beavers

14 Stories

This Critter Hasn't Been Seen in London in 400 Years

Animals were hunted to extinction long ago, and now British capital is looking to improve biodiversity

(Newser) - Environmentalists and London's mayor have helped bring beavers back to the city for the first time in some 400 years in an effort to improve the British capital's biodiversity. As the AP reports, Mayor Sadiq Khan participated in releasing a family of beavers into a wetland area in...

Huge, Rabid Beaver Attacks Girl as She Swims

Her father beat the animal to death after Georgia attack

(Newser) - A young girl swimming in a Georgia lake was attacked by a rabid beaver Monday afternoon. The 55-pound animal bit her leg as she swam at Lake Lanier, USA Today reports. Her father "intervened and killed the beaver using blunt-force trauma," according to a statement from Hall County...

Internet Down for 'Uniquely Canadian' Reason

Beavers chewed through cable

(Newser) - About 900 customers in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, lost internet, cellphone, and cable TV service for nearly 12 hours over the weekend thanks to what a telecom company spokesperson refers to as a "uniquely Canadian turn of events." Namely, beavers. Some of the critters chewed through crucial fiber...

Beavers Return to Italy After 500 Years

The last known sighting was in 1471

(Newser) - Scientists checking a camera set up to observe otters in northern Italy were thrilled when another furry creature wandered into the frame—the first beaver seen in the country in centuries. The last recorded sighting of a beaver in Italy—where they were hunted for food in the Middle Ages...

Argentina Gears Up for War Against 100K Beavers

What started out as 10 beavers in the '40s turned into 'totally out of control' scenario

(Newser) - After World War II, Argentina decided to boost the local fur trade by dumping a smattering of beavers into the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. Now, 70 years later, local officials there are describing a "totally out of control" situation, with the free-to-roam rodents accused of decimating a region of...

Woman Viciously Attacked by Beaver on Beaver Lake

67-year-old Betsy Bent was paddle boarding

(Newser) - The irony of the situation likely wasn't lost on Betsy Bent, who while paddle boarding on North Carolina's Beaver Lake on Friday was attacked by a, yes, beaver. The 67-year-old describes her ordeal to the Asheville Citizen-Times , explaining that after she saw a splash, something swam under her...

Irate Beaver 'Takes Man Hostage'

Cops thought his call for help was a prank

(Newser) - A rogue beaver struck terror into the heart of a man making his way home late at night in the Latvian city of Daugavpils, according to a local newspaper report picked up by Latvian Public Broadcasting . The man, identified only as Sergei, says the beaver ran out of some bushes...

Uncovered: Historic Video of Parachuting Beavers

Yes, really

(Newser) - More than half a century after a group of beavers parachuted into the Idaho backcountry, officials have uncovered footage of the quirky wildlife management moment. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game was struggling with an overpopulation of beavers in some regions in the 1940s when wildlife managers settled on...

Hikers Learn Hard Way Not to Mess With Beaver Dams

2 men hospitalized in Oregon after beaver attack

(Newser) - For those still operating under the at-times very misguided notion that beavers are just busy little critters with eccentric tails: KBND reports that two men hiking along Oregon's Deschutes River this week came upon a beaver dam and decided to explore, ending in both being hospitalized after a resident...

New Climate Change Culprit: Beavers
 New Climate Change 
 Culprit: Beavers 
study says

New Climate Change Culprit: Beavers

Numbers are rising as dammed ponds release methane into atmosphere

(Newser) - We were just trying to help. Turns out the efforts of humankind to save beavers from extinction over the past century have had an eco-unfriendly side effect: The animals, whose population has rebounded, are contributing to climate change, researchers say at EurekAlert . Beaver dams create shallow ponds, which can host...

Beaver Savagely Attacks Kayaker

Man is recovering, but being treated for rabies just in case

(Newser) - More proof that beavers are scarier than sharks : A kayaker in Upstate New York was hospitalized after being attacked by a beaver in Irondequoit Creek last week. Michael Cavanaugh was knocked into the water when the beaver jumped out of the creek and started mauling him, biting him on his...

Love Vanilla? That's the Smell of Beaver Butt

 Love Vanilla? 
 That's the 
 Smell of 
 Beaver 
 Butt 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Love Vanilla? That's the Smell of Beaver Butt

An anal secretion is used to flavor foods, perfumes

(Newser) - Like vanilla ice cream? Don't read this—because the smell of a beaver's butt is key to at least some vanilla flavoring, Time reports. More specifically, beavers like to mark their territory with a musky, vanilla compound located in sacs between the pelvis and the base of the...

Man Tries to Take Photo of Beaver; It Kills Him


 Man Tries to 
 Take Photo 
 of Beaver; 
 It Kills Him 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Man Tries to Take Photo of Beaver; It Kills Him

Animal's bite severs artery in man's thigh

(Newser) - Forget sharks: It's beavers that are truly terrifying. A fisherman in Belarus was bitten to death by one, and all he was doing was trying to take its picture, Sky News reports. The man spotted the beaver while fishing with friends at Lake Shestakov, but as he approached to...

Scouts Stone Rabid Beaver to Death

Scoutmaster bitten 6 times in river attack

(Newser) - If they handed out merit badges for bravery during a beaver attack, the boys of Troop 32 would be first in line. One of the leaders of the upstate New York troop was swimming in the Delaware River when he was attacked by the rabid animal. "It came through...

14 Stories