British Columbia mom Liz Belanger was tubing down the Cowichan River with her 16-year-old son back in August when they heard a strange high-pitched squealing sound.
Liz was going too fast to see where the sound was coming from, but her son, following closely behind, spotted a small animal struggling in the rapids.
The teen reached his hand into the water and scooped up the animal as he floated by. He didn't realize what it was until the baby animal curled up in his arms and he saw its tiny paddle tail.
Connor told CTV News,
It felt awesome and I felt super protective of it immediately.
He took his role as protector seriously, figuring out where to take the baby animal and continuing to cradle the beaver in his arms on the drive to the North Island Wildlife Rescue Association.
The baby beaver was estimated to be only a week old, likely swept out of its beaver dam due to changing water levels on the river. If Connor hadn't happened to be floating by at the time, the baby animal wouldn't have been able to survive on its own.
A few still-shots from mom's Facebook vid:
Connor's mom said of the rescue,
If anyone is going to have this experience, it's going to be Connor. He just has so much empathy for animals.
She went on to say,
It's such a Canadian experience! We rescued a baby beaver! Who gets to do that?!
The beaver, named "Timber" by the Wildlife Rescue Association, is doing great and should be released into the wild once she's old enough to live on her own.
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