Wild beavers return to Britain after 400 years

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I recall a situation that the Patagonians in South America faced when beavers (not a native species) were introduced there to control some indigenous pest. Now the beavers are pests, and Canada is held to blame becasue we were the ones who made a gift of about eight breeding pairs of beavers. Now they are destroying some native habitat. This was a stupid idea--that the Patagonians initiated.

As for the reintroduced species, remember that beavers chew trees to make their dams. This could destroy newly planted trees and plug rivers/streams. In Canada we have lots of room for beavers but in the UK the land is scarce. If there is some way of limiting their habitat then it may work.

Good luck to them.

Someone was telling me that when they started tree planting in Scotland (because once it was all forested and then was deforested, so they were reforesting for some environmental reason), the deer ate the trees (yum, yum, fresh shoots!). And when they planted trees on islands offshore to keep the deer off, the deer would swim over and eat the trees. So now that perhaps some trees have survived the onslaught of deer, they have to deal with beaver, who will cut down much larger trees just for the exercise, as well as use portable trees to make their dams and lodges.

Perhaps they should stock up on heavy grade chicken wire to protect the trees they want to keep (light grade isn't strong enough - the beavers go right through it).

I'm sure this will be quite entertaining from a safe distance. My dad has beaver both on his tree farm and at the cottage - they're really energetic little rodents, and rather hard to keep up with. Very karmic for those who are control freaks.

beavers are cool