Angry Beaver Shuts Down Main Street

Residents of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories are perhaps more used to seeing wild animals in their town than many, given their remote location 700 km north of Edmonton. However, even they were taken by surprise when a large beaver decided to take a stroll down their main street — and he wasn’t in a good mood.

The beaver, estimated to be at least the size of a large dog, roamed through the town’s graveyard, a golf course, through a residential neighborhood and down a busy street before grumpily swimming away in the Slave River Rapids. An Environment and Natural Resources officer accompanied the animal on his wanderings — albeit from a safe distance. Onlookers came to check out the commotion, and one even shot a video of the animal ungracefully lumbering down the street. The beaver pretty much wanted to be left alone, though, as indicated by his angry tail slapping every time he felt annoyed.

The beaver also had a loud disagreement with a german shepherd through a chain-link fence, with the dog furiously barking and the beaver hissing angrily. After this altercation, the Environment and National Resources officer tried to herd the beaver out of town for his own safety — using a piece of plywood. Probably ill-advised, to use a big hunk of wood to ward off a beaver.

North American Beavers are currently not on the endangered species list, however, their habitats and homes are increasingly at risk. More close encounters of the beaver kind are a virtual certainty.

Related Stories:

Naughty Squirrel Nabbed!

Urban Wildlife

Eastern Cougar Declared Extinct