A pair of Canadian symbols squared off on the Malahat Friday morning in a showdown that triggered a serge … er … surge of national pride.
The Integrated Road Safety Unit was set up at a location about 8:30 a.m. when officers noticed a motorcyclist frantically waving at traffic a short distance away.
“We didn’t quite realize what was going on,” said Const. Andy Dunstan of Victoria police. “So one of my colleagues went down there.”
It should be noted here that, because the team is integrated, the colleague was, in fact, a member of the RCMP, who quickly recognized that a pair of beavers was crossing the road.
Dunstan said the first beaver disappeared into the underbrush, but the second plopped down in the right-hand lane.
“My colleague’s there, he’s got the lights on. He sounds the siren a few times. He gets out and hisses at it, and the beaver kind of hisses back. It was just being obstinate.”
With traffic backing up, the buck-toothed blockade eventually moved along of its own accord.
“What can be more iconic than an RCMP officer — a Mountie — moving along this great Canadian symbol, the beaver,” Dunstan said. “It was perfect.”
