Cheeky beavers steal wildlife-cam in home improvement effort

Home security is a huge investment these days, from closed-circuit cameras to doorbell videos. Some Scottish beavers in thought they needed to upgrade the security on their lodge and stole a wildlife monitoring camera, adding it to the roof of their lodge.

The wildlife center in Doune, Argaty Red Kites, Perthshire, had been monitoring the wildlife in the area. When the wildlife cam started showing only a pile of mud and sticks, the staff were left puzzled.

We were wondering why our Beaver Cam was showing nothing but sticks and mud… turns out the naughty beavers stole it to add to the roof of their lodge! @BeaverTrust @ScotsBeavers @james_nairne @emccandless89 @BrewsterKirsten @Nature_Scotland @skyeandfrisa #nature #beavers pic.twitter.com/uTTqwdtvLz

— Argaty Red Kites (@argatyredkites) February 8, 2023

After searching around, the missing-in-action camera was discovered on top of the beaver’s lodge, forming part of the roof of the dam. Amazingly, the camera was still attached and working. Beavers will cut down trees with their sharp teeth and use any sticks and logs to create the dam which forms the lodge where they live.

Beavers were reintroduced to Scotland in 2009 in a closely monitored rewilding scheme. Since then, their numbers have flourished to around 1000. Legislation was introduced in 2019 to make beavers a protected species, meaning it is illegal to kill or disturb them.

Wildlife cams are used extensively to monitor wildlife. However, they can occasionally produce some funny results. Recently a bear showed its ‘bearst side’, taking over 400 selfies on a Rocky Mountain trail camera.

The Perthshire wildlife center says that they will replace the wooden pole with one made of metal to avoid further acquisitions. If you will use a wooden pole with beavers around, you’ll have to ‘dam’ the consequences!