I’m using the Czech spelling here, rather than the more common Polish Bóbr Kurwa — meaning (nsfw) and pronunciation are much the same anyway. It’s just because this has happened in Czechia recently:
V okolí Padrťských rybníků v chráněné krajinné oblasti Brdy postavil bobr hned několik hrází a vytvořil tak přírodní mokřad. Právě takový chtěla v místě vybudovat i správa chráněné krajinné oblasti.
My attempt at a translation:
In the vicinity of the Padrťské ponds in the protected landscape area Brdy, beavers built several dams, creating a natural wetland. Much like the one that the administration of the protected landscape area wanted to build at the same location.
An English language source pimped it up to this headline:
The government had been planning it for 7 years, beavers built the dam in two days and saved them $1 million
Though I understand the language, I do not follow Czech media regularly. But this story certainly swapped abroad, even into niche media like Fefe’s Blog.
Frankly, for a long time I hadn’t been aware that beavers are still common in the wild in Western/Central Europe. Especially in areas that are densely populated by humans. I mostly knew them from North American movies and documentaries.
Until I almost ran over a beaver on a bike trip, that is! This specimen was foraging along an artificial canal off the Isar river, just south of Munich. But it was quick to disappear into the waterside vegetation after I startled it:
