Pub customers were left stunned after a beaver walked into a bar in the West Midlands before hiding beneath a smoking shelter in the beer garden. Punters at the Yew Tree Pub in Norton Canes were left scratching their heads when the large rodent wandered in at around 8.45pm on Monday evening (25/7).
The unusual visitor scampered past shocked customers in the main bar and to the smoking shelter outside where it then took cover behind some chairs. Volunteers from a local wildlife sanctuary were called to the scene where they found the creature casually "lying on its back washing itself" in the beer garden.
It was eventually enticed into a cage before being checked over by a vet where it was found to be healthy. Lindsay Newell, from Linjoy Wildlife Sanctuary and Rescue, then worked with Natural England and Staffordshire Wildlife Trust to transfer it to a specialist centre.
She said she didn't believe the call at first and thought people had mistaken the beaver for an otter as they are rarely, if ever, found in the densely-populated Midlands areas. Lindsay added: "We simply don't get beavers around here so when we got the call we thought, 'oh it must just be an otter'.
"We sometimes get people say they have a bird of prey and it turns out to be a wren or something - we just aren't used to wildlife like this in the West Midlands. But when one of our volunteers got there, lo and behold there was a massive beaver just casually sitting in the beer garden underneath chairs in the smoking shelter.
"We were a bit surprised to hear it was a beaver as we've never seen one up close and were struggling to believe a beaver would actually walk into a pub. But it didn't seem to mind being there at all. He was relaxing on his back and giving himself a wash.
"It is certainly the first time we have been called out to rescue a beaver. They have been reintroduced in other parts of Britain but no the West Midlands to my knowledge.
"Locals were joking that maybe he had been looking for a pint of Beavertown Neck Oil.
"Our volunteer Gareth found him outside under the chairs and managed to get him into the cage by tapping it with his shoe and he just ran into it. When he brought it into us, we were surprised about how big it was but it really was a beautiful creature to see up close.
"The size of it was surprising as you think beavers are small creatures, but it was very large, with big teeth and a defined tail. It was a such a nice and docile creature and just sat there eating leaves as we worked out the next step with it.
"We contacted Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, Natural England and the Environment Agency as we weren't quite sure what to do with it as it had never happened before. Eventually, we found it was chipped and registered with Natural England and had escaped. But the owner doesn't want any publicity so we can't reveal where it came from.
"I don't know what drink it wanted in the pub - but I'm just glad that it got out safely."
It was announced last year that beavers were to be reintroduced at various sites across England and Wales after 400 years of extinction. And the government revealed this week that from October beavers are to be legally protected in England from being captured, killed, injured or disturbed without a licence.
The first wild beavers were released in Scotland in 2009 before wildlife trusts in England followed suit and there are now thought to be as many as 800 in the wild. Dr Roisin Campbell-Palmer, of the Beaver Trust, said: "The return of the beaver has captured public attention and imagination.
"It is vital that a national strategy provides a platform for the continued restoration of this native species to ensure healthy and connected populations, so that our wider society and landscapes benefit."
