Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Nature's Engíneer: The Beaver
MYTHS
Beavers pack mud with their tails.
Beavers can fell trees in a desired direction.
Beavers always build dams.
“Bank beavers” are a different species.
Beavers eat fish.
If a beaver loses its mate, it won't mate again.
“Nuisance” beavers should be moved to another location.
THE SINGLE MOST BASIC AND IMPORTANT FACT ABOUT THE BEAVER
(CASTOR
CANADENSIS)
IS THIS: NEXT TO HUMANS, THE BEAVER IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE MOST
PROFICIENT OF NORTH AMERICAN INHABITANTS AT MANIPULATING THE
ENVIRONMENT FOR ITS OWN BENEFIT. For several hundred thousand years we humans have
been able to harness fire and manufacture a variety of tools, ranging from primitive stone and bone im-
plements to modern steam shovels, to assist us in modifying our surroundings. Beavers, however, have
become legendary dam builders by using only instinct and the tools with which nature has endowed
them.
Beavers have the ability to modify their immediate environment quite radically, even when they have
very little to work with. Give a pair of beavers a reasonably flat area, a scant trickle of water, a mod-
est supply of trees or shrubs, and they can quickly create a dam—large or small, as the situation de-
mands—a pond, and a dwelling secure from predators. In the process they quite unintentionally create
a great deal of valuable marsh or wetland habitat for many other species.
Perhaps because beavers are such intriguing creatures, with astonishing engineering and construction
ability, they're one of our most misunderstood mammals. Through the years, they've become encrusted
