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The American Beaver
The American Beaver
This animal is defined by their large flat tail used for swimming and long incisor teeth used for cutting down wood.
Distribution: Throughout North America except southern areas and northernmost areas of Canada
Food: Beavers are herbivores and feed on bark and aquatic vegetation. In the winter, they cache food underwater so that they will still have access once their pond freezes over.
Habitat: They live in freshwater habitats surrounded by plenty of wood resources. They are able to change their environment to fit their needs. They create dams to block waterways and create deeper waters to build their lodges in and to be safer from predators. The lodges they build are their homes where they sleep and hide from predators.
Keystone Species: Beavers are known as keystone species because they are able to change their environment which allows a new habitat for many different species. The wetland they make can also filter pollutants out of the environment (Animals, 2018).
Social Behavior
Social Behavior
Are you the type of person that needs someone to come with you everywhere? I know I am and surprisingly beavers are too! Beavers do everything together whether its living, building, or foraging. This creates so many different social behaviors to look at and fine-tuned communication methods. Let's take a look!
Beaver Family Structure
Beaver Family Structure
Beavers live in family groups of 5-6 and up to 12. Two beavers will come together during mating season and become monogamous and mate for life. A rarity in the animal kingdom! These beavers will then have one to six kits each year. Their kits will live with them for 2-3 years until they go off to find their own family and create their own home. These family groups are very tight knit and do everything together (Beaver Solutions, 2018). If they do everything together then how do they communicate what each other needs in order to work together?
Communication Methods
Communication Methods
Scent mounds: Scent mounds are used to establish a territory. Territory is the land area that an animal defends for its resources. Beavers will create mounds of mud, sticks, and grass up to 1/3 meter high around their territory. Beavers also have a unique oil gland near their anus that contains castor oil. This castor oil has a very pungent smell that leaves a long-lasting odor. This odor is placed on the scent mounds which warns other beavers and animals that this is their territory. This is an effective communication method to beavers outside of their family group to not pick that area to live in. These scent glands are also used in reproductive communication between the different sexes (Muller-Schwarze & Heckman, 1980).
Vocalizations: Beavers use 20 different sounds to communicate full of clicks, hisses, chatters, and grunts. These are used to socialize with the other beavers in the family group or to scare off intruders from their territory. It is unknown what the purpose of all of their different sounds are (Navakowski, 1969).
Tail Slap: Beavers will slap the surface of the water with their flat tails, creating a loud sound that alerts the other beavers in the family group of danger and to swim to the lodge for safety (Pennsylvania, 2022).
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