A wandering beaver from Hamilton, Canada found out the hard way that good fences – especially those made of iron – don't always make for good neighbors.
Like most wildlife, Beavers prefer to avoid people but it's often easier said than done, especially in rural or suburban areas. One particular (and rather chubby) Castor Canadensis found itself between a rock and a hard place, however, when an attempt to pass through a Hamilton homeowner's wrought iron fence resulted in a firmly stuck beaver and prompted a rescue call to Hamilton Animal Services.
The report by a Hamilton Animal Services staffer stated the adult beaver was “carrying excess fat from a long winter hibernation” but this isn't the case: beavers do NOT hibernate. In fact, the reason they build dams is to create a pool of deep water that won't freeze over the winter. Inside their cozy wood lodges, the formerly-busy beavers remain active and awake as usual, enjoying food they've collected and stored away over the previous summer and fall.
A post-hibernation beaver would likely be thin and scrawny after its long snooze as well. Not so this buck-toothed rodent! Yeah, we're fat-shaming beavers now, it has come to this. Sad.
Fear not, however, our beaver tail, er, tale has a happy ending. Hamilton Animal Services officer Sarah Mombourquette arrived at the scene equipped with soap to help the trapped beaver escape its time behind (or between) bars. The beaver sustained injuries during its ordeal and it's now recovering at the Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge in Jarvis, Ontario until it's ready to return to the wild.
