![]() The lodge has one main room with its floor above water. They will either live in one built on an island, one built on the shore of a pond, or one built on a lakeshore. Range length 900 to 1170 mm 35.43 to 46.06 inīeavers are found throughout all of North America except for the northern regions of Canada and the deserts of the southern United States and Mexico.( Frazier, 1996 Hall and Kelson, 1959 Whitaker and Hamilton, 1998) A beaver's tail is broad, flat, and covered with large black scales. These glands are located beneath the tail. ( Hall and Kelson, 1959 Whitaker and Hamilton, 1998)īeavers also have anal and castor glands, which they use to mark their territory. Beavers also have see-through eye lids, and closable nostrils and ears for swimming underwater. Without these teeth beavers could not cut down or eat trees and wood. These teeth grow throughout the animal's life, and they are used for cutting wood. The two front teeth are orange colored, and they can be up to 5 mm wide and between 20 and 25 mm long. ( "Data: Species: Mammal: American Beaver- Castor canadiensis", 1998 Frazier, 1996 Hall and Kelson, 1959 Whitaker and Hamilton, 1998)īeaver skulls and teeth are very big. A beaver's front legs are not as large or as strong as its back legs. ![]() They have small, round, brown ears, and powerful back legs for swimming. To protect themselves from the cold and wetness they have waterproof reddish brown or blackish brown hair. It may be kinder to kill the beaver humanely.Beavers are the largest rodents in North America, and they spend most of their time in the water. While live-trapping is an option, releasing the trapped animal is difficult and mortality of released animals is high. In many areas, it is legal to trap or hunt nuisance beavers that are causing property damage at any time and without a permit. One or two strands at a height of 4 inches are recommended.Ĥ. Install electric fencing to protect larger areas. The fence needs to be 8 to 10 inches from the plant, at least 3 feet high, made of ½-inch mesh hardware cloth or 2 by 4-inch welded wire and should completely surround the plant.ģ. Install fences to keep beavers away from valued plants. Beavers are part of the natural landscape and may be valued for their dam building activity that creates wildlife habitat and stabilizes stream flow.Ģ. They supplement this diet with water plants and if growing near their home, crops such as corn and peanuts.ġ. Many species of trees are eaten including cottonwood, willow, oak, hickory, elm and birch. Beavers primarily consume the bark of young twigs and the new growth between wood and older bark. Young beavers generally stay with the family group for 2 years. In Missouri, they breed in February and the young, an average of 3 to 4 per litter, are born in late April or early May. Mounds of mud, leaves and other debris that beavers use to mark their territory may also be present.īeavers are mainly nocturnal and semi-aquatic, although they will leave the water to cut trees and forage for food. Trees may be entirely or partially girdled. Other signs of beaver include fallen or standing trees with gnaw marks, especially on the water side of the tree. However, in areas where flooding is common or where the water level fluctuates, beavers dig dens in the bank of a stream or under the roots of a tree growing beside the water. These structures resemble a brush pile in the water. The most obvious sign of beavers is the presence of a dam, lodge or food cache. Beavers occasionally come into conflict with humans when their dam and lodge building activity damages trees and floods cropland, roads and areas along streams or when they consume garden crops. Weighing from 40 to 60 pounds and 3 to 4 feet in length from nose to tail, beavers are the largest rodent native to North America. A willow ( Salix) gnawed more than halfway through by a beaver.
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