Do you remember Rashford, the first baby beaver – or kit – to be born on Exmoor in 400 years? Well, he just turned a year old.

And Rashford puts on an arresting sight in this recently released National Trust static camera footage of him helping dad build a dam. Papa Yogi and Mama Grylls and Yogi were paired up in 2020 after the conservation charity received its first license to release Eurasian beavers in a specially constructed 2.7 hectare enclosure in Holnicote.

After a successful mating, Rashford was born last spring. Following the birth announcement, thousands of social media users voted to name the Rashford kit inspired by the England team’s successful campaign at the UEFA European Football Championships the last summer. Since then, the young kit has been active helping mum and dad create a wetland home from an unmanaged forest.

READ MORE: Baby beaver born on Exmoor for the first time in 400 years

He’s a bit of a home boy, it’s Rashford. Whenever he is sighted, he is usually around Yogi and Grylls. Together they are busy being part of what is planned for Holnicote.

Beavers are an important part of the Trust’s habitat restoration work. Other work includes the UK’s first application of the innovative ‘Stage 0’ approach to river restoration, where a tributary of the River Aller has now been allowed to find its own course, creating wetland habitat which again attracted wildlife, including peregrine falcons, grasshoppers, dragonflies, bees and wagtails.

“Due to historical drainage, water is the missing component in many landscapes in this country. The aim of ‘Phase 0’ work is to give space for water to be part of the larger habitat, providing benefits for people and nature,” said Ben Eardley. , project manager for the National Trust in Holnicote.

Ben describes the multiple dam complexes created by Rashford, Grylls and Yogi over the past two years as having helped slow the flow of water through the catchment, creating ponds and new channels to hold more water in. the landscape. “The resulting aquatic habitat creates opportunities for a wide range of wildlife including fish, amphibians, reptiles such as grass snakes, bats, insects and birds such as sparrowhawk, gray wagtail, moorhens and kingfisher Otters are regular visitors to the site as the wetland provides them with an ideal habitat for hunting.

“In addition to retaining water, beavers also help us manage the forest naturally by stripping bark from non-native conifers to create deadwood habitats and encourage natural forest succession. This process opens the canopy; promote regrowth and create better habitat for a wide variety of species,” Ben said.

Site analysis indicated that the area was wetter before historic drainage altered the landscape. By giving water space, beavers can restore this lost habitat and play a role in reducing the impact of floods and droughts, both of which are expected to become more frequent with climate change.

“It has been such a pleasure to see Rashford’s continued development over the past year. Learning so many skills from Grylls and Yogi will serve the kit well when it reaches maturity in a year and sets out to find its own territory. “, says Ben.

“We hope Rashford will be the first of many kits to come to Holnicote. Early signs indicate more kits could be on the way later this spring.

“Due to historical drainage, water is the missing component in many landscapes in this country, and the goal of the ‘Phase 0’ work is to give water space to do part of the wider habitat, providing benefits for people and nature,” he said.