Canada’s National Animal The North American Beaver (scientific name: Castor canadensis) has been a prominent species in Canada for thousands of years. Once living alongside the Giant Beaver Castoroides (now extinct), beavers are an essential part of the ecosystem here at Voyageur Provincial Park and many other aquatic environments in and around North America. Beavers are the largest rodents in North America, weighing on average 70lbs. They can be identified by their brown fur coat, webbed hind feet, and large, orange, front teeth. Their coats consist of two layers: the first is a thick, protective outer layer that is waterproof, and the second is a thin insulating layer. Special glands in the beaver's skin produces an oil that makes their fur waterproof. Their orange teeth get their color from being reinforced by iron, making them extra strong to chew through wood. They also have valves in their nose and ears that shut to keep water out while underwater. Their large, paddleshaped tail helps them swim and is used to slap the surface of the water as a warning signal to others around when they sense danger. Where do beavers live? You have probably seen a beaver’s home (called a hut or a lodge) in and around wetland areas. A beaver lodge is made from sticks, logs, and mud and can be built where water is slow-moving, like in a pond or lake, or built onto existing banks in areas where swifter moving water levels are more prone to fluctuations, such as along a river. They build tunnels
Beaver and kit 4
Beaver to enter in and out of the lodge from under the water surface and create a large open cavity inside to store food, escape from predators and raise their young. When it comes to choosing trees, their favorites are willow, alder, poplar, and birch. Beavers can also build dams to slow down or stop water flow, which increases the water depth in their habitat, ensuring there is enough water to use these escape tunnels not only in the summer months but in the winter as well. Making sure that the water level stays at relatively unchanging levels year-round is vital for their survival. Beavers also have the aptitude to know how to patch their lodges or dams when a leak occurs and will also keep building onto existing structures year after year to add strength. What do beavers eat? A beaver’s diet consists of vegetative material. They will eat the bark and leaves off of trees they fell as well as most types of aquatic vegetation found in their environment. If you are frequent visitors to a specific location year after year you may notice that for a few years you see beavers all the time, then one day it appears they have all left. This is because once they exhaust the food supply in an area, they move on to find another place to live. This then allows their original habitat to restore itself; young trees and plants can mature and generate new growth to create a flourishing ecosystem once again. Once replenished, the next generations of beavers will eventually come back and create their own homes there.
Ontario Parks | Voyageur
