The Big Beaver

Then the river came up. In early 2021 the Hawkesbury broke its banks and flooded Wilberforce badly, destroying homes across the district. The Butterfly Farm went under, and the beaver – being largely styrofoam and therefore extremely buoyant – was torn from her base and carried away by the floodwater.

That she is recorded as standing at the property today means she came back, though the sculpture has aged and suffered from the experience. Project research notes the ageing sculpture's previous flood damage and deterioration, so anyone visiting should expect a survivor rather than a showpiece.

It is a good illustration of how fragile these objects are. A three-metre styrofoam animal has essentially no mass to hold it down, which makes it cheap to build, easy to move and completely defenceless against moving water.

A disposable advertising prop, saved from the tip, floated off in a flood and put back up. Not many Big Things have had a harder run.

The Hawkesbury has flooded severely again since 2021. Any object on that floodplain now carries a known and recurring risk, and a styrofoam sculpture is about the least suitable thing that could be standing on it.