Canadian Animal Services Officers Rescue Pudgy Beaver Stuck in Fence

After a long winter filled with more food than exercise, we feel for this beaver that got stuck in a wrought iron fence in Hamilton, Ontario, because its butt was too big to wriggle through the bars

As The National Post reports, an animal services officer named Sarah Mombourquette was called to a private home on Tuesday, where she found the rodent trapped between two fence posts. Its sharp teeth—designed to fell trees and gnaw through logs—were no match for the metal: “Unfortunately for this beaver, his sharp incisors were not helpful in cutting through the iron fence," The City of Hamilton Animal Services recounted in a Facebook post. "He landed, as the Canadian-ism goes, arse over teakettle through the fence onto a lower section of ground and couldn’t pull his rear-end through with his tiny front paws."

Mombourquette used liquid soap to help the beleaguered beaver squirm its way to freedom. After the animal was liberated, officials brought it to a local shelter and treated it to “a well-deserved veggie buffet,” according to Hamilton Animal Services.

Mombourquette thinks the beaver is under three years old, meaning it's a “teenage” rodent. Due to its age, it's more adventurous and curious than older beavers. This may help explain how it ended up in a private yard, far away from the forest.

Contrary to reports, the rotund critter wasn’t pudgy from months of hibernation: Beavers are mainly nocturnal, but they do remain active during the winter. They continue to eat and build—but just like us, they spend more time inside their cozy homes once the temperature drops. They chow down on stockpiled sticks and branches, which they stack just outside their lodges during the fall months. And to stay warm, they gain weight—particularly in their tails, which are specially designed to store fat. As winter progresses, beavers use up this fat, and the tail shrinks.

The unfortunate beaver was transferred to Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge in Jarvis, Ontario. There, it will recover from injuries (and a very public fat-shaming) before being re-released into the wild.

[h/t The National Post]

Primary image courtesy of iStock.