Beaver Goes to College to Get New Teeth

If a beaver needed dental work, where would it go? In this case, a beaver who
lost her four front teeth in an encounter with a car has been checked into
Washington State University's Veterinary Teaching Hospital to recuperate.


The 41-pound animal, nicknamed Bailey, lost her chewing teeth when struck by a
car last week near Lewiston, Idaho, about 30 miles southeast of Pullman. A
retired Idaho Fish and Game agent brought the injured beaver to the WSU College
of Veterinary Medicine.


Nickol Finch, the veterinarian who heads the veterinary hospital's Exotics and
Wildlife Department, said the beaver's prognosis is good, and treatment will be
to let nature take its course as her choppers grow back.


"Her four front teeth are expected to grow back in about three months, and she
should be able to be released into the wild without any problems," Finch said.


A beaver's front teeth grow continually throughout its life and require constant
gnawing to keep them at a healthy length. Beavers in the wild usually eat the
bark of poplar, willow, birch and maple trees, using the wood for their dams.


So what does a beaver without teeth eat?


"Since she doesn't have her incisors, we've been feeding her salad greens,
applesauce and vegetable-based baby foods," Finch said by e-mail Wednesday.
"She's not eating much on her own, doesn't recognize what we have as a food
source, so we've been syringe-feeding her."


Once the bumps and bruises she suffered from the encounter with the car are
healed in a few weeks, Bailey will be taken to a wildlife rehabilitation
facility for long-term care and eventual release near where she was found, Finch
said.


Meanwhile, Bailey is recuperating by spending time swimming in a hydrotherapy
sink.

 

如果一只海狸需要补牙，那么它应该去找谁呢？美国日前就发生了这样一件事：一只在车祸中损失了4颗门牙的海狸被送往华盛顿州立大学的兽医学院去接受治疗。


海狸遭遇车祸后被送往医院


据美联社4月6日报道，这只昵称为贝莉的雌性海狸体重为41磅。上个星期，贝莉在爱达荷州的刘易斯顿附近被一辆小汽车撞伤，并因此丧失了4颗用来咀嚼食物的牙齿。爱达荷州渔猎部门一位退休工作人员把贝莉送到了华盛顿州立大学兽医学院去接受治疗。


该院外来及野生动物部门的负责人尼科·芬奇表示，贝莉的预期治疗效果不错。他说：“贝莉的4颗门牙预计将在大约3个月内重新长出来，那时把它放归到野生环境中去应该不成什么问题。”


海狸的牙齿在一生中都会不断生长，因此它们需要经常磨牙来保持牙齿合适的长度。野生海狸通常会啃咬杨树皮、柳树皮、白桦树皮等，用啃下来的木头去修建他们的小窝。


兽医为没牙海狸开出特殊食谱


没有牙齿不能像原来一样啃咬食物了，贝莉应该吃些什么呢？芬奇对此表示：“自从贝莉的门牙没有了之后，我们就一直在喂它绿叶蔬菜，苹果酱和蔬菜成分的婴儿食品。它并不把这些当成是食物来源，所以我们就用注射器慢慢喂它吃。”


芬奇说，当贝莉遭遇车祸时身体上的碰伤和擦伤在几个星期内痊愈后，它将被送往一个野生动物休养机构，进行长期的护理，并最终被放回到当时发现它的地方。


（王高山）