Hemmingford Wildlife – The Beaver

by Ginette Bars, translation Sheila Lord (December 2011)

The Canadian Beaver (Castor Canadensis) is America’s largest rodent, measuring 3 to 4 feet in length including its tail, and weighs between 35 and 70 pounds. When pairs form they stay together for life and their parents until the age of 2 or 3 years. These family units form colonies comprising up to twelve or so individuals. The life span of the beaver in the wild is 10 to 12 years.

The Supreme Being who created this incomparable engineer of nature, endowed it with some extraordinary attributes which enable it to create its own ecosystems favoring a wide variety of wildlife.

 

• Its eyes have a second transparent eyelid which protects the eyes under water without hindering vision.
• Its nostrils and ears close up whenever it dives under water to prevent the water from getting in.
• Its large tail covered with scales acts as a rudder in the water, and as a support on dry land and also helps it to keep its balance, it is also a reserve of fat and an alarm system for slapping on water to warn other members of the colony when danger is near.
• Its thick undercoat, the outer layer of fur which it waterproofs itself with its own oil, as well as a layer of fat under the fur, all contribute to protect it from the cold.
• Its hind paws are webbed and enable it to swim easily.
• Its forepaws, like those of the raccoon, resemble hands and have long claws. It uses these to move tree trunks or branches and to loosen clumps of earth and grass for building dams and shelters.
• Its best known features are its long incisors which are covered with orange enamel. Its teeth grow continu- ously, and if it should stop gnawing trees, it would die.
• Its preferred habitat is forested areas beside rivers, streams, lakes and marshes surrounded by poplars and birches. They are ceaseless workers and after building a dam of branches and stones, then set to putting up an elaborate shelter, with branches joined together with mud, complete with tunnels, ventilation opening and spaces used for food-storage and shelter.
• Its main predators are man, otters, grey wolves, coyotes, martens, minks, lynxes and red foxes.

In spite of its usefulness the beaver is often considered a destructive animal on account of the dams it builds which can cause the flooding of roads or agricultural land. Our first concern should be to focus on conservation of this species and encourage coexistence with it. To this end it might be a good idea, before resorting to drastic measures which have to be constantly renewed, to consider the use of methods for controlling water levels which would be more long-term thereby also conserving the habitat of the beaver. Examples of such devices are the T-shaped pipe, the bent pipe, the breakwater, or the Morency cube.

To obtain more information on ecological alternatives, the following sites can be consulted: www.rappel.qc.ca/faune/castors.html www.durasol.qc.ca/eau/castor.html www.agence-bsl.qc.ca/Services_multiressources/Publica- tions/Guide%20castor%20Agence%20BSL.pdf