Beaver

Do you beaver around a lot?

Beavers are rodents that are generally active at night, and their habitat is primarily water bodies in forest areas of North America, Europe and Asia.
Beavers spend significant quantities of time constructing and maintaining dams and other aquatic structures like lodges, that provide protection and housing, as well as water movement that allows resources to float, and they use trees that they cut down with their sharp teeth, as well as rocks, other vegetation and mud as their building materials.
Beavers have the scientific name Castor, while they are the only living members of the family Castoridae, and there are two extant species of beaver – Castor fiber which is known as the Eurasian species, and Castor canadensis, the North American species.
Beavers are able to move easily in water, and their diet consists of vegetation, particularly material from a variety of trees, including bark, leaves and twigs, as well as aquatic plants and sedges.
Beavers grow to lengths of 60 to 120 centimetres (23 to 47 inches), making them the second largest rodent on earth, and weigh 16 to 27 kilograms (35 to 60 pounds).

Beavers have beige, red-brown, brown, almost black, or grey fur; the back feet are webbed; they have see-through eyelids; and a flat tail that acts like a rudder and provides a loud warning when slapped against water.
Beavers live in families in their lodges that consist of as many as ten rodents, and they are preyed on by wolves, bears and lynxes, and the animal has a lifespan of 15 to 20 years, although they can live up to 24 years.
Beavers body parts have been used in traditional medicine; the secretions from their castor sacs or scent glands are used in the perfume industry and as a flavouring for food; and the fur coat is a commonly poached item.
It is illegal to hunt or kill beavers in some countries and areas, while in other places, including parts of the United States, it is legal to trap or shoot the animal.
When introduced without sufficient predators, beavers can overrun habitats, causing extensive forest removal, landscape change and water flow changes, as well as other problems, and they can be a pest on farms and properties.

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