By: Blonde Two
Header image borrowed from The Western Daily Press
There has been some good Devon news today; the wild beavers that are living in the River Otter (the first wild ones spotted in England for a very long time), have been declared free of tapeworm. This apparently means that they and their kits are now allowed to go back the their watery home, and do whatever it is that beavers do.
It tickled me and seemed a little bit Blonde, that we Devonshires have managed to have grow our beavers in a river called Otter.
That got me to wondering what other strange river/animal partnerships we might be able to find.
Would we discover swordfish in the River Axe?
Might there be oranges in the River Lemon?
And peaches in the Cherry Brook?
Maybe some Toads in the River Mole?
Could there be Bees in the O Brook?
Or Eddies in the River Sid?
Is it possible that the River Walkham is running?
Perhaps the River Dart is strolling?
Does the River Bray sometimes roar?
Is it true that the River Burn is freezing?
Or that the cattle in the Cowsic are actually healthy?
Whatever the truth is about our rivers, the beavers have proved that there are surprises to be found. We Blondes will have to keep our eyes open!
I crossed the outflow of the river Otter on the South West Coast Path last summer but saw no otters never mind beavers. Watch out if you have wooden tent poles.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lao0j48cir7z3bd/P1000677.jpg?dl=0
The beavers here on the Otter were not declared free of tapeworm – tapeworm can be killed by a simple worming tablet because it lives in the gut. One beaver in a private collection near here was found post mortem to be infected with echinococcus multilocularis, a nasty little parasite that creates a cyst in the brain, lungs or liver. In humans it can be present in the liver unnoticed for 10 years or so, by which time it has done a lot of damage. The prognosis is not good. It is transferred to humans via dogs, who get it by mouth for example, they may roll in beaver dung and lick it off their coats. They have been declared free of that parasite.
Beavers do produce good conditions for many amphibians and insects, but they also do vast amounts of damage to trees and can cause flooding by blocking streams to make unwanted pools – it is not all a good story.