Beaver Armageddon? Really?

I will start and end this blog with a few questions. How many of you have consoled yourselves with the thought "it's only nature" when seeing Laddie or Lassie taking a fish? I can guarantee less than 1% give a hoot about the fish, as it's "only nature"!

How many of you have squirmed at seeing pictures of Sparrowhawks plucking live birds and eating them as they were still breathing but still thought, hey, " it's only nature at work"? Keep that thought.

At the weekend I met a few people whilst on a walk. The first couple engaged me in a discussion about beavers (adult carrying sweet cicely)

as they were pondering this particular tree......

....the husband came out with the words "this is an abomination, the animals are destroying the trees, before long there will be no trees left, it's a natural Armageddon". Now, I'm not always one to bite my tongue but I did hold my breath and counted to 10, possibly 20, and Just as I was about to retort, a group of 4 joined the discussion. The two elderly blokes wouldn't believe me when I informed them that these particular trees would regrow, "no" they insisted, "they are f*cked, they won't regrow in my lifetime". I asked, cheekily, if he was terminally ill and was going to step off this mortal coil in the next 2-3 years (really bad, I know, sorry). Anyway, I was met with a blank look from both the senior gentlemen and a grunt of derision. The ladies on the other hand asked the appropriate question, "what do you mean? surely these trees won't regrow?" I replied in the affirmative and went on to explain various things about beavers, sheep, cattle, deer and trees. Apologies if I've now lost you but I will try to explain.

Let's think abut this with an open mind and a nod to nature. Let us go back, say a thousand years. I can hear the sighs already, but please stick with me here. So, a thousand years ago our planet wasn't as heavily farmed as it is now, and riparian edges rarely had any big trees beside it due to the beavers. These edges would have been in the form of a pyramid, with open spaces and relatively small brush with ever increasing sizes and species appearing the further away from the river you went. This not only held the river bank's integrity in place it are also gave a variety of habitats for a multitude of fauna and flora. As you will also recognise is the fact trees and beavers evolved together over millenia. The modern day beaver has been on the go in its current form for well over 10,000 years, since the last ice age in fact if not longer.

Let us skip forward 600 or so years and the beavers have been hunted to extinction in the UK, mainly for fashion in the form of hats!!!! This obviously gave the trees respite to grow in places they normally would have been "naturally selected" to fail. It was not long after this that estate and landowners discovered they would rather have cattle, sheep and deer on their land rather than tenants (Highland clearances, etc.). So, we now have new farming practices and land use coming to the fore for various reasons but the one goal, money at natures expense. The animals now on the land don't coppice the trees, they nibble the young sapplings right to the

deck killing them outright. There is no visible or tangible evidence of this compared to the beaver workings. I have witnessed first hand the beavers actually eating the new regrowth of the willows and other river trees, I have also realised they are taking less big trees now they have areas for their preferred summer food to grow. The majority are brilliant for bees, insects, butterflies and other pollinators, which in turn pollinate the farmers yield. These creatures by the river attract predators such as amphibians, fish, mice and birds; which in turn attract top predators such as raptors, kingfishers, heron, foxes, otters etc. Not all bad eh? Simples!!!

Enough of the basics, tfft I hear you say. Hear are a few pics of my recent wanderings around a couple of beaver sites.

First up is this ever-growing "typical" lodge on a loch

This structure doesn't just house the beavers, it's a home for a multitude of creatures, fauna AND flora. Rotting wood in a damp environment attracts fungi, beetles and other Invertebrates. The channels they dig (below) offer areas for amphibians to lay their spawn

So, let us have a look at the river fauna that is thriving in an area that has no sheep or cattle.

Sweet cicely and wild garlic, the beavers favoured foods in the late spring/early summer.

Sweet cicely (below) has a strong smell of anise and has a history of use as a medicinal herb.

Wild garlic, although being poisonous to humans in large quantities, also has medicinal properties.

Add these plants properties to the willows properties of salicylic acid (natures aspirin) , poisonous or not, are all held within the beavers castor sacs. These (castor sacs) were cultivated from beaver corpses for either drinking (yuch, it stinks) or drying and eating (yuch, it really does stink bad)

On the subject of wild garlic, you can see in the next pic where the beaver has dragged its BFA up the banking to forage on not only wild garlic leaves but the bulbs as well.

First up, it's "all about the bass"! You can see where the beastie has dragged his/her BFA from the river

Next a bit of browsing on the leaves

And a bit houking for garlic bulbs

Another seasonal delicacy is butterbur, again this has been used for a variety of ailments. Extracts of it are still used as migraine prevention among other things. Properties of this plant are also stored in the castor sacs of the beaver. Butterbur is a weird plant, it flowers before it gets leaves. incidentally, the flowers at an early stage look intriguing and the leaves get huge, you can see the formative leaves on the left of the flower.

If required, I could and would rant on about the benefits of this amazing animal, but won't. I will say this though, nature isn't always aesthetically pleasing to our eyes, but nature does what nature does, it's all in the big plan of life. So, the next time you see a chewed tree ask yourself these 2 questions.

Is this nature at work in all its glory and as God intended however displeasing to the eye?

Who is doing most damage to the planet? A beaver chomping on a bit of timber ultimately giving habitat and food for others and opening up a huge opportunity for biodiversity, or man farming every last inch of ground giving no home for wildlife?

We as a species should learn to respect nature more, regardless how it looks to our eye.

End of rant!

Thankfully that afternoon I met a lovely couple, Karen and Alan, that were more than interested in learning about nature, specifically castor fiber. These guys lifted my spirits and we ended up having a tremendous evening watching my wee beaver family