When it comes to beavers, a river miracle immediately appears with huge, yellow, sharp teeth that can bite anything. These animals are really very toothy, only in nature they bring great benefit precisely thanks to the tireless jaw. Everyone knows that a beaver is a born builder. He is a model of perseverance and hard work. People from these workers took over the experience useful in the construction of dams. Sometimes our smaller brothers also have something to learn. How does he live, what does a beaver eat, how does he build his unique buildings? You will learn about all this by reading the article.
The largest rodent
Nowadays, in nature, there are two species of beavers: Canadian and European. The differences between them are small, except that the European one is slightly smaller than the Canadian one. A long time ago, about 5 million years ago, beavers could measure their strength even with the very owner of the forest - a bear. The huge ancestors of today's rodents have died out, and today the dam builders are much inferior in size to their great-grandfathers.
An adult male beaver weighs approximately 20-25 kg, some heroes reach a weight of 45 kg, the length reaches 1.2 meters. A delightful tail occupies 15-20 cm, its width is almost equal to the length. This tail is also given the important role of the keel - with its help, the shaggy swimmer controls the depth of immersion in water. The ability to see everything under water and navigate perfectly there gives the beaver completely transparent eyelids.
There is something else interesting in the appearance of rodents: the claw on the thumb is split into two halves - this is a gift from nature so that the animals have the opportunity to comb their hair. Continuing the conversation about the limbs, I want to note that they help beavers to swim well. Hind legs - with membranes, ducks have the same membranes. Thanks to them, swimmers can reach speeds of up to 10 km / h. The front legs are relatively small, without membranes, equipped with impressive powerful claws that can easily dig the ground. The front paws also play the role of hands - in them animals carry clay, branches.
Fine thick coat and a thick layer of fat under the skin protect beavers from the cold. The animals carefully look after their fur coat, combing it with a natural comb. Thanks to the oily liquid secreted by special glands, this wonderful fur does not get wet.
The teeth of animals grow all their lives, and if they do not regularly grind on a tree, then they will reach unprecedented sizes.
The life of beavers in nature is full of dangers. Its duration is an average of 13-15 years. In captivity, they live 2-3 times longer.
Beaver Life in Nature
All those animals that are adjacent to the beavers, assign to them a mission to preserve and, if necessary, save the water and adjacent forest lands. It turns out that with their work the furry builders care not only about their well-being - the peace of the neighbors also depends on them.
The sound of flowing water awakens a passion for building in beavers, and they begin to act. They can build for days - day and night, it is impossible to find more hardworking workers. Beavers begin to develop new water territory according to the plan worked out over the years:
- A dam is being built that will turn the stream into a cozy and quiet pond.
- A channel system is being created to expand ownership.
- A huge pantry is being built.
- A huge multi-room house is being built with a height of more than 1 meter. The walls of the house are erected half a meter thick.
After only one week, the house is ready, the entrances are under water to protect the home from enemies. When a beaver works at a sawmill, harvests wood, it is at risk. A tree can fall and crush the beaver, so only one goes for building material, and with it, for food, the rest of the family are engaged in other chores. Good to these lumberjacks! After all, what does a beaver eat? Yes, those from which it builds its dams. It is important to obtain building material, but food stocks for the rodent family must be made very large.
Faithful spouses and caring parents
In the family of furry rodents loyalty and devotion reigns. They do everything together throughout life, intelligently distributing work among all members of the family. Young people can live with their parents for up to two years, after which the children should go to build their house, trying to find a mate during their wanderings.
A beaver mother brings in a litter from 3 to 4 cubs weighing 0.5 kg each. Babies are born in full copies of their parents, only small ones. They are already in fur coats with large teeth and delicious ponytails. After two weeks, future lumberjacks are already gnawing solid food. What the beaver senior eats, then the younger one eats. Family idylls in water houses can only be envied!
What do beavers eat in nature?
The main menu of these working rodents is herbaceous plants. What a beaver eats is often shown in cartoons. In most cases, from the screens we see how these animals eat fish. It’s not true - aquatic animals do not eat such food. They spend a lot of effort on the logging, they need to somehow be replenished in order to withstand such a load. And certainly not a fish helps them in this!
What do beavers eat in nature, what are their favorite dishes? It is clearer that this is a tree. Favorite goodies are twigs of alder, aspen, willow. During the day, the beaver eats up to 1 kg of wood. The bark, the wood pulp under the bark, is the best food for the teeth. Small twigs they gnaw whole, like sweets.
This solid food is hard to chew, and even harder to digest. The beaver food system is quite ready for this job.
In winter time
How do water workers behave in the cold season, because the ponds freeze around everything in the snow? They have a hard time, but if they are well prepared for wintering, then the frosts will not be scary. Most of the time the beaver sleeps in winter. But in order to sleep calmly and on a full stomach, one family needs to harvest more than a ton of branches for the winter.
In a beaver hut, insulated for the winter, it is very comfortable. That's only when the food ends, the head of the family has to go fishing.
The beaver's body is adapted to swimming, and not to plowing snow, so in the cold and in snowdrifts it is very difficult for them. Therefore, they are making every effort to ensure that the reserves are enough to heat.
