I had no idea beavers, the second largest rodents in the world, can be so aggressive.
Sam Webb reports for the Daily Mail, April 11, 2013, that a fisherman enjoying a fishing trip with his friends was savaged to death by a beaver.
The man was at Lake Shestakov in Belarus with two friends when they spotted the large rodent by the side of the road. As he inched towards the beaver to take a picture, it pounced on him, sinking its sharp teeth into the man’s thigh and severing a major artery, reports Sky News.
His friends desperately tried to staunch the blood welling up from the wound but the man bled to death.
Experts say that while beaver attacks are rare, those that attack humans are usually rabid.
In Pennyslvania a number of rabies-infected beavers attacked humans in 2011 and 2012:
- Normand Brousseau, 51, of Pine Plains, New York, was swimming in the river with a floating device known as a ‘noodle’ when the beaver latched onto his chest. After being bitten and clawed at several times, Brousseau was finally pulled to shore by Nick Hedges, 16, who joined his three fellow Scouts in pelting the rodent with stones until it died.
- In late April 2011, a rabid beaver attacked a fisherman in the White Clay Creek area of Chester County, Pennsylvania. The fisherman managed to overcome and drown the animal.
Here’s a video showing how fast beavers can move when they decide to attack a human:
Here’s a beaver undeterred by a shovel:
Never, never let your kid get near a beaver!
~Eowyn
