Igor the beaver was one of three giant rodents who escaped from their home in Lifton, Devon, in October 2008.

The two females were quickly caught but the mischievous male dodged his captors, travelling 20 MILES across a county boarder to the picturesque village of Gunnislake in Cornwall.

The fugitive caused no end of trouble, chomping his way through trees and dodging a trap set by humans.

Safe at last … Igor the beaver was living in a filthy slurry pit

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But his game was finally up after he was found living in a filthy slurry pit in Gunnislake.

Igor’s rescuers said he was dishevelled, disgruntled and uncomfortable in his smelly home and he has now been moved to Dartmoor Zoo in Devon.

Felled tree … Igor left a trail of destruction in his wake

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George Hyde, a spokesman for the zoo, praised the “very brave” female RSPCA officer who got Igor into a travelling container before taking him to the zoo.

He said: “He’s a feisty little thing.

“He’s also got a fairly substantial set of teeth he could do some damage with, so he’s contained in a large RSPCA kennel box at the moment.

“It’s important to get him cleaned because he’s covered in poo from the slurry pit and with natural grooming he could be ingesting any number of nasty things.

“Beavers are quite difficult to contain and we have none in our collection, but we have set up temporary accommodation for him.

“We will look after him and feed him but are unlikely to keep him.”

Igor’s remarkable story began in November 2008, when he clambered over an electric fence at his reserve alongside two female companions.

Eager beaver … Igor built a dam in a bid to find a mate

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Their escape made them the first wild beavers to roam around Britain since the species was hunted to extinction in the 16th century.

He gnawed his way through a swathe of trees on a one-and-a-half mile stretch of a river bank in a desperate bid to build the perfect dam to attract a female.

He then set up camp outside the village of Gunnislake, where a honey trap was set using the scent of a female beaver.

But the escapee sensed the trap and fled, successfully surviving as a fugitive for three-and-a-half years.

Igor is now expected to be returned to his owner, Derek Gow.

But Derek has admitted it would be “impossible” to confirm Igor’s identity because beavers don’t have distinguishing features.

He said: “Beavers are a brown amorphous mess.

“We have an enclosure here.

“If they want to give us a beaver, we’ll definitely take a look at it.”

Beavers normally live in family groups, surviving up to 24 years in the wild and 35 in captivity.

They eat vegetation and wood.

via http://www.cornwallholidaycottage.org.uk and www.cornwall-breaks.com