• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Beaver in Glasgow (1 Viewer)

JTweedie

Well-known member
I know there's the official re-introduction of beavers in Knapdale and unofficial releases in the Tay.

But I was surprised to see this very short footage in Govan - basically a mile or so downstream from Glasgow city centre. I think someone must have released it there, although there's a tributary on the north bank nearby - the Kelvin, and further downstream on the south bank the Cart. I presume it's likely to have got into the river from the Kelvin as that's the closest.

But how far do beavers range from their bases?

https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/h7y6ay/clyde_beaver/?ref_source=embed&ref=share
 
I know there's the official re-introduction of beavers in Knapdale and unofficial releases in the Tay.

But I was surprised to see this very short footage in Govan - basically a mile or so downstream from Glasgow city centre. I think someone must have released it there, although there's a tributary on the north bank nearby - the Kelvin, and further downstream on the south bank the Cart. I presume it's likely to have got into the river from the Kelvin as that's the closest.

But how far do beavers range from their bases?

https://www.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/h7y6ay/clyde_beaver/?ref_source=embed&ref=share

A quick google suggests Canadian Beavers in North America don't move far - but in many areas they will be in a saturated population, which may not mirror the current situation in Scotland where almost everything is up for grabs to enterprising Beavers.

However, as far as I know the nearest are up around Perth so the most likely thing is maybe a farmer or other landowner live trapping up there and releasing an animal well away from his property, with no thought for the short-term safety of the animal or long-term consequences for Beaver distribution.

John
 
I did fear for its welfare in this part of the river as there are steep artificial banks for quite a way in each direction.
 
They can range pretty far. Beavers can also easily cross watersheds. In Poland I saw them wandering in dry forest, wading in tiny ditches in a farmland and their tracks on a seashore. They are also amazingly good at living overlooked in densely populated places. They easily find places inaccessible to people even in urban areas, for example fenced industrial areas, military installations, water treatment plants, islands on rivers etc. So there could be a whole group nearby without anybody knowing.
 
They have crossed from Strathtay into the Forth Basin, which have a narrow watershed separation between Loch Earn and Strathyre. Once in the Forth they could easily reach the Clyde.

David
 
Last edited:
Good stuff. I'm not far from the Clyde myself - just a little upstream from Glasgow in a shallower stretch. It would be fantastic if there were more around.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 4 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top