Bailey the beaver's teeth grow back

PULLMAN, Wash. — Bailey the beaver finally has her choppers back.

The beaver was struck by a car near Lewiston last April, losing her four rust-colored front teeth.

But under care at Washington State University's veterinary hospital, Bailey has grown her teeth back and is preparing to return to the wild.

Teeth are a beaver's most important tool, used to gnaw through just about anything, including the tree bark that is a mainstay of their diet. A beaver wouldn't last long in the wild without them.

"They're stone chisels, is really what they are," said Charlie Powell, spokesman for the WSU veterinary school.

Chances are good Bailey will be released back into the wild by August, said Angela Teal, a veterinary technician who helps care for injured wildlife at the school.

That's a happy ending, since lots of wild animals become too spoiled or softened by human contact to be turned loose again.

The WSU vet school treats scores of wild and domestic animals each year, but beavers have been relatively rare. Powell said this is the second one he's seen in his 17 years there.

Other than the loss of her teeth, Bailey wasn't too badly injured, Teal said. But they had to improvise to figure out how to feed the 41-pound beaver, who's likely 1 1/2 to 2 years old.

"We don't really carry a supply of bark, and we don't have a pond with lily pads for them to eat," she said.

Powell said media inquiries have flooded the school, following the announcement of Bailey's recovery since April.

"These are probably the most famous beaver teeth in all of human history," he said.