Just when you thought it was safe to go to the hospital... On Christmas, we learn that a hospital in Bartlett, Tennesee, was invaded by what the Bartlett Police Department described as a "wayward beaver." Honestly, these days, it seems like it's just one dam thing after another.
The Bartlett Police Department published video of the bizarre incident on Instagram Wednesday. A hospital operator at Saint Francis Hospital called police after being alerted to the animal.
"You guys asked for the body cam footage from the St. Francis Beaver Wranglers so… ask and ye shall receive," the Bartlett Police Department wrote in an Instagram caption. The police department also included 911 call audio.
"I didn't know who to call, so I thought maybe you might help me," the hospital employee told police. "[A nurse] wanted me to call animal control because there is a beaver in the lobby of the hospital."
Cops, to be certain, see all manner of strange things in the course of their duty, but having a beaver in the local hospital probably didn't come up on these officers' bingo cards.
In the interests of dispelling any claims of excessive force, and to make sure the officers' testimony was repeated beaver-batim, the body cam footage was indeed released.
We must assume this beaver acted with ill intent — why else would a large aquatic rodent invade a human healthcare facility? Thanks, though, to the quick action of the Bartlett PD, the beaver's actions came to gnawt. Although, it's far from certain that the rodent acted alone; more of Beaverdom may well be involved. Fortunately, at least some quick-thinking organizations have set up to do some quiet surveillance of the aquatic critters' activities.
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This was almost certainly an exploratory mission, with this beaver acting as a scout to evaluate the human defenses. To support this notion, we can note that the animals who would appear to be combining against humanity not only work across species boundaries but even have human enablers. This won't be the last such incursion we see, either; we have reliable information about beavers receiving training as airborne troops, and while we understand their aquatic nature, they are, of late, even moving into desert areas.
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A rodent as large as a beaver could cause a lot of problems in a human hospital. With just a few nibbles here and there in the wiring and, say, the oxygen lines, the animal could easily have the facility tied up in gnawts. In this case, though, the wayward rodent was corralled, captured, and after a brief interrogation, released.
The beaver eventually relented and went into the cart. It was wheeled outside and dropped off in a nearby stream.
"The beaver has been given a 6-10 return to the water's edge," a police officer is heard saying in the video.
The animal probably returned to its compatriots with some tall tails to tell.
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