Beaver Paw Print
 

Beavers:


Beavers are the largest North American Rodent.  How large? Adults can reach lengths of over 4 feet and weight between 25-90 pounds.  The beaver has short, blunt, large, sharp front teeth, smalls eyes, small ears, stocky body, short legs with 5 large clawed toes in front and webbed hind feet.  The tail is large, flat and mostly scaly.  The beaver's color is uniformly dark brown, with some lighter coloring underneath and the tail is black.  Their lifespan in the wild is around 7 years.

 


Baby Beaver
   
Beavers live in and along streams, rivers, small lakes and marshlands.  They are noted for their engineering skills, building dams where the water is not too fast. Some dams are up to seven feet high and forty feet in diameter.


Beaver Lodge
   
The beavers coat is kept waterproof through a set of oil glands and they can be observed grooming themselves to spread the oil after each swim.  The tail is not used to slap mud on the home - rather it is used as a rudder, a balance beam and is slapped on the water to warn other predators.  Primarily nocturnal, beavers can also be seen at times sunning and foraging during the day.  Vocal sounds range from soft churrs, whines, mumbles, hisses to nasal sounds.  Young are very whiny.  Beavers do not hibernate, but store food (branches, etc.) underwater in their home space to munch on during the winter.  Of course, they are not as active during winter.


Baby Beaver
   

Geographic Range:

Beavers are found throughout North America, from as far north as Alaska, to as far south as southern Texas and into Northenr Mexico. They are not found in desert regions or in Southern Florida.

   

Food Preferences:

Beavers are vegetarians.  They primarily eat wood vegetation (inner bark of trees, tender twigs) and non-woody vegetation (water plants, corn, garden treats).


Adult Beaver
   

Enemies:

Humans and their traps and guns, coyotes, bobcats, minks, otters, lice, flies, roundworms, flukes and tularemia.



Baby Beaver