The North American beaver, Castor Canadensis, is web-footed, has brown fur and a wide, flat, dark tail.  The tail acts as a rudder while swimming, as a prop for standing upright, as a lever when dragging tree logs, and as a noise maker for producing a warning signal when it is slapped on the water.  The fingers have long claws, and the legs have webbed feet and claws.  The beaver has a large, wide, head.  It has sharp, renewable, self sharpening, enameled teeth that can cut through wood and fell a tree.

The adult beaver weighs about 20 kg (44 pounds), but can be as large as 35 kg
(77 pounds).  It is about 30 cm (about 10 in) long.  It is the largest rodent in North America.  Its life span in the wild is about 20 years.

HABITAT

Beavers live by rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes.  Beavers build dams that change the course of streams and create ponds.  The presence of pointed tree stumps is a good indication that there are beavers living nearby.

When the food supply around the beaver's home is exhausted, they move to another site and start again.

REPRODUCTION

Beavers mating occurs January and February.  The kits are born in early spring, from April through June.  When young beavers reach their second summer, they take on adult duties, building and maintaining the lodge and dams.

FOOD

The beaver eats aquatic plants (including pond weeds, water lilies, and cattails) and the cambium (the soft tissue in which new wood and bark grow) of hardwood trees, including birch, aspen, willow, cottonwood, and alder.
 

PREDATORS

Some of the animals that prey upon beavers include foxes, coyotes, wolves, lynx, otters, weasels, hawks, eagles, and owls.

NUMBERS

After many years of over trapping fir its valuable fur, the beaver almost went extinct in the 1930's.  It is now making a comeback since trapping is limited.

SYMBOLISM

Since 1975, Castor Canadenis has been an official emblem of Canada.