SWLNbeavers - by Lauren Beavis

A pair of beavers were saved from drowning - in an overflow drain in the town.

Rescuers called to reports of an otter trapped in a metre of water were shocked to find the two beavers.

Matt Lavy, Wildlife care assistant at Secret World Wildlife Rescue, was straight to the scene in Frome in Somerset.

He said the pair both around a year old were unable to escape from the water.

Both of them "just lying there, unable to move", with one "quite wet and exhausted".

Matt explained: "Beavers are not regular climbers and the top of this drain was just about level with the water level of the river and then it dropped down.

"So the water in the drain was about a metre deep but that level of river water was still about three foot down, so there was about three foot of just bare brick that the beavers wouldn't have been able to sort of scramble out of - so they were stuck."

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The Somerset-based wildlife rescue centre said it was important to get the animals out "as quickly as possible".

So the animals were secured in metal cages and taken to RSCPA West Hatch in Taunton, which has experience working with beavers.

Matt said the beavers, now in their own pen under care, are "doing and looking much better now they have had a chance to get clean from the dirty water - and once their careers are happy, the pair will be rehabilitated back into the wild."

Mr Lavy described the experience as an "incredible encounter".

"It's always a privilege to see wildlife up close, but [I was] never expecting to see something like that."

Matt revealed the pair of beavers were roughly 15 kilos each.

He admitted the rodents are "bigger than you expect and really quite heavy, with adults getting up to 30 kilograms."

The UK's largest rodent, beavers were released into the wild in Somerset as part of a reintroduction programme.

Somerset Wildlife trust say beavers are a 'keystone species', meaning they play a 'crucial role in how an ecosystem functions' and provide many benefits - such as reducing flood risks through their dams, improving water quality and creating wetland habitats that help other wildlife.

To find out more about the species, visit: https://www.somersetwildlife.org/what-we-do/restore-somersets-nature/nature-based-solutions/beavers

To support the work of Secret World Wildlife Rescue visit: https://www.secretworld.org/