Beavers are actively settling in Minsk. What do they bring more — benefit or harm?

River builders

— Beavers have reached the limit of their habitat capacity in the wild, — explained Pavel Veligurov, senior researcher at the Laboratory of Population Ecology of Terrestrial Vertebrates and Biological Resources Management of the Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Bioresources. — Their population peak in our country — 64.4 thousand individuals — occurred in 2012. Now it has stabilized at an optimal level of 50-60 thousand.

Having mastered almost all suitable habitats in the wild, beavers began to move closer to villages and garden communities. Later, these animals started appearing in larger settlements. And finally, they reached the capital. Perhaps this was also facilitated by the improvement of the city's environment, although no special studies on this topic have been conducted.

It is still too early to talk about a high number of beavers in Minsk. In the river sections we studied, several families were recorded — on average two individuals in each. In the area of Drazdy and Komsomolskoye Lake, the number of these animals is undoubtedly higher. However, on the concrete embankments of the Svislach, their appearance is unlikely.

Павялічыць

What I don't eat, I gnaw

— How do beavers feel in the city river and what do they eat here?

— When choosing a place to live, water purity is not very important for them, — emphasized the biologist. — After a dam is built, a beaver pond forms, where silt settles. Sometimes, due to the low flow speed, such a reservoir becomes almost completely overgrown with duckweed and other plants. Beavers feel great in it.

And compared to such ponds, the Svislach is a very clean river.

According to Pavel Veligurov, these aquatic animals are true vegetarians. In spring and summer, they eat goutweed, reeds, water lilies, sweet flag, sedges, nettles, and other meadow, wetland plants and their rhizomes. They gladly feast on leaves and young shoots of willow and currants. In autumn, they switch to woody-shrub food.

The winter menu of beavers mainly consists of aquatic vegetation, as well as bark and wood of fallen trees submerged by them since autumn: willow, aspen, bird cherry, birch. Oak, linden, hazel, ash are much less common in their diet. If food is very scarce, they may eat spruce and alder bark.

These animals hibernate in burrows. They only come out to bring bark and tree branches, harvested in autumn, for food. They drag them into the burrow and eat them immediately.

When the reservoir is covered with ice, a beaver can stay underwater for days. And from mid-January to the end of February is its mating season.

Павялічыць

Hands off

Beavers try to avoid encounters with humans. They choose rather cozy places where there are relatively few people. The nocturnal lifestyle of these animals also reduces the likelihood of contact: when they are active, humans are usually sleeping or, at least, not near the river. Although danger certainly exists when encountering these aquatic rodents.

"Like any wild animal, a beaver can behave unpredictably," the interviewee noted. "There was a known case where it bit the leg of a person who disturbed it, damaging the femoral artery. The victim died from blood loss before the ambulance arrived. Like all mammals, beavers can carry rabies. Therefore, it is not advisable to try to interact with them during an unexpected encounter."

According to Pavel Veligurov, this animal feels safest in the water. And when encountering a person on the river bank, it will most likely try to dive. Therefore, one should not stand between it and the water. It is better to calmly, without sudden movements or shouts, move aside, clearing the animal's path to the river. However, an encounter with a swimming beaver poses no physical danger to people. Unless, upon noticing a person, the rodent dives underwater, loudly and unexpectedly slapping its tail on the water.

Beavers do not need to be fed. But if you really want to, you can treat them with a willow or aspen branch, or juicy herbaceous fodder. However, it must be understood: after this, it will be much more difficult to drive them away from these places.

Павялічыць

And the trees will get enough netting

Are beavers needed in the urban environment? Pavel Veligurov believes that educational excursions for students and schoolchildren can be organized to their habitats. And other wildlife enthusiasts will surely be delighted by the opportunity to observe and photograph these animals in Minsk.

Beaver ponds also serve as reservoirs for trapping aquatic silt and other particles. They prevent soil erosion and increase the efficiency of the settlement's ecosystem in terms of using and preserving important macronutrients.

There are actually few downsides to the activities of these "new city dwellers." As practice has shown, to protect trees and shrubs from beavers, it is enough to wrap the trunks with mesh netting. This will also prevent undermining of riverbanks.

On the other hand, coexisting with such animals is an excellent indicator of a good environment. And if, for example, Canadian cities are famous for deer walking in the streets, then let beavers settle near the Svislach embankments. An excellent natural symbol of Minsk and a living advertisement for the cleanliness of its ecology.

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