Beaver caught on camera stealing firewood from Finnish cabin

A beaver was recorded repeatedly hauling split logs from a lakeside cabin in Mikkeli after the owners installed a security camera to investigate disappearing firewood, Finnish public broadcaster Yle reports.

Sari Ahtiainen and Kai Aro, a Helsinki couple, noticed their stacked firewood dwindling over several weeks at their Mikkeli cabin. Suspecting a beaver living on the opposite shore, they set up a camera, which captured footage of the animal dragging logs toward the lake.

“It was quite a chubby, impressive creature,” Ahtiainen told Yle. “I didn’t realize beavers could get that big.”

The beaver took around a dozen logs over weeks, some left floating in the water and others gnawed onshore. The owners ruled out dam-building, confirming the animal was simply feeding.

To stop the thefts, they secured the woodpile with barriers, including a door placed over the stack. The beaver inspected the changes the following night but did not return. “It seemed to realize the buffet was closed,” Ahtiainen said.

The couple noted the beaver had also felled several deciduous trees on their property, all toppled toward the lake. “It had its own snack bar here—an all-you-can-eat buffet,” they said.