Two men from Oregon learned that climbing into a beaver’s domain isn’t the wisest decision to make.
The hikers were attacked by a beaver defending its home near Lava Island Falls last Thursday when sheriffs had to come to the rescue.
Investigators say the two men were exploring the river when they climbed into the beaver dam and were attacked.
Clayton Mitchell of Bend reported that his 31-year-old friend was trapped in submerged logs. John Bailey, of Redmond, was able to free himself and climb out of the water, just as first responders arrived.
Both men were evaluated by medics and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Mitchell, 23, told the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office that he and a friend had been hiking along a river near his central Oregon home on Thursday when they climbed onto a beaver dam.
A resident beaver emerged from the dam, knocking Mitchell into the Deschutes River and trapping his friend, 31-year-old John Bailey, in a tangle of submerged logs, according to the sheriff’s department incident report.
After Miller contacted the sheriff’s department for help, deputies called upon search and rescue volunteers to locate Bailey.
Searchers heard the trapped man call for help, but he freed himself and climbed out of the river just as deputies discovered his location, the report said of the incident, which is virtually unprecedented in central Oregon. Deschutes County sheriff department’s Lieutenant Joe Deluca said this type of call-out is rare.
“I was just getting off shift when the report came in, and I didn’t believe it…I’m a city boy from the East Coast, and every day in Deschutes County I learn something new. This time, I learned, don’t mess with a beaver.
Mitchell and Bailey were both treated for non-life threatening injuries and are expected to recover.
There was no information available on the status of the beaver, the sheriff’s office said.
h/t: Reuters
