At the Bialowieza conference in 1999;

A Belgium nature-loving activist discusses the return;

Of Beavers to the land, but no, they said, it is of no concern;

Away with you, please leave now, this meeting is adjourned.

So he drove off to Bavaria, Olivier was his name;

Collecting healthy Beavers in the Beaver-bombing way;

With pre-selected sites, ideal, located in Ardennes;

He let them go in secret and then went home to bed.

There were no laws for relocating Beavers back then;

They could not be returned or taken home again;

So the Beavers bred successfully in Willow wooded valleys;

Their dams slowed down the water flows that flooded the communities.

On the court day brought to try what Olivier had done;

Liabilities would be placed on any Beaver damage done;

His lawyers said that they would need clear proof of origin;

But as the Beavers had since bred, his clever ruse won.

Sue Cartwright

Spiral Leaf

[Edited on 17 September 2023]