Police rescue beaver from Calgary storm drain
Beaver safely swam away, with the help of city workers and some river surfers
Calgary police responded to an unusual rescue call this Thanksgiving weekend.
Const. Chris Martin said he and his partner received a call around 11 a.m. Sunday that a beaver was stuck inside a storm drain near Harvie Passage.
The beaver was behind a heavy gate that was secured with large bolts.
"We ended up calling City of Calgary waterworks and had them bring out some wrenches," said Martin.
"And then as luck would have it, there were some surfers and kayakers in the area who were wearing wetsuits and they were able to come help us get the lower parts that were pretty deep in the water and then to help us get the grate off safely."
Grate is off and the beaver is free! Big thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/cityofcalgary?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cityofcalgary</a> Water Works, some awesome surfers in wetsuits who helped us get the grate off, & my wife who drove across the city with a wrench that we ended up not using. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/yyc?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#yyc</a> <a href="https://t.co/teNMtJFPCt">pic.twitter.com/teNMtJFPCt</a>
—@CstCJMartinMartin said the grate came off just before backup arrived — his wife, who works in construction.
"She loaded up the kids and some wrenches and was heading down just in case the city guys couldn't find a wrench. So she got here basically just as we rescued the beaver, so she had the right tools, but was about two minutes too late," he said.
Martin said he's rescued plenty of cats and dogs, and even a turkey and a moose in the line of duty, but this was the first beaver he's had to save.
He said the beaver swam away in the direction of a dam just north of the storm drain.
"He got out and disappeared happily into the river."