Page 24 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #02

eeping up with farmer Chris Jones proves to carefully scanning the scene. I get the sense that he’s not Above: beavers
be trickier than I thought it would be when going to rest until he has found it. are well adapted
to a semi-aquatic
we set out. He’s still in shorts despite the Last summer this small farm, tucked away in a quiet
life, perfectly at
late autumn chill, and thanks to his trusty corner of mid-Cornwall, became the unlikely focus of home in a variety
walking stick one of his friends suggests that a frenzy of media attention. Local and national press of of freshwater
he bears more than a passing resemblance gathered to capture the moment when a single pair of habitats. They
employ their
Kto Christopher Robin from Winnie-the-Pooh. Eurasian beavers was released into a five-acre enclosure.
broad tail as a
A charming thought, but this Christopher has a surprising A small step for these two mammals, but a giant one for
rudder while
turn of speed that forces me to shape up, as we pick and the Cornwall Beaver Project. swimming.
squelch our way through ankle-deep mud.
Autumn is well underway and in the crisp mid-morning CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE
light I’m not expecting to see the animals I’ve come here to The beaver release programme at Woodland Valley Farm
learn about – they’re nocturnal after all – but there are plenty is the latest in a handful of schemes across the country,
of signs of them everywhere. Chris delights in pointing but this Cornish project has one very important difference.
out the gnawed branches, felled trees and saplings and, of Incredibly, for the first time ever, anywhere, scientists will be
course, the dams and ponds for which these creatures are able to gather crucial ‘before-and-after’ data to produce the
so well known. It’s clear that this is his passion project as he most detailed picture yet of how these ecosystem-engineers
ape their environment.
declares: “I can’t get enough of this. It’s like a drug!” influence and shape their environment.
wing body of evidence that beavers could
Then Chris lowers his voice and explains that, despite all There is a growing body of evidence that beavers could
ral allies as we try to turn the tide on a
of the beavers’ busyness, he has still seen no sign of their be powerful natural allies as we try to turn the tide on a
ord of man-made problems. Among the
hideaway, or lodge. “It’s a mystery!” he whispers, while whole smorgasbord of man-made problems. Among the

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BEAVERING AWAY SIGNS TO LOOK FOR STRIPPED BARK
The beaver’s primary food
source is bark, which is
effortlessly stripped off both
felled and standing trees with
Beaver(x2), lodge & canal: Nick Upton; Gillian, trees & dam: Nina Constable CHEWED TREES DAM around a behaviour known
the large, curved incisors.
This is often done
in characteristic rings,
as girdling.

Dams are constructed out of mud,
Distinctive pencil-shaped stumps
d,
stones, logs and branches. They
with 3–4mm wide toothmarks are
one of the most iconic signs of beaver
maintain a constant water level around
activity. Mature trees are felled to
the lodge for protection against
available for foraging.
younger trees are felled for food.
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24 create the bases of dams, while predators and increase the space e February 20188
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BBC Wildlife