A conservation team in Cornwall, England, were monitoring for beaver activity when they accidentally filmed something unexpected: a beaver breaking wind.
They had put camera traps down to see if there were beavers in the area. “Beaver signs were detected on our complex of Nature Reserves at Helman Tor, so we wanted to confirm the presence of the species,” says Lauren Jasper, beaver officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
“The beaver breaking wind gave the team a good giggle in the office and has continued to do so ever since!”
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Although they had a hearty laugh at the blooper footage, “there is actually a good reason for this activity,” Jasper says. The beaver might have been scent marking – they produce an oily substance from a gland near their tail to mark territory.
Seeing beavers in the wild in the UK is a great sign for nature. "They build dams on small streams, they coppice trees and let more light in, they create pools,” Cheryl Marriott, director of nature & people at Cornwall Wildlife Trust told BBC News. “When you bring beavers back, other wildlife follows.”
Nature lovers who want to be in with the chance of seeing one of these elusive animals can join a guided walk with the Cornwall Beaver Project.
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