a beaver in the Kennet and Avon Canal

An early morning cruise; suddenly, I was aware of a large creature swimming alongside the boat. "A beaver? Surely not- must be a muntjac.... no! not at all deerlike, and with a big flat tail!"We were keeping pretty much the same pace, and though the beaver had every appearance of insouciance, I figured it was deceptive, and that it would far rather be left alone. So I put the engine into neutral (hence the shaky camerawork) and it went ahead, and slipped under a willow and out of sight.What a start to the day! I've seen trees gnawed by beavers along the Avom, but this was my first sighting. I'm not disclosing the location, of course, other than that it was the canal.