of beavers to Scotland a success

“The Scottish Beaver Trial is the most exciting and groundbreaking wildlife project that I have worked on in my 15-year career within nature conservation,” states manager Simon Jones on the project’s website .

It’s worth emphasizing this is a *re*introduction.

Fast forward to recent times, and ecologists realized that the loss of the beaver was, truly, a loss. Because it had once occupied an ecological niche, its absence left a vacuum. Wetlands (and their associated creatures) that once relied on the engineering prowess of the beaver no longer had fresh dams flooding new areas. The beaver had played an important role.

The solution then, was logical. Go find some beavers and bring them back to Scotland.

Since then, there’s been a lot of research to assess just how well the beavers have been doing – and how well Knapdale Forest has responded to their presence. The answer on both fronts: Just fine.

It’s all been awesome and wonderful to have so many scientists saying aloud the things we say every day. And the free beavers in Scotland probably wouldn’t have been safe without the legit beaver trial to balance them. I can’t believe I’ve been in the ‘beaver biz’ for so long that I remember being excited when this trial started! Remember we had children place their clay beavers of the map of Scotland during the procession at the 2nd ever festival. I know you’re busy, but you have to watch the video made in 2009 if just to see HOW SMALL the festival was. I can’t believe how much open space we used to have! (Oh and take a moment to fondly remember GTK who filmed this for us and died a few years ago.) (Thanks George)

Wow. I am very, very old. And so are our beavers.

Moving right along, here’s a refreshing headline you don’t see every day, from Missouri.

Beavers have built a dam on an eroding earthen dam in Jefferson County. This photo shows the beaver dam built on top of the eroding earthen dam. (Festus Rural Fire Protection District)

Beaver dam keeping earthen Jefferson County dam from failing, officials say

A beaver dam was just about the only thing keeping an earthen dam on a Jefferson County lake from failing Friday night, and more than 40 homes were under a voluntary evacuation.

The dam is on a six-acre lake on 100 acres of rural, private property just south of Hillsboro and north of De Soto, between Highway 21 and Castle Rock Road.

A resident noticed the issue late Friday afternoon and notified authorities. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources, police and fire officials were at the scene.

“We’ve had scares in the past, but it’s the first time we’ve had an issue of this magnitude,” said Warren Robinson, director of emergency management of Jefferson County.

“We’re just trying to err on the side of caution here, but DNR advised us this dam can go at any minute. The only thing holding this water in right now is a beaver dam.”

It’s nice to see people grateful to a beaver dam for a change. Maybe we should take a photo of this moment to remember it by. I don’t know about you all, but I’m feeling kinda biblical.

Beavers are born to bite wood, not people

May 2013 by Simon Jones

The headline “beaver kills man” is not one you will see very often. It appeared recently after a wild beaver attacked and killed an angler in Belarus – an event that is both tragic and highly unusual.

Beavers are shy, nocturnal rodents, ungainly on land, that avoid immediate threats from natural predators or humans by quickly entering the water and swimming or diving to safety. If this means of escape is not open to a beaver and it is cornered, then, like many wild animals, it will attempt to frighten off its attacker or defend itself or its young with a sudden lunge and bite.

Beavers are herbivores that often feed on woody plants, so they have evolved powerful jaws and incisor teeth that can inflict deep puncture wounds should a person get too close to a stressed animal.

If accurate, the story from Belarus suggests that the beaver was cornered and fell back on its last line of defence, with fatal consequences for the man who approached it, reportedly to take a photo.

The world has become so entirely insane over the repeated Belarus story that this tepid defense from the leader of the woefully bureaucracy-laden Scottish beaver trial looks like something from a modern day Robert the Bruce – swinging into battle over the moors to defend his highland trial. No he never mentions that the story is a rerun and was exhaustively reported 6 weeks ago , and yes he inexplicably omits the part about the fisherman trying to pick UP the beaver for the photo. But any port in a storm, right?

Benefits of beavers

For the beaver, the last few decades have been a success story as ecologists increasingly recognise the benefits they can bring. Over-hunted for their high-value fur, both species of this tubby, spaniel-sized mammal were driven to the verge of extinction in many areas by the 19th century. However, the late 20th and early 21st centuries have seen a remarkable reversal in fortunes. Legal protection and numerous reintroduction schemes have allowed populations to rise dramatically in much, but not all, of their former ranges.

Beavers are a keystone species: the dams they build and the ponds they create help to improve biodiversity, because they provide the conditions for many other wetland species to flourish. Beaver dams can also trap sediment, pollutants and regulate water flow at times of flood or drought.

I’ve corresponded with Simon in the past about the illicit Tay beavers that refused to die and mucked things up for the proper beaver channels. His heart is in the right place but his head might be weighed down by suffocating meetings and research I think. I know one attendee sent him photos of our beaver festival a few years back but he apparently wasn’t tempted to try one of his own! I’m glad someone respectable wrote a hearty response to combat the increasingly terrifying headlines. (Yesterday I read ‘residents on edge as beaver population grows.’) But the well-meaning article goes on to make the apparently necessary effort to soothe folks by promising that if beavers create problems we can always kill them later. Which is an argument that never sits well with me.

In the longer term, culling and hunting to control populations are also important for ensuring that people and beavers can coexist. This can be a sensitive issue in countries where the animal is officially protected and there is public opposition to culling.

Yes, there is.

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Oh and in case you don’t recognize that beaming face behind all those medals, that’s Ian Timothy our beaver friend from Kentucky at his last EVER trip to Carnegie hall for the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards National Ceremony. Day Shift won another gold, his entire portfolio of won a silver. He has been a winner every year for four years. He’ll be too old to enter again next year.