Bringing Up Beaver: Two Orphaned Beaver Kits, Their Humans, and Our Journey Back to the Wild

Licensed volunteer wildlife rehabilitator Aberth (Black Death) offers a cute account of how he and his wife, Laura, rescued a beaver kit who was orphaned after a farmer took a backhoe to its colony’s dam. Discovered by a local on a walk, “the little reddish-brown furry creature” was dropped off at the Aberth home with only a 10% chance of survival. Aberth recounts how the kit, named “BK,” initially refused to eat; Aberth’s rehab experience was mostly with minks and raptors, so he summoned help from the “Beaver Lady,” a specialist who encouraged him to switch from baby bottle to syringe. Elsewhere, Aberth details how he recreated the kit’s natural environs in his backyard by constructing an elaborate enclosure with a “spacious Dogloo and his own garden pool,” and recounts finding BK a mate ahead of the kit’s release back into the wild. First, they introduced the pair to an outdoor enclosure in a stream on their property, which involved some bumps: a local beaver trapper alleged Aberth was tampering with wildlife, forcing him to hire a lawyer to continue with his mission. Ultimately, this saga of an intense human-animal bond ends on a touching note, with a “bittersweet” send-off. Animal lovers will be charmed. (Aug.)