It was during the heat wave last week that Melvin Dalhqvist Ulmaja and his sister would take an evening dip in Lake Mälaren. The dog Asta had to go down to a small canoe dock in Gröndal in southern Stockholm.

- We threw in a stick for her that she swam after. But then we hear her beep, and then we see that she crashed with a beaver, he says.

Forced to surgery

It turned out that the beaver bit the dog, so badly that Asta had to go to an animal hospital to be anesthetized and operated. The wounds are 1.5 centimeters deep and between the stitches drainage pipes are inserted. 

Nina Ulmaja thinks it is problematic that the beaver lives in the middle of town and does not seem so shy.

- We were on a sink down by the water yesterday and then we saw little girls jumping from the jetty. They were not much bigger than the dog. It is uncomfortable if the beaver swims under those piers as well. Someone should probably move this beaver away from town, says Nina Ulmaja.

A hundred years ago, the beaver was extinct in Sweden, but since then the tribe has recovered. At the beginning of the 2010s, there were an estimated 100,000 beavers in Sweden, and today there can be up to 130,000 beavers. Beavers are not very shy or scared of people, and are now becoming more common in several cities. 

"Keep distance"

Göran Hartman is a senior lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and one of Sweden's foremost experts on beavers.

- If there is only water and food, that is, beach-close plants and deciduous trees near the beaches, then there are resources for the beavers to live, and then they do, says Göran Hartman.

He thinks that one should beware of getting too close to a beaver.

- Keep your distance, show respect and never try to pat wild animals. That's my advice, says Göran Hartman.

 The beaver incident has now led the Ulmaja family to change their bathing behavior.

- Next time we will hit the bridge quite hard before we jump in the water I think. A bit like snakes, says Nina Ulmaja.