Beavers have been around for 35 million years. Only one species of the beaver exists in Canada, the Castor Canadensis. They are the largest rodent in Canada and the second largest rodent in the world.
Beavers are herbivores. They eat bark and leaves and nibble on vegetables, fruit, grasses, woody shrubs and water plants. They eat up to a kilogram (two pounds) of food a day to get the energy required for the building they do.
Beavers are social creatures and they live and work with other beavers. They become sexually mature around their third year of life and breed once a year. They are monogamous critters but if their mate dies, they often find another beaver to share their life with.
Beavers and Kits
Beavers mate underwater during the winter months. The baby beavers (kits) are born in spring and weigh about 500 grams (one pound). The average beaver litter size is four kits. The kits reach adulthood in their second winter when they leave home to find a mate and build their own lodge. They continue to grow throughout their lifetime and weigh 18 - 27 kg (40 - 60 pounds), as much as a large dog. They are approximately 122 - 137 cm long (48 – 54 inches).
A beaver’s teeth never stop growing. They are covered by a hard, orangish-brown enamel. If the teeth are not kept to the proper length, the beaver can’t eat and will starve to death. To avoid this, beavers continuously gnaw on wood to wear their teeth down and keep them sharp.
The paddle-shaped tail is the beaver's most recognizable feature. Not only does it serve as a rudder when they swim, they use it to prop themselves up when standing and as a lever when dragging logs.
Enemies of Beavers
Animals that prey on beavers include otters, foxes, coyotes, wolves, eagles, owls, dogs, hawks, weasels, lynx, and bears. If a beaver senses danger, he will smack his tail on water to warn family members. The sound can be heard a kilometre away (over a thousand yards). Underwater escape is the beaver’s best defense against predators.
Due to over-trapping for their fur, beavers almost became extinct at the dawn of the twentieth century but are making a comeback due to trapping limitations. Humans have proven to be the most dangerous predator to beavers by killing them for their pelts, disrupting their habitat, and slowly poisoning them through pollution.
Beavers have highly efficient lungs that enable them to stay submerged for 15 minutes at a time. They can swim submerged up to a kilometre (1,000 yards) before coming up for air. They swim at speeds of up to 10 kilometres per hours (6 miles).
Beavers Love Water
Beavers live by water, be it lakes, streams, or even ponds. When a beaver family moves into an area, they start cutting down trees to build a dam; it's an instinctual reaction to the sound of running water. Using their sharp front teeth like an axe, a beaver can cut through a 15 centimetre (six-inch) tree trunk in less than 20 minutes. Beavers cut fallen trees into smaller pieces and wedge the limbs in the water, using mud and rocks to hold the dam together. These structures can be a hundred metres (325 feet) long. Some dams are as long as three soccer fields. Once the dam is complete, the beavers use sticks and mud to erect a lodge to live in with at least two escape tunnels. The lodges are so strong even their most ferocious enemies can’t break in.
Beavers are Construction Workers
Beavers are one of the most industrious animals, surpassed in their constructive abilities only by man. The cost of damage to homes, roadways, golf courses, farmlands and tress due to beaver dams runs in the tens of millions of dollars every year. In some cases the beavers are trapped and relocated to an area where their building will not cause property damage. One solution that has proven effective is the installation of beaver pipes in dams that are used to control objectionable flooding.
Landowners often panic when they see the trees that a beaver has gnawed down. But that is a part of nature’s cycle. Tree cutting actually stimulates more growth in many trees, especially the aspen and willow trees that beavers love so much. For each willow stem that is cut, three more will appear in the spring.
Wetland environments that beavers create are a rich habitat for otters, muskrats, raccoons, frogs, and turtles, among other animals. Larger animals use the beaver-created pond for drinking water. Fish and aquatic animals love wetlands, which then attract eagles, wading birds, ducks, geese, etc. to the pond. Eventually the beaver family creates an entire ecological community.
Beavers are rarely dangerous to people. They are gentle social creatures with strong instincts against biting. Although they are in the rodent family, they are more similar to squirrels than mice and will flee if threatened. But, as with any animal, they may bite if frightened and cornered. Avoid hissing or blowing beavers.
Interesting Facts About Beavers
Millions of years ago some beavers were as big as grizzly bears. Here are more facts about beavers:
- The beaver was on the first Canadian stamp, the “Three Penny Beaver”, in 1851.
- The beaver has appeared on a total of seven Canadian stamps.
- The beavers first appeared on the Canadian nickel in 1937.
- Beavers are nocturnal animals. The best time to observe them is at dusk or sunrise.
- Beavers can live over 20 years in captivity and an average of ten years in the wild where traps and predators often get them.
- The gestation period of beavers is 107 days.
- Kits can swim when they are one day old.
- Beaver lodges can last for decades.
- The only rodent bigger than the beaver is a capybara, a creature that lives in South America and looks like a furry pig.
- Beavers are always busy building dams or cutting down trees. Hence the expression, “busy as a beaver.”
Toby Welch - Toby is a full-time freelance writer who specializes in magazine articles, online writing, e-books, and manuscript editing.
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