Page 10 - Natural World Spring 2017

My beaverPEOPLE&WILDLIFE

Bestselling author Tom Cox grew up thinking beavers were extinct in Britain. Then a small

RON WALSH. INSET: LAURIE CAMPBELL I did not travel to the River Otter, suggested the commotion was Not long afterwards, Devon’s new
in east Devon, expecting to see about more than just otters. A larger beavers began to breed. The
wild beavers. Just to be within animal had been involved: perhaps a government then decided to have
100 yards of them and see their dog, perhaps a beaver. them removed from the river.
teeth marks on the trees would have Fortunately, the Devon Wildlife Trust
been exciting enough for me. Nobody knows exactly how opposed this removal and managed
beavers first appeared on the River to get a licence for them to live on
But as dusk fell, and my friend Otter, but sightings began in 2008. the river for five years and their
Sarah and I and Stephen from the e ect on the landscape to be
Devon Wildlife Trust made our way I worried monitored. There are now thought
quietly along the bank of the river that The to be around 20 beavers.
we heard a loud splash. About 20 Stranglers might
seconds later, two otters dipped alienate the People were wild camping near
past us at speed. They had a rattled beavers the river as Stephen, Sarah and I
look about them, like thugs who’d walked along its bank. The 1980s
picked the wrong target. The size of anthem ‘Golden Brown’ by The
the initial splash, Stephen said, Stranglers tinkled through the trees

Tom Cox is a
writer and cat
lover. His books
include Bring
me the head of
Sergio Garcia
and the Sunday
Times top ten
bestseller The
Good, The Bad
And The Furry
@cox_tom
10 NATURAL WORLD SPRING 2017