On March 1, Center staff received a call about an injured beaver in Lyndhurst, Virginia. The caller reported that the beaver had a significant limp and crawled underneath a vehicle. Usually, the Center relies on the public to bring in injured wildlife, but the beaver's location was only a five-minute drive from the Center, so front-desk supervisor Michael Adkins and wildlife rehabilitator Ben Cole drove to the scene, contained the injured mammal, and brought it back to the Center for an exam.
The beaver was bright, active, and alert upon admission. A physical examination by veterinary intern Dr. Marit revealed that the beaver, an adult male, was dehydrated, underweight, and had wounds on his hip, chest, and left leg. All the wounds had discharge, and an old wound was noted on the webbing between the beaver's left foot. Radiographs did not show any internal trauma. Based on the nature of the wounds, the vet team suspects that this beaver was injured in a fight with another beaver. Late winter and early spring is the time of year when juvenile beavers disperse to establish their own territory; altercations between males are not uncommon during this time.
After the exam, Dr. Marit cleaned and bandaged the beaver's wounds and started the large mammal on a course of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication to aid in the healing process. The beaver was placed inside the hospital holding area to rest overnight and was moved to the Center's Large Mammal Isolation enclosure the following morning.
On March 4, the vet team anesthetized the beaver to surgically debride his wounds. The surgery went well, but the wounds became severely infected during the following days. Vet staff also discovered that the beaver had a fractured toe on his left foot. On March 7, the vet team brought the beaver inside the hospital to surgically remove the fractured toe. Due to the length of the surgery, staff kept the beaver inside the hospital overnight.
The vet team plans to continue with the current treatment plan while closely monitoring the beaver's wounds. The beaver's prognosis remains guarded.
This beaver is the second beaver patient admitted to the Center during the past two weeks – both patients are featured on Critter Cam #2! Please note that the beavers are in separate enclosures and do not have visual access to each other.