Ealing beavers: Dams, canals – and perhaps babies
We are with Dr Sean McCormack who has been one of the driving forces behind the scheme.
He takes us to one of the beavers’ five dams here, where they have cut back trees and twigs and dredged the mud to create large pools.
“This is the first dam they created in the system, the first one of five,” Dr McCormack says. “The reason they have created it here is to create some deep water before they have to cross the Capital Ring footpath which runs through the site.
“To a beaver they don’t know if there’s a bear, a wolf, a lynx around every corner. It’s their instinct to create deep water so they feel safe. They’re basically checking that the coast is clear upstream here.”
The dams also filter the water. The deep pools mean the beavers can dive down and avoid predators. They can stay under the water for 15 minutes.
This family of five beavers soon got to work here after their introduction seven months ago. You can hear the road and see high-rise flats from their new home, which is right on the Capital Ring footpath, but none of this seems to have bothered the beavers. They have created canals so they can easily transport logs on the water. It’s no surprise they are called nature’s engineers; the whole area is changing.
