The stars of the show...



Following a lot of requests last week, I thought I would write a blog to update you all on the most important part of the trial – our beavers.



I’m pleased to report that all of our beavers seem to be doing well at the moment. As part of our ongoing monitoring programme of the beavers, we aim to observe every individual at least once a month. This is mostly achieved though night tracking which involves a pair of SBT staff and volunteers observing the animals from a boat or canoe. Tracking the animals is an important part of the trial so that we can monitor the beavers health and welfare, but we ensure that all of our procedures are as unobtrusive as possible in order to allow the animals to behave as they would in the wild.

copywright Mary Lou

During last month’s tracking we are confident all the beavers were seen, including the two new kits, which was a great result. We try to identify every beaver we see and make judgments on its behaviour, health and welfare. This includes checking to make sure the beavers are acting normally, if they look in good body condition, and that none appear to be injured or losing weight. We often see the beavers swimming or feeding on vegetation at the loch edges.



Roisin and Christian monitoring the beavers



 It can sometimes be difficult to tell for certain which individual animal you are looking at, especially if the observation is brief or in the distance, and to make it even trickier some of our animals have groomed out their ear tags! Ear tags are replaced as required during the annual health checks, with individual beavers being positively identified through their microchips. Our regular observations and experience of the beavers also allows us to identify the beavers through certain traits such as favorite feeding areas, size and individual features. Our next night tracking is planned to take place in the next few weeks, so we will keep you posted with any other observations.
 

Collecting samples during a health check

Last month we also began our annual trapping to check the health of the beavers and so far two female adults and a male have been trapped.

 The two adult females both gave birth this summer, so it was particularly important for us to check what body condition they were in. I’m pleased to say that they both had significant weight gains since their original release, and at this health check they had maintained body condition, with their weights are only slightly lower than what they were at the start of the year. Blood and faecal samples were also collected for routine veterinary testing, and the results show that they are in good health and free from any diseases, which is good news going forward.  

The other male adult we trapped was originally released this summer, but we had noticed he had a lump on his back. We treated him at the side of the loch by cleaning the wound and administering an antibiotic to clear up the infection. Since then we have been monitoring him closely to make sure he heals well, and so far all signs indicate that he will make a full recovery - he has been feeding properly and swimming around with his partner. This pair have remained close and share a deep burrow, but have been slow to start lodge building as yet.



copywright Steve Gardner


The other beaver pair and families have all created quite large lodges, which still appear to be growing. All our beavers have been working hard on their food caches, so it looks like our animals are already preparing for a Norwegian style winter! 

Roisin Campbell-Palmer

SBT Field Operations Manager