Beaver at McArthur Island Park in Kamloops.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Taylor Borth
November 29, 2023 - 6:00 AM
A wayward beaver was busy felling a large pear tree in a residential neighbourhood in Kamloops earlier this week.
Resident Nikki Milenk was at a family member’s house near the popular McArthur Island Park when she saw the evidence on the neighbour’s property, the telltale chewed up stump and the tree lying on a mesh fence.
“I was really surprised, the tree was huge and old and had a really big diameter, it's impressive,” she said. “Beavers are such cute animals but its too bad about the tree, it was still producing big, golden pears. I didn’t think a beaver would go into a residential yard like this.”
Beavers are known to build their dams on the Thompson River that runs along one side of McArthur Island park — several poplar trees along the banks have protective mesh around their bases for this reason — but Milenk said the furry critters typically stay in the park closer to the water. The pear tree is in a residential yard near one of the park entrances.
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“The beavers usually stick to the river, I’ve seen them before, but this one would have had to climb a fair distance up the bank to chew down the tree. I’m wondering if its going to come back to finish the job. I thought it was funny it happened during the full Beaver moon."
An old pear tree was chewed down by a beaver on a residential property in Kamloops.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Nikki Milenk
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