Scottish beavers now captured
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Four beaver families have now been successfully captured by a specialist team in Norway, bringing us one step closer to the UK's first native mammal introduction.
A total of seventeen beavers arrived into the UK on Thursday 20 November and are now spending the next six months in quarantine before being released in Knapdale, mid-Argyll on a time-limited trial basis in spring 2009. The challenging capture process was undertaken by a specialist team in the Telmark region of Norway who have more than 15 years experience studying the beaver species. |
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The capture process
It’s a wet, cold and miserable October night in Norway and Frank Rosell and colleague, Bjornar Hovde, from Telemark University College have been out all night in search of beavers. It’s 2 am and the capture team dressed in chest-high rubber waders and immersion suits are ready for action. Tiredness is evident until a sudden movement energises them.
| “Over there!” Frank motions using hand signals and shines a bright dazzling beam from the boat across the eerily quiet water to a slow moving creature about the size of a small spaniel. As it moves silently using its perfectly honed body, it has the appearance of a graceful otter setting forth on a watery course. |
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Frank (or Norway’s answer to Dr Beaver) has been studying these amazing water engineers for decades and is now providing Scotland with its first wild beavers. “Scotland is made for beavers and in Norway we’ve seen the amazing positive impact these creatures can have on the landscape and wildlife.”
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Easing the boat as near to the beaver as possible, the capture team move in, carefully guiding the target towards a dead end in the shallower water. Bjornar jumps into the water. He grabs a net shaped like a large hoop with an extending sock at the back and quickly places it over the beaver. Once in place, he tightens the larger front-end around the beaver’s head and the tubby rodent is gently lowered head-first into the bottom of the boat. |
| After confirming that this beaver is suitable for the Scottish project, its vital statistics are taken (weight, length, width of tail, gender) and it is quickly transferred into a Hessian bag. “That’s mum. Now the tricky part starts. We have to ensure that we get the whole family group and that the young are yearlings. This means it’s a longer and more problematic process logistically.” |
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And so the search continues and by the end of the night, as dawn is all but upon them,the weary team head for the comfort of their beds as the beaver family is released into their metal-lined cubicles with apple-filled pools of water in the holding shed. “We will capture three more beaver families through this process and they will all remain here until they make their journey to the UK in November. The enclosures are small but adequate,” says Frank reassuringly as he closes the doors of the beavers’ new temporary home.