When Exotic Pets Turn on Owners

In Belarus, a man decided to raise a beaver as a pet and fed it marshmallows and candy like it was a fuzzy little roommate. It seemed cute—until 2013, when the beaver snapped and bit a visiting fisherman straight through the leg.

The man was lucky to get away with only stitches. Wildlife experts later explained that beavers have powerful jaws made for snapping trees… and not made for life in a kitchen. As one official put it, “This isn’t a plush toy—it’s a chainsaw with fur.”