Lost and confused passengers are a common sight on the Toronto metro system, but a puzzled, fare-evading beaver wandering a subway station is probably a first for the city.
An underground station in Canada’s largest city was shut down on Thursday after a beaver unwittingly ended up on its terrazzo tile floors after straying from a nearby marsh.
Passengers posted images of the rodent perched at the top of a staircase ahead of the morning rush.
This. At the Grenview entrance of Royal York subway station. @breakfasttv pic.twitter.com/6Wivw2PNRF
— Jenn Abbott (@jennabbott65) March 25, 2021
“At first I thought someone had dropped a hat. Then it started to move, so I knew it was an animal. I thought it was a groundhog because it was too big to be a rat,” one resident told Global News. “Then I saw its tail, and I knew from the back of a nickel that it was a beaver.” (Canada’s five cent coin features a beaver on its reverse.)
A spokesperson for the city’s transit system said an employee stayed with the animal “to ensure the animal wasn’t disturbed and that it didn’t waddle down to platform level” until help arrived.
“Animal services arrived around 8am and made a safe recovery,” spokesperson Stuart Green said in a statement.
The beaver – which the transit system has since named Rascal but the city’s animal control has dubbed “Nickel” – was transported from the station in a black mesh bag and released in a nearby marsh. A number of local news outlets filmed its successful return to the water.
News of the beaver disrupting Toronto’s morning commute quickly went viral on social media. Some described it as “peak Canada”, while others suggested the wayward beaver could join the pantheon of iconic Toronto animals, including the Ikea monkey and a donut-stealing raccoon.
Despite being one of the largest cities in North America, Toronto has large populations of urban wildlife that often cross paths with the city’s human residents.
Green said that while raccoons, deer, pigeons, opossums and even pet crabs have found their way into the subway system – and even ridden the train – Thursday marked the first time a beaver has been spotted in a subway station.
