UK First wild beaver living in England for 800 years believed spotted in Devon

wfgodot

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Wild beaver spotted in England for first time in 800 years. (Independent)
Rare sighting could mark return for the popular European mammal
The first wild beaver living in England for more than 800 years is believed to have been spotted by a woman walking her dogs in Devon.

Lorna Douglas, 35, was by the banks of the quite inappropriately-named River Otter near her home in Budleigh Salterton, when one of her dogs became interested in something in the water.
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Ms Douglas was able to identify the beaver by its large, distinctive tail, and experts confirmed that it was indeed one of the European variety, not seen living wild in England since before the 12th century.

The last wild beavers in the UK were in Scotland, but those were hunted to extinction in the 16th century. And while there are more than 600,000 of the creatures across Europe since they became a protected species in the 1920s, they have never been successfully reintroduced here – until now.

Ms Douglas said: “I’ve lived here for about 25 years and never even seen an otter, let alone a beaver. It seemed really friendly and swam in circles a few times before going back under a tree.”
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more, with a picture, at the link
 
Yep, that's a beaver all right.

If they are there now and not before, where did they wander off too? Wonder if a pond or something got drained where they were, so they returned.

We had a family at a park here. The parents were huge! They get big, big as a dog. The 3 babies were cute to watch. They would swim, do loopy circles in the water, down and around, slap their tails on the water, splash each other... They didn't mind us watching either. The only way to know you were close if you were not looking was the gnawed tree bases. They are for the most part quiet critters.

Then that part of the park had to be drained. Didn't see them again, but haven't been back for a few years since developing allergies. Guess they just go under water and travel that way to make a new home, don't know. Quicker than ground travel.

Hope someone gets as much joy out of them as I did.
 
Likely they migrated from other parts of europe. They can travel long distances to find a good place to live.

They are also somewhat territorial and there was recently a case of a man dying from blood loss from a beaver bite, so as cute as they are, keep your kids and dogs away.
 
I'd say this little customer traipsed down from Scotland where wild beavers were lately and successfully reintroduced to Britain.
 

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