In 30 years of fishing on the River Chew, Joe Burgoyne had never seen a beaver. So he was stunned to see one swimming towards him.
Joe said: “I have been fishing that river for 30 years, since I was a kid and I’ve never seen anything like it. It is a secluded spot and I’d climbed down the bank.”
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Joe, who lives in Whitchurch and grew up in Keynsham, said: “The beaver was huge, I’d never seen one before.” He quickly grabbed his phone to film the unusual encounter to share with his little girl. He said: “I was paddling in and out when I caught sight of him. I was on the edge of the river and he stopped directly in front of me.
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“Then he carried on up the river. He was no worried about me being there whatsoever. They are normally elusive, it was an incredible sight.”
Over his many years of fishing on the river, Joe has seen a lot of wildlife, including many otters. He added: “At first I thought it was an otter, but it was totally different. Beavers have been extinct for 500 years, but they’ve made a comeback. He cut straight through the water.”
Flashback Sept 2021: Experts stunned to find beavers living wild on Bristol Avon for first time in almost 500 years
Researchers believed beavers had been extinct in the UK for 500 years until a family were found living on the River Avon during the 2020 Covid lockdown. Bristol Live broke the news in September 2021 that the aquatic mammals had returned to the area.
A family of beavers was first sighted on a tributary of the River Avon between Bristol and Bath during Covid lockdown by Triodos Bank UK boss, Bevis Watts. It was described as a ‘significant discovery’.
Scientists jumped into action and Natural England commissioned a large-scale survey of the area. Researchers found there were 13 established beaver families.
They found that beavers had built at least 20 dams across a number of rivers. As well as the dams, above-ground beaver nests were found and four burrows.
