The Beaver

Listen to the beaver warning his friends of danger!

Beavers live in ponds and streams in wooded places. They build dams by chewing down trees. It only takes a beaver about 10 minutes to make a small tree fall. They use their front teeth and gnaw around the tree to make it fall.

After the trees fall, the beaver makes a dam in the pond or stream to make the water deeper. Why? For protection, of course!

A beaver is a fast swimmer. They can swim twice as fast as the fastest human swimmers. Their webbed feet help them swim but makes them clumsy on land. When they are on land, predators such as the coyote, bobcat, and wolf may catch them. These predators don't like to swim and the beaver can safely find food by swimming instead of walking.

Beavers eat the bark of tender twigs and the new growth under the bark of branches and tree trunks. They will eat the roots of some plants, some berries, and corn if its nearby. They don't like pine trees as food but they will use pine trees to build their dams.

The beaver uses its tail, too. It uses its tail as a stool when it is chewing down a tree. It will slap its tail on the water to warn others of trouble. The beaver has a special nose, ears, and eyes to keep the water out.

Ducks, geese, frogs, snakes, bats, otters, and raccoons may live in or near beaver ponds, too.