'SLAPPING TAIL': Beaver spotted at Royal York subway station

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Hot dam. How did that happen?

The TTC has seen its share of raccoons, pigeons and squirrels — a plethora of Toronto wildlife — in the transit system, but here’s a new one.

A beaver was spotted by commuter Will Abbott, whose wife, Jenn, tweeted a picture around 7:15 a.m. Thursday of the animal wandering in Royal York subway station near the Grenview entrance.

“I went down the first set of escalators on the east side and saw this big brown thing on the ground,” Abbott, 54, told the Toronto Sun Thursday.

“Then woke up pretty quickly. At first, I thought it was a groundhog, but when it turns sideways, I saw the tail and I knew it was a beaver.”

The furry creature was seen shuffling around the top of a set of stairs and an escalator.

“I’ve seen a lot of strange things on the subway riding it for 19 years — mice and pigeons — but this certainly took the cake,” Abbott said. “I figured it must have wandered up from the Humber River.”

Abbott went back up the stairs and pressed the emergency button, signalling TTC staff for assistance.

“I stuck around for a little bit to see if other people were coming up or down, because it was in a spot where you would really get startled, but then decided I should really go to work,” he said.

Toronto Animal Services (TAS) said it’s unknown how the beaver got into the station.

“An officer was dispatched to rescue the beaver, which appeared to be healthy,” City of Toronto spokesperson Jasmine Patrick said. “The beaver was safely and humanely captured using a net and transported to Old Mill parkette, where it was released.”

“Residents are asked to call 311 if they see injured, sick, very young or lost wildlife. Please do not approach, touch or feed wild animals,” she added.

In a tweet, TAS thanked the public for the beaver rescue, calling the animal “Nickel.”

They said Nickel “was clearly afraid and stressed to find himself amongst so many people, but was healthy, with clear eyes and a slapping tail — all signs of a healthy beaver.”

TAS also thanked “Officer Peter as always, the @TTChelps staff who assisted us with the rescue, the many calls we received from the public, and the media that stayed at a respectful distance as Officer Peter checked Nickel for health, captured and released him.”

jyuen@postmedia.com