Beaver

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: [|navigation], [|search] This article is about all beaver species worldwide. For the North American Beaver, see [|North American Beaver]. For the Eurasian Beaver, see [|Eurasian Beaver]. For other uses, see [|Beaver (disambiguation)].
 * Beaver**


 * **BeaverTemporal range: Late** [|**Miocene**] **– Recent** ||
 * [|North American Beaver] (//Castor canadensis//) ||
 * [|**Scientific classification**] ||
 * Kingdom: || [|Animalia] ||
 * Phylum: || [|Chordata] ||
 * Class: || [|Mammalia] ||
 * Order: || [|Rodentia] ||
 * Family: || [|Castoridae] ||
 * Genus: || **//Castor//**[|Linnaeus], 1758 ||
 * [|**Species**] ||
 * [|//C. canadensis//] – North American beaver[|//C. fiber//] – Eurasian beaver†[|//C. californicus//] ||
 * [|//C. canadensis//] – North American beaver[|//C. fiber//] – Eurasian beaver†[|//C. californicus//] ||

It is the color brown You will never see it frown It has brown paws With sharp little claws It builds dams and doesn't clown

History : Beavers live in streams, rivers, marshes, ponds, and shorelines of large lakes throughout North America, parts of Europe, and Asia. The beaver is an environmental engineer -- second only to man in its ability to change the landscape for its own needs. Beavers alter their environment on a large scale in order to provide themselves with shelter and protection. However, this can often be a recipe for conflict with humans. Beavers flood roads, cut down trees, plug road culverts, and can even cause dangerous flash flooding when one of their dams break. However, their dam building activity has a very beneficial side. Beavers build and economically maintain wetlands that soak up floodwaters from upstream, prevent erosion, raise the water table, and create an ecosystem that breaks down toxins and pesticides, purifying the water.
 * Habitat**

Diet: Beavers are herbivores (vegetarians/plant-eaters). They have a specialized digestive system. Colonies of microorganisms in their intestines digest up to 30% of the cellulose from the tree bark and other woody material they eat. Further nutrients are recovered in the form of fecal pellets that the beaver will re-ingest. 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.

What Eats beavers: Most predators will eat a rodent. Beavers are hunted by wolves coyotes lynx and various types of weasels including fishers.

Fun Facts:Beavers weigh anywhere between 30-60 lbs. and are 2-3 feet long, not including their tail. Beavers are rodents (one of the largest rodents).

Beavers’ front teeth never stop growing. Beavers keep them from getting too long by their constant labor of chewing and gnawing.

Beavers are experts in building dams, to create a safe and comfortable habitat for themselves.

Beavers’ dams help slowly down erosions.

Beavers can manipulate the environment more than any other animal, mainly because of their "dam construction projects."


 * Underwater Skills**

Beavers are skilled at working underwater. The following are some of the features they have that allow them to work proficiently underwater:

a. Their ears and noses have valves that they can close before submerging themselves under water. b. Their front teeth stick out of their closed mouths so that they may work underwater without swallowing water. c. Their tails are used as rudders. d. They can remain under water for 15 minutes

Hibernate: they don’t hibernate they go into the river and they also go into their dams.