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All that said, I’ve become a great fan of The Spectator
in recent years. Rod Liddle and Toby Young are my ‘go to’ columnists in
every issue. You might not always like what they write. In fact, sometimes
they appear undeniable prats. But you end each piece the better for the
reading of it; it is a cranial work out for those little grey cells to
which Agatha Christie’s Christie’s Poirot often alluded.
So, to get a piece in the magazine (and be paid for it!),
plus a by-line on the front cover along with Joan Collins, was massively
exciting. They also selected Beaver Fever as one of the three topics to be
featured in the weekly podcast, which I had to narrate myself. My impromptu
studio ended up being one of the spare bedrooms (least echo) with my iPhone
perched on a tower of toilet rolls. Very rock ‘n roll.
I was rather dreading that the article might ignite a bit of
a Twitter storm from the pro-beaver lobby but for the most part nearly all
the comments I received, both on social media and by email, were
supportive. Thank you to all who took the trouble to write.
On the more important issue as to whether Beaver Fever had
any effect I’m delighted to say, probably yes, unless you are a believer in
massive coincidences. The day after publication the River Otter Fisheries
Association received a reply from environment minister Rebecca Pow to a
letter they had sent her 23 June; the granting of further wild release
licences in England is now suspended pending further consultations.
However, this is not really a moment for celebration as the
subtext of the letter suggests that the pro-beaver lobby still holds most
of the cards. They recently stepped up the rhetoric with a carefully
crafted PR release that posited that now beavers were an accepted native
species (sic) they should have full protection under the law, in much the
same way as otters.
Us beaver sceptics are clearly playing catch up but there is
some good news. An alternate report will soon be out to question the
evidence of the previous report (largely a love ode to beavers) on which
Rebecca Pow based her decision to allow the River Otter colony to remain in
place. There is also a beaver summit being held in September at the
instigation of the Beaver Trust. Yes, such a thing really does exist with
the aim of nationwide reintroduction. Ironically, of the 40 or so invitees,
9 have stated their opposition to beaver introductions and as the news of
the event has spread more beaver sceptic organisations have been applying
for places.
Mysteriously, my invite has been lost in the post, but my
mole will be reporting back.
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