Environment and nature

Beavers return to Callow Brook

Five years ago, a family of beavers was released into a fenced woodland beside Callow Brook, a small stream that runs through farmland in the west of the county. At the time, not everyone was pleased. Some farmers worried that the animals would flood their fields or damage the trees along the banks.

Today, the picture looks very different. The beavers have built a series of dams, turning a narrow stream into a chain of shallow ponds. Local [1] ______ (SCIENCE) have been measuring the water that flows out of the woodland, and they have found that after heavy rain it now leaves far more slowly than before. As a result, the village downstream has not flooded once since the beavers arrived.

The ponds have also attracted dragonflies, frogs and several kinds of bat that had not been recorded in the area for decades. It is [2] ______ (ARGUE) the most successful wildlife project the county has ever seen, although the team behind it are careful not to claim too much. 'Five years is a short time in nature,' says project leader Helen Marsh. 'We'll know far more in twenty.'