Beavers are a staple of New York state’s indigenous wildlife, and the animal is the largest rodent species inhabiting North America. The beaver is also the official mammal representing New York state, and the enormous rodents can be found everywhere in the state where moving water is located near forested shorelines. Although beavers have become iconic animals within the state of New York, the animals are not revered by all residents.
Beavers have the ability to dramatically alter the natural environment, as the animals excavate large areas of earth in order to build dams that sometimes cause floods in agricultural and residential areas. Beavers also pose a threat to public health and safety, as their ecological activities have caused busy roadways, wells and septic systems to overflow with flood waters.
Beavers sometimes conduct their dam-building activity in residential neighborhoods, where the animals often remain until they are forcibly removed by state officials. Beavers can also be problematic on residential properties due to their habit of aggressively defending their habitat against human meddling. In these cases, beavers will not hesitate to physically attack a New York resident on his/her own property. Since beavers can carry and transmit rabies to humans, their presence within residential areas poses a significant health threat to New York state residents. For example, around five years ago, a scout master in upstate New York was attacked by a rabid beaver. This man sustained several bites from the rabid animal before his scout troop managed to subdue the angry rodent.
The boy scouts of Troop 32 based in upstate New York were horrified to see their scout master viciously attacked by a beaver back in 2012. The scoutmaster was attacked while he had been demonstrating different swimming strokes within a river. The beaver swam up his legs before attaching itself to his chest where it began to inflict a total of six bites on the victim. Eventually, the scoutmaster managed to reach shore, but the beaver was still attached to him and would not stop biting. Luckily, the boy scout troops came to their leader’s assistance by chucking rocks at the rabid animal until it eventually died from its injuries.
The 45 pound rodent was later found to be infected with rabies, making the scout leader’s 20 rabies shots necessary. Although the scoutmaster sustained numerous puncture wounds from the beaver’s many bites, he survived, and none of the boy scouts from Troop 32 were injured during the struggle.
Have you ever encountered a beaver in the wild?