Beaver Holds Man Hostage

No, you didn't read that headline wrong. According to the editor of the local paper in Daugavpils, Latvia, a man named Sergei was walking through the city streets late at night when a beaver ran out of the shadows and sunk its teeth into the man's leg. Sergei apparently tried to fight back and ended up falling; on the ground, he got pinned by the beaver, which would bite him every time he tried to get back up. Sergei managed to get a hold of his phone and called rescue services — who promptly hung up on him because "I am being held hostage by a beaver right now" definitely sounds like a bad prank call. So Sergei then called his friend, who, after some convincing, was persuaded to come to the rescue. Only — yes, it gets worse — the friend was then pulled over for speeding on the way to save Sergei. The friend then had to convince the police officer of the hairy situation and, after what one can imagine was a very awkward breathalyzer test, the police officer decided the friend was telling the truth and radioed in animal welfare officers to help. Beavers are protected in Latvia, and so the critter was shooed off alive (and to this day, it still haunts the dark streets of Daugavpils, presumably). Sergei fared less well, requiring 15 stitches in his leg.

To read the story click here.

Beavers can be extremely aggressive, if you are experiencing problems with Beavers don't attempt to deal with them yourself, call a professional. Beavers can cause significant damage to property by destroying trees and causing flooding when building dams.