A Beaver’s Tail

It was one of those crazy winter days that we had first been handed a lot of snow, only to be followed by at least three hours of freezing rain and then more snow. Two days later, a phone call came in about a beaver.

The night before, the young man had come home and he could see something lying in the yard, but he did not pay attention to what it was. In the morning, he was able to see that it was an animal. It was alive but it was not going anywhere.

On the phone, the young man told me he would try to put it in a dog crate, but I advised him to let me do that. When it is an animal that can do damage to a person, I would rather get the animal myself. A beaver can take a finger off in a heartbeat.

When I arrived, the young man had told me that he was unable to see the beaver in his yard anymore. Much to his surprise, when he opened his front door, the beaver was sitting right there! He stated he about had a heart attack and slammed the door, running through the house, out the garage door and into the drive. The beaver moved to the mulch around the shrubs by the front door stoop and proceeded to eat on the mulch.

I observed the beavers’ movements. He had an injured rear leg and head trauma.

The young man thought he had been struck by a car. After I managed to get him in a cage, I walked around the front yard. There was no sign of tracks up close to the road. He had not been hit by a car. I asked if there was a pond close by; the man said there was one all the way at the back of his property.

After following tracks quite a way, I discovered what had happened. I came across a large area where the snow had been packed down. There were both beaver and dog tracks in it. It was very evident that a fight had taken place.

The beaver had to leave his lodge, which was in the pond. It was completely covered with ice, including the blow hole. Air could not get in the lodge, so he had to come out.

The man was upset when I told him what I believed had happened. He has a large Labrador, who had wanted to go outside far more than normal the day before.

I brought the beaver home and re-hydrated him. He was much thinner than he should have been, and his coat was dull and lackluster. After several weeks, he was 100% and he had gained over five pounds; his coat was shiny and full of life.

It was time to take him home.

The young man could not believe the transformation. It was interesting to me because as soon as I pulled the cage from my car and placed it on the wagon to pull him all the way back to the pond, he knew where he was. He went right up on his haunches, put his head straight up and started sniffing. He was home and he knew it.

When I sat the cage on the ground and opened the door, he needed no coaxing; he came right out. He walked into the water and started eating, and then he came back out of the water and walked around the edge of the pond. He did this a couple of times. He finally waded out deep enough to swim, and when I called to the man that he just started swimming, I received a “thank you” by way of a beaver tail slap on the water.

That old fella would not have made it without a little help. The highest high in the world for me is when I get to see the animals go back where they belong.

No greater engineer around than a beaver.

Copyright 2017 Fran Kitchen

Operation Orphan Wildlife Rehabilitation, Inc. is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization and does not receive federal funding. We are supported entirely through private donations, memberships, and proceeds from our education programs. To Donate visit our website here.