Details
Castor canadensis
The North American beaver is a large rodent that cuts trees and builds dams and lodges. By reshaping water flow, it creates habitat for many other species.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It inhabits Nearctic rivers, ponds, lakes, wetlands, and nearby forest. Suitable sites have woody food and water that can be deepened or stabilized.
Length 74-90 cm; weight 11-32 kg. A flat scaly tail, webbed hind feet, waterproof brown fur, and large orange incisors are distinctive.
Nocturnal and pair-living, it builds with branches and mud. Dams maintain water levels, and lodge entrances are kept underwater for protection.
A herbivore, it eats bark, twigs, aquatic plants, and herbs. Branches may be stored underwater as winter food.
Pairs raise kits in the lodge, sometimes with older young remaining in the family group. Kits learn swimming and feeding along the pond edge.
It is listed as Least Concern. Once heavily reduced by the fur trade, it has recovered widely and acts as a major wetland engineer.
