Isla the beaver
We have beavers on our land, upstream of Alyth, Perthshire. They have built a beautiful wetland with many dams. We also campaign for the whole Tayside beaver population. Surprisingly, these do not originate from us, but that's another story. A recent tale about these rodents seems to me to cast some light on the changing nature of rural politics in much of Britain.
Last July, Alyth flooded badly and a young farmer started a rumour that the beavers on our land had exacerbated the flood. He tweeted his theory to the media and the story spread like wildfire, though very few locals believed it: apart from anything else, it was clear that upstream beaver dams had all held firm.
