Page 11 - Natural World Spring 2017
P. 11
epiphany
population appeared near him. With Devon Wildlife Trust’s help, he went for a look
from a portable stereo near their The beginning vanished. “It looks like a giant tea
tent just downstream. I worried that of a beaver cosy,” said Sarah, accurately.
The Stranglers might alienate the dam
beavers but as Stephen, Sarah and I Beavers are vegetarians, and –
stood quietly in a dark spot under an contrary to what you might have
ash tree and waited for the song to read in CS Lewis – not the kind who
finish, almost exactly on cue with its sneakily eat fish as well. They were
final bars a beaver of not dissimilar last seen in Britain some time in the
colour to the one celebrated by The 16th Century. The thickness of their
Stranglers swam out from the pelts and the fact that their castor
opposite bank. It was more serene sacs (scent glands) contained
than I imagined, far more serene castoreum, which was used as a
than the otters we’d just seen, but tincture in perfume, meant they
when it climbed out onto a small were hunted to extinction. You don’t
sandbank just upstream and began hear people wanting a perfume that
scratching itself that serenity quickly smells of castor sacs these days so
you’d hope that, were beavers to
Could this become a
common sight again?
Devon Wildlife Trust
believes there is a strong
ecological case
SPRING 2017 NATURAL WORLD 11
