• Beaver

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  Beaver information and facts:

  Type: Mammal
  Diet: Herbivore
  Average lifespan in the wild: Up to 24 years
  Size: Head and body, 23 to 39 in (60 to 100 cm); Tail, 7.75 to 12 in (20 to 30.5 cm)
  Weight: 60 lbs (27 kg)
  Group name: Colony
  Did you know? Beavers are second only to humans in their ability to manipulate and change their environment.

• Beavers are famously busy, and they turn their talents to reengineering the landscape as few other animals can. When sites are available, beavers burrow in the banks of rivers and lakes. But they also transform less suitable habitats by building dams. Felling and gnawing trees with their strong teeth and powerful jaws, they create massive log, branch, and mud structures to block streams and turn fields and forests into the large ponds that beavers love.

• Beaver video.
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  Where do Beavers live?

  Domelike beaver homes, called lodges, are also constructed of branches and mud. They are often strategically located in the middle of ponds and can only be reached by underwater entrances. These dwellings are home to extended families of monogamous parents, young kits, and the yearlings born the previous spring.
  Beavers sometimes reside in a burrow at the water's edge, but more often can be found setting up house in a dome-shaped lodge, built with branches and trees cut down with its large incisors.
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  What does a Beaver look like?

  The beaver, the second largest rodent in the world, is well-known for its wide, flat tail, used for slapping the surface of the water to warn other beavers of approaching danger. These large rodents move with an ungainly waddle on land but are graceful in the water, where they use their large, webbed rear feet like swimming fins, and their paddle-shaped tails like rudders. These attributes allow beavers to swim at speeds of up to five miles (eight kilometers) an hour. They can remain underwater for 15 minutes without surfacing, and have a set of transparent eyelids that function much like goggles. Their fur is naturally oily and waterproof.
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  What does a Beaver eat?

  They are herbivores and prefer to eat leaves, bark, twigs, roots, and aquatic plants. Trees provide a beaver's favorite winter food — bark and leaves. In summer other vegetation, especially aquatic plants, make up their diet.
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  How long are the Beavers teeth?

  The beaver's front teeth never stop growing. The outside is hard enamel, but the inside is soft and wears away quickly, keeping them sharp.

• Why do Beavers build dams?

  Beaver dams are created as a protection against predators, such as coyotes, wolves and bears, and to provide easy access to food during winter. Beavers always work at night and are prolific builders, carrying mud and stones with their fore-paws and timber between their teeth. Because of this, destroying a beaver dam without removing the beavers is difficult, especially if the dam is downstream of an active lodge. Beavers can rebuild such primary dams overnight, though they may not defend secondary dams as vigorously.

• Beaver images

  
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