Here at beaver central we’ve seen beavers and their dams blamed for many things: flooding, power outages, drowning fish, ruined hospital records, giardiasis and homicide. But we’ve never seen this:
Estonia faces cross-border beaver problem
Estonia wants to clear beaver dams from its border with Russia to prevent smugglers and other illegal activity.
The PPA is tendering for a contractor to undertake the work, saying that it’s necessary “due to reasons related to the guarding of the EU’s external border and the prevention of smuggling”.
There is a degree of difficulty to the task which involves the State Borders Act, meaning that trees reaching the border must be cut on the border line, or “from the Russian shoreline without setting foot on Russian land”, ERR says. Who gets custody of fallen trees will be determined by discussions with local Russian officials, and work cannot start on dam clearances until agreements are in place.
On average, 30 beaver dams are removed from the border every year.
Estonia says that the beaver dams are a problem from a national security point of view, especially when it comes to guarding the European Union’s eastern border with Russia.
The verb “to smuggle” means to move goods illegally into or out of a country. So a smuggler is someone who does that. Now I’m a fairly creative woman, I can imagine a lot of things: like talking beavers, flying popes and trails of bread crumbs. But as hard as I try I can’t really imagine how beaver dams aid smugglers. Are the goods floated in the pond and then pulled over the dam? Does a smuggler bury them under the sticks until the patrol guard leaves and then pull them free? Are weapons hidden in the beaver lodge, just waiting for the right moment to cross?
The article doesn’t have any answers unfortunately. So we’re left trying vainly to understand how beaver dams create international disruptions. Maybe you have an idea? Feel free to send it my way. I’ll be happy to share the most creative beaver smuggling stories!
Update: Robin of Napa and Bob of Georgia are both smarter than me. They had the very obvious thought that the dams were used as bridges to cross into the country. Obviously waterways are often borders and dams cross them. Duh! I guess my huge blind spot can be attributed to the fact that it would never enter my mind to commit the sacrilege of walking on a beaver dam.
A little funny from my niece this morning who definitely knows how science and beavers amuse me.
