Apparently Russia doesn’t pose a sufficient challenge, as Poland declares war on our beaver friends:
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called for decisive action against beavers, suggesting the industrious rodents are partly responsible for the severe flooding across the country. The prime minister made the remarks on Saturday during a meeting with cabinet members and local officials at a crisis headquarters managing the flood response in the southwestern city of Glogow. Tusk called for quick action to tackle the disaster, urging municipalities to swiftly report their needs as well as to closely monitor the condition of dams still standing. A sizable part of his speech, however, was dedicated to beavers, with Tusk suggesting the critters were partly to blame for the disaster and that action against their presence at man-made earthworks was needed. “Sometimes, we must choose between our love for animals and the safety of cities, villages, and the integrity of dams,” Tusk stated, invoking the catastrophic 2010 floods and the alleged role beavers played in them. At the time, the Polish government accused the animals of causing great damage to levees.
I don’t have anything against the Poles, but honestly, I’m down with the beavers every single time. And so, I suspect, is President Putin.