The Beaver

[Guest]

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The Beaver
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Adult

Baby

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General Information;

Type: Mammal
Diet: Herbivore
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)
Conservation status: Not applicable
Scientific Classification: Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Mammalia. Order: Rodentia, Family: Castoridae, Genus: Castor
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:

Beaver Range


The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver. 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.
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Physical Features;
Beavers have webbed hind-feet, and a broad, scaly tail. They have poor eyesight, but keen senses of hearing, smell, and touch. A beaver's teeth grow continuously so that they will not be worn down by chewing on wood. Their four incisors are composed of hard orange enamel on the front and a softer dentin on the back. The chisel-like ends of incisors are maintained by their self-sharpening wear pattern. Beavers continue to grow throughout their lives. Adult specimens weighing over 25 kg (55 lb) are not uncommon. Females are as large as or larger than males of the same age, which is uncommon among mammals. Their fur is naturally oily and waterproof.
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Mental Features;
Beavers are a docile, gentle animal with a strong aversion to biting. In fact, in some Native American dialects the word for "beaver like" also means "affable." This is not to say that a beaver will never bite. It is best to avoid a hissing or blowing beaver as these are signs that it feels frightened or cornered. Some behavior is instinctive to beavers, such as patching a dam at the sound of running water, but they also learn from experience and by imitating others. At the age of two years old, beavers will migrate to find their own territory. This is the most dangerous time of life an adult beaver will ever face. The journey may be over 10 miles, and is sometimes overland, where the beaver is most vulnerable. Beavers are mostly nocturnal, sleeping by day, and foraging for food and doing construction work at night. While they can occasionally be seen during the day, the best time is an hour before dark or early in the morning at sunup. Adult beavers may sometimes grunt as they work, but are generally silent. As was noted earlier, tail slapping is used to warn of predators, but can communicate other emotions as well.
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Diet;
Beavers are herbivores (vegetarians/plant-eaters). Beavers will eat bark from hardwood trees such as birch, aspen, willow, cottonwood, and adler. They will also eat leaves, roots, and twigs from certain trees such as willow and aspen, and water plants of all kinds, along with grasses, and buds. Beavers don't actually eat wood, only the cambium, a soft tissue close to the surface in which new wood and bark grow. Some of their favorite foods include water lily tubers, clover, apples, leaves, and cambium from Aspen or other fast-growing trees. Most of their favorite herbaceous foods are only available in summer. During winter, their diet consists mainly of woody material such as shrubs, saplings, and branches that are planted underwater in the mud close to the lodge entrance.
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Threats towards this animal;
The threats towards this animal excluding wolves are:

Lynx, bears, coyotes, red foxes, bobcats, owls, otters, minks, alligators, wolverines, weasels, hawks, eagles, and dogs.
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Credits (c);

Images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikkii-m/5622876742/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sherseydc/2452702213/

Information:
http://fohn.net/beaver-pictures-facts/beaver-diet-reproduction.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/beaver/?source=A-to-Z
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