beaver

The beaver (genus Castor) is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American beaver (Castor canadensis) (native to North America) and Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) (Eurasia). Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges (homes). They are the second-largest rodent in the world (after the capybara). Their colonies create one or more dams to provide still, deep water to protect against predators, and to float food and building material. The North American beaver population was once more than 60 million, but as of 1988 was 6â12 million. This population decline is due to extensive hunting for fur, for glands used as medicine and perfume, and because their harvesting of trees and flooding of waterways may interfere with other land uses.[1]

For more information about beaver check the Wikipedia article here

ZME Science posts about beaver

World’s biggest beaver dam can be seen from space

Wed, May 5, 2010

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The biggest beaver dam is (get ready folks), twice as long as the Hoover dam, measuring 2,790 ft (over 800 meters; in fact, it’s so big that you can even see it from space. Though it may seem pointless for the tiny critters to build, they actually build the dams for a good purpose: the [...]

beaver, beaver dam, Biology, climate change, habitat

Busy Beavers ease drought

Tue, Feb 26, 2008

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I’ve always found it strange that beavers are considered by some pests; besides being amazing animals with some amazing habits, they also have been proven to have a positive effect during the droughts which occure quite often these days. They can help mitigate the effects of drought, and because of that, their removal from wetlands [...]

beaver, beaver dam, drought

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