On 3/29/23 11:26, Christian Weisgerber wrote:
> On 2023-03-29, a425couple <a425couple@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> also
>> "North American beavers are the largest rodents in North America
>> and the second largest in the world (South America's capybaras
>> being the heaviest). They weigh between 35 and 65 pounds
>> (16 to 30 kilograms), with the heaviest beaver on record weighing
>> 110 pounds (50 kilograms).
>
> Meanwhile at
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_beaver
> | By the average weights known, it appears to be the world's second
> | heaviest rodent after the capybara, and is slightly larger and
> | heavier than the North American beaver.
>
> I dunno, how much might this one weigh?
> https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1640395972529340425
> (Short clip of a Ukrainian soldier dragging a beaver out of a
> trench.)
>

Not sure, but off-hand I would figure him to be only 30 to 40 pounds.
But, by the way, that soldier is in my opinion very foolish.
Seems to me it could twist up and chomp off a finger very easily.

With great irritation, I'm recalling the big pain in the ass
problem of having a racoon suddenly twist and catch a a weak
spot in a glove and scratch my knuckle. And of all stupid,,,,
I already had him securely in a 'humane trap'. And my hand was
outside the trap, on the handle. Dang 'fingernails'!
Stupid and ungrateful - that cost him his life.
Tough search through medical and veterinary and wildlife
current knowledge about last case of rabies in raccoons west
of Mississippi. (Turns out at that time, NONE in last 30 years!)

Think I'm kidding about them being dangerous?

Man tries to take photo of beaver; it kills him
USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com › news › world › 2013/04/11
beaver kills man - severed femoral artery from www.usatoday.com
Apr 11, 2013 — A fisherman in Belarus was bitten to death by a beaver,
and all he was doing was trying to take its picture, Sky News reports.
The man ...

Beaver Bites Through Man's Artery As He Took Its Picture
HuffPost
https://www.huffpost.com › entry › beaver-bites-man-...
Apr 12, 2013 — The beaver attacked the man, biting him on the thigh and
severing an important artery, causing him to bleed to death.
Advertisement. The man, ...

Beaver kills man in Belarus: Shocking wound that caused ...
Daily Mail
https://www.dailymail.co.uk › news › article-2332422
May 29, 2013 — The horrific injury of a fisherman who died after being
bitten by a beaver when trying to take a picture of the animal has been
pictured.

or,
from
https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2021/09/21/73-year-old-massachusetts-man-was-mauled-almost-killed-by-a-rabid-beaver/

73-Year-Old Massachusetts Man Was Mauled & Almost Killed By A Rabid Beaver
Brett Stayton·LIFERIFF OUTDOORSVIDEOS·September 21, 2021
A man with his arm around a man's neck
Mark Pieraccini

Stories about people getting mauled by bears are somewhat expected,
especially as conflicts between people and bruins continue to rise
across North America.

Stories about people getting mauled by beavers? Well, that’s not very
common at all, and when it does happen, it certainly warrants some
attention.

According to Mass Live News, 73-year-old Mark Pieraccini of Greenfield,
Massachusetts, was swimming in a pond near the town of Hatfield when
North America’s largest rodent violently attacked him. He reportedly had
to fight for his life with the beaver for several minutes before he was
able to break free and escape to dry land.

In addition to almost drowning, he had chunks of flesh torn from his
arms and legs. He also was dealt scratches and lacerations all over his
body, including his scalp, and he tore a tendon in one of his fingers
and fractured a knuckle while punching the beaver.

Because beaver attacks are so rare, experts speculate that the animal
most likely has rabies. Because of that, Pieraccini also had to undergo
treatment for rabies.

While the violent ambush from the beaver was physically harmful, he said
his biggest concern was going under the water and not coming back up.

His battle with the beaver lasted for more than 5 minutes, and it took
place in a deep part of the lake where he could not touch the bottom
with his feet. Trying to both stay afloat and defend himself from the
rodent left him exhausted and at genuine risk of drowning.

“At some point, I said to myself, ‘If I stop and fight him one more
time, I’m going to drown.”

To ultimately escape the beaver’s onslaught, he decided to make one
final push to swim approximately 40 yards to shore. For the duration of
that desperate sprint to safety, the beaver was literally nipping at his
heels, scratching and biting his legs, arms, back, and buttocks along
the way.

A spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife
said that there are very few incidents of people in the state being
attacked by beavers.

“But they have happened.”

Beaver attacks are pretty rare, but not as rare as I would have guessed.
Apparently, there have been about 11 or 12 beaver attacks in the U.S.
over the past decade. Almost all of them involved animals infected with
rabies. For comparison, there have been 445 shark attacks in the U.S.
over the same time span, 7 of them fatal.

The size and strength of beavers can be shocking to folks who have not
seen them up close. They can grow as long as 3-feet and weigh anywhere
between 35-80 pounds.

80-pounds? That’s the size of a big dog. Imagine that thing trying to
attack you in the water. Oh, hell no.

Conflicts between people and beavers are not unheard of, but those
conflicts typically involve flooded houses and other property damage due
to dam building, not deep water fistfights.

Rabid beavers can be particularly aggressive, though.

In 2018 a man clubbed a rabid beaver to death in Pennsylvania after it
attacked him and his daughter while kayaking.

PLAY
The Recent History Of Beaver Attacks
A rabid beaver also attacked a group of swimmers in Virginia in 2019.

There is also at least one documented instance of a beaver attack
turning fatal. In 2013 a fisherman in Belarus was attacked by a Eurasian
beaver and bled out after the femoral artery in his leg was severed.
That man reportedly instigated the attack, though when he picked the
beaver up and tried to pose with it for photos.

Wildlife biologists in Massachusetts say beavers are quite territorial
and are not afraid to defend their territory against intruders,
including people. Their territorial nature combined with rabies is a
recipe for attacks like this.

“Almost all of these incidents that we are aware of have occurred when
people are swimming in a beaver pond near a beaver lodge.”

Pieraccini says he has been swimming in the pond for some time, and he’s
aware of two beaver lodges nearby but wasn’t concerned since they were
on the opposite end of the pond from where he was attacked.

“I know every inch of that pond. I know where the beaver lodges are.”

When asked by the Division of Wildlife to identify the pond where the
attack occurred, he refused to specify, citing fear that all of the
beavers in the area would be trapped and killed.

The pond can only be accessed by a bike trail deep into woods, and he
contends that the pond is so remote that it’s unlikely other people will
be swimming there this year. He also said that he’s never seen another
person at the pond, and he’s been swimming there since the 1970s. He
likes to take a dip in the pond to cool down after his bike rides.

“I just Zen out. It’s very therapeutic.”

He said that he’d had fish rub against him underwater before, but he
knew as soon as he encountered the beaver that there was something
different going on. The beaver bumped into his thigh underwater and then
quickly bumped into him again.

“I didn’t know what it was, but it struck me again — this time harder.”

He likened the situation to the movie Jaws, where the lady terrifyingly
realizes she’s being attacked by a shark at the moment it’s happening.
Except it wasn’t a shark in this instance, it was a fired-up 50-pound
rodent.

When the beaver returned, he punched it hoping to scare it off. That
only angered the beaver and intensified its attacks. That’s when the
5-minute battle and the frantic sprint to shore took place.

By the time he reached shallow enough water to regain his footing, he
had said he barely had enough energy to lift his arms or stand on his
own two legs. Finally, he was able to crawl out of the water, and that’s
when he realized he was bleeding profusely from several spots. After
catching his breath and gathering energy to get moving again, he had to
ride his bike a mile and a half to reach his car. He then drove to a
nearby medical center.

Doctors In Disbelief
Photos from the emergency room show the extent of his injuries.

He said the medical professionals at the emergency room didn’t seem to
believe or comprehend what he was trying to tell them when he said a
beaver violently attacked him. He then took his shirt off to begin
showing them his injuries.